Ooaj Travel Guide, tourism, hotel reservation, residence, plane, cheap pension for you holidays in pitcairn islands

Free Travel guide Ooaj.com A free travel guide for holidays. Hotels in pitcairn islands, Bed and Breakfast!

Pitcairn Island is not open to tourism. Visitors to this tiny island are only allowed with official permission, which is rarely given. Access to the island is by small motor boats which meet several times a year with passing cargo ships.

The remainder of this article is from the CIA World Factbook 2002

Table of contents
	pitcairn islands Travel Guide : 1 Understand 1.1 Geography 1.2 People 1.3 Government 1.4 Economy 1.5 Communications 1.6 Transportation 1.7 Military 1.8 Transnational Issues 1.9 External Links

Understand

Pitcairn Island was discovered in 1767 by the British and settled in 1790 by the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. Pitcairn was the first Pacific island to become a British colony (in 1838) and today remains the last vestige of that empire in the South Pacific. Outmigration, primarily to New Zealand, has thinned the population from a peak of 233 in 1937 to less than 50 today.

Geography

Location 

Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about midway between Peru and New Zealand

Geographic coordinates 

25 04 S, 130 06 W

Map references 

Oceania

Area 

total: 47 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 47 sq km

Area - comparative 

about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries 

0 km

Coastline 

51 km

Maritime claims 

exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 3 NM

Climate 

tropical, hot, humid; modified by southeast trade winds; rainy season (November to March)

Terrain 

rugged volcanic formation; rocky coastline with cliffs

Elevation extremes 

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pawala Valley Ridge 347 m

Natural resources 

miro trees (used for handicrafts), fish
note: manganese, iron, copper, gold, silver, and zinc have been discovered offshore

Land use 

arable land: NA%
permanent crops: NA%
other: NA% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land 

NA sq km

Natural hazards 

typhoons (especially November to March)

Environment - current issues 

deforestation (only a small portion of the original forest remains because of burning and clearing for settlement)

Geography - note 

Britain's most isolated dependency; only the larger island of Pitcairn is inhabited but it has no port or natural harbor; supplies must be transported by rowed longboat from larger ships stationed offshore

People

Population 

47 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure 

0-14 years: NA%
15-64 years: NA%
65 years and over: NA%

Population growth rate 

-1.32% (2002 est.)

Birth rate 

NA births/1,000 population

Death rate 

NA deaths/1,000 population

Nationality 

noun: Pitcairn Islander(s)
adjective: Pitcairn Islander

Ethnic groups 

descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian wives

Religions 

Seventh-Day Adventist 100%

Languages 

English (official), Pitcairnese (mixture of an 18th century English dialect and a Tahitian dialect)

Government

Country name 

conventional long form: Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands
conventional short form: Pitcairn Islands

Dependency status 

overseas territory of the UK

Capital 

Adamstown

Administrative divisions 

none (overseas territory of the UK)

Independence 

none (overseas territory of the UK)

National holiday 

Birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, second Saturday in June (1926)

Constitution 

1838; reformed 1904 with additional reforms in 1940; further refined by the Local Government Ordinance of 1964

Legal system 

local island by-laws

Suffrage 

18 years of age; universal with three years residency

Executive branch 

chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by UK High Commissioner to New Zealand and Governor (nonresident) of the Pitcairn Islands Martin WILLIAMS (since NA May 1998); Commissioner (nonresident) Leon SALT (since NA); serves as liaison between the governor and the Island Council
election results: elected mayor; percent of vote - NA%
elections: the monarchy is herary; high commissioner and commissioner appointed by the monarch; island magistrate elected by popular vote for a three-year term; election last held NA December 1999 (next to be held NA December 2002)
head of government: Mayor and Chairman of the Island Council Steve CHRISTIAN (since NA)
cabinet: NA

Legislative branch 

unicameral Island Council (10 seats - 6 elected by popular vote, 1 appointed by the 6 elected members, 2 appointed by the governor, and 1 seat for the Island Secretary; members serve one-year terms)
elections: last held NA December 2001 (next to be held NA December 2002)
election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - all independents

Judicial branch 

Island Court (island magistrate presides over the court and is elected every three years)

Political parties and leaders 

none

Political pressure groups and leaders 

none

International organization participation 

SPC

Flag description 

blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Pitcairn Islander coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms is yellow, green, and light blue with a shield featuring a yellow anchor

Economy

Economy - overview 

The inhabitants of this tiny economy exist on fishing, subsistence farming, handicrafts, and postage stamps. The fertile soil of the valleys produces a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including citrus, sugarcane, watermelons, bananas, yams, and beans. Bartering is an important part of the economy. The major sources of revenue are the sale of postage stamps to collectors and the sale of handicrafts to passing ships.

Labor force 

12 able-bodied men (1997)

Labor force - by occupation 

no business community in the usual sense; some public works; subsistence farming and fishing

Budget 

revenues: $729,884
expenditures: $878,119, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY94/95 est.)

Industries 

postage stamps, handicrafts

Electricity - production 

NA kWh; note - electric power is provided by a small diesel-powered generator

Agriculture - products 

wide variety of fruits and vegetables, goats, chickens

Exports 

$NA

Exports - commodities 

fruits, vegetables, curios, stamps

Imports - commodities 

fuel oil, machinery, building materials, flour, sugar, other foodstuffs

Currency 

New Zealand dollar (NZD)

Currency code 

NZD

Exchange rates 

New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 2.3535 (January 2002), 2.3776 (2001), 2.1863 (2000), 1.8886 (1999), 1.8629 (1998), 1.5083 (1997)

Fiscal year 

1 April - 31 March

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use 

1 (there are 17 telephones on one party line) (1997)

Telephone system 

general assessment: only party line telephone service is available for this small, closely related community
domestic: party line service only
international: radiotelephone

Radio broadcast stations 

AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios 

NA

Television broadcast stations 

0 (1997)

Televisions 

NA

Internet country code 

.pn

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 

NA

Internet users 

NA

Transportation

Railways 

0 km

Highways 

total: 6.4 km
paved: 0 km
unpaved: 6.4 km

Waterways 

none

Ports and harbors 

Adamstown (on Bounty Bay)

Merchant marine 

none (2002 est.)

Airports 

none (2001)

Military

Military - note 

defense is the responsibility of the UK

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international 

none

External Links

• Map of the Pitcairn Islands (http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/pitcairn/index.html)

Biggest country to travel: Biggest cities to travel: Islands in the top travel 40: World Travel guide Random travel link: South Korea Indonesia South Korea Russia New York in USA Dhaka in Bangladesh Tokyo in Japan Delhi in India Mauritius Galapagos_Islands Hawaii Bermuda Cuba French_Polynesia United_States Hungary Serbia_and_Montenegro Brunei Italy Honshu in Japan France Travel Cambodia Hungary