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Located approximately halfway between the Panama Canal and New Zealand,  the Pitcairn group
comprises four islands, Pitcairn Island, Ducie Island, Oeno Island and Henderson Island. The group of islands is the last remaining British Overseas Territory in the Pacific. Of the
four islands, only Pitcairn Island is inhabited.
Pitcairn Island is perhaps best known as the home to the descendants of the infamous Bounty mutineers.
The history surrounding
the mutiny is fascinating and, to this day, much of it remains a mystery. Reports and articles written about the events that took place during the first 18 years, after the mutineers arrived
on the island, are not completely reliable. John Adams was the sole surviving mutineer when the small community was first discovered and although his accounts are generally relied upon, they
vary considerably, one to the next.
Today, the descendants who remain on Pitcairn live a very different lifestyle from that of their ancestors. Life on the island is, in many ways,
similar to any other small community. Although the Polynesian traditions have largely disappeared, local traditions such as basket weaving, carving, cooking pilhi in banana leaves and baking
in stone ovens remain a part of daily life.
Pitcairn’s Geography
Pitcairn is a small volcanic island situated in the South Pacific Ocean at latitude 25°04’ south and 130°06’ west. The island is of irregular shape, some 3.2km (2 miles) long by 1.6km (1 mile) wide and its area is approximately 1120 acres (450 hectares). Its nearest inhabited island
is Mangareva some 480 km away.
Pitcairn is rugged and its coast cliff-lined for nearly the entire perimeter of the island, nowhere giving easy access from the sea. Although the canoes can be launched in many places, Bounty Bay and the Tedside landing are the only two places on
the island that offer a reasonably safe landing. Ships, visiting the island, remain some distance away from the shoreline. However, most coastal sites are generally accessible from above.
Flat or flattish land forms only 8 percent (90 acres) of the total surface of Pitcairn;
rolling land covers 31 percent (348 acres), steeply sloping land 34 percent (378 acres) and cliffs the remaining 27 percent (304 acres).
Geologically, Pitcairn is comparable with other Pacific islands such as Hawaii, Tahiti and Samoa. It appears to have been formed by progressive
volcanic activity and to be the top of a volcano, whose base is far below the sea. Only 100 metres or so from the coast there is neither shelf nor coral growth and the rock structure is dominated by basalts with later additions of andesites, trachytes and pyroclastics and minor intrusions
of obsidians and pitchstones.
Pitcairn enjoys a sub-tropical climate. Mean monthly temperatures vary from around 19°C in August to 24°C in February. The absolute range recorded is 10°C to 34°C. The average rainfall for the period 1985 - 1997 was 1389 mm annually, August being the
driest month and December the wettest. Relative humidity is usually upwards of 80 percent and cloud average six-tenths. Although there are no regular trade winds, east to north-east winds predominate with westerly winds increasing in frequency in the winter months. Mean speeds range from 11
to 15 knots and east to south-east gales of short duration may occur perhaps a dozen times a year. Hurricanes have been experienced but are extremely rare.
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