Tahiti is the largest island in French Polynesia, located in the South Pacific. It is part of the Society Islands archipelago and is the economic, cultural and political center of French Polynesia. The majority of Tahitians speak both French and Tahitian. Tourism is an important industry and Tahitian culture is celebrated through festivals, dances, sports like outrigger canoeing, and traditional artforms like woodcarving and tattooing.

3. Geography
Location: Pacific ocean
Archipelago: Society
Islands
Major Islands :Tahiti
Overseas country: French
Polynesia
Largest city : Papeete
Ethnic Groups: Tahitians

4. Tahiti is the largest island in
the Windward group of French
Polynesia(an overseas country of the French
Republic), located in the archipelago of the
Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It
is the economic, cultural and political centre of
French Polynesia. The island was formed from
volcanic activity and is high and mountainous
with surrounding coral reefs.

5. Windward Islands
Native name: Îles du
Vent
Island
Moorea
The archipelago comprises
an administrative division of French
Polynesia, and includes the following
islands:
Tahiti
Moorea
Mehetia
Tetiaroa
Maiao
The capital of the administrative district
is Papeete on the island of Tahiti. Tahiti,
Moorea, and Mehetia are high islands
Tetiaroa and Maiao are coral atolls.

6. Culture
 The majority of the population speaks French and Tahitian (co-official
with French throughout French Polynesia).
 Tourism is a significant industry.
 In July, the Heivā festival in Papeete celebrates Polynesian culture and
the commemoration of the storming of the Bastille in Paris.
 Tahitian cultures included an oral tradition that involved the mythology of
gods, such as 'Oro ( a god of the Polynesian pantheon) and beliefs, as well
as ancient traditions such as tattooing and navigation. The annual Heivā
Festival in July is a celebration of traditional culture, dance, music and
sports including a long distance race between the islands of French
Polynesia, in modern outrigger canoes (va'a).

8. Sport
 The Tahitian national sport is Va'a. In English, this
paddle sport is also known as outrigger canoe. The
Tahitians consistently achieve record-breaking and top
times as world champion in this sport.
 Major sports in Tahiti include rugby
union and association football and the island has
fielded a national basketball team, which is a member
of FIBA Oceania. Another sport is surfing, with famous
surfers such as Malik Joyeux and Michel Bourez.

9. Dance
 The 'ote'a (sometimes written as otea) is a traditional dance from
Tahiti, where the dancers, standing in several rows, execute figures. This
dance, easily recognized by its fast hip-shaking and grass skirts, is often
confused with the Hawaiian hula, a generally slower more graceful
dance which focuses more on the hands and storytelling than the hips.
 the couple's dance 'upa'upa is likewise gone but may have reemerged as
the tamure.
 The dance is with music only, drums, but no singing. The drum can be
one of the types of the tōʻere, a laying log of wood with a longitudinal
slit, which is struck by one or two sticks. Or it can be the pahu, the
ancient Tahitian standing drum covered with a shark skin and struck by
the hands or with sticks. The rhythm from the tōʻere is fast, from
the pahu it is slower. A smaller drum, the faʻatete, can be used.

10. Tahitian dance upa-
upa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np8-
7MLt5Ro (dance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FNrCD
CVvwo (drumming)

11. Let’s visit Tahiti