A small volcanic island in French Polynesia, surrounded by a lagoon and barrier reef. The landscape is dominated by the remnants of an extinct volcano rising to twin peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu, with a necklace of coral islets encircling the main island. The crystal-clear lagoon, ranging from shallow waters to deep channels, creates a natural harbor protected by the outer reef.
Bora Bora is a volcanic island group part of the Leeward Islands in the western part of the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Bora Bora is situated in the central South Pacific Ocean, about 165 miles northwest of Tahiti. Bora Bora is about 12 square miles (30.55 square kilometers) and is home to about 10,000 people.
Bora Bora’s Tahitian spelling, Porapora, means, “first born.” Bora Bora was given that name as it was believed to be the first island created after Raiatea, the largest island of the Leeward Islands.
Bora Bora was first inhabited by Polynesian settlers around the 4th century.
The first sighting European sighting of Bora Bora was in 1722 by Dutch Admiral Jakob Roggeveen. In 1769, the British navigator James Cook sighted the island and the London Missionary Society arrived in 1820. Bora Bora was an independent kingdom until 1888 when its last queen renounced her throne to the French. Bora Bora was annexed as a colony by France in the late 19th century. The islands served as an Allied forces base in World War II.
Bora Bora’s population of roughly 10,000 people live in three villages: Anau, Fa’anui, and Vaitape. Vaitape is the principal village and administrative center of Bora Bora and is home to about half of the island’s population of 4,927 people. Fa’anui is the second-largest village with a population of about 2,962 people, followed by Anau with 1,973. French Polynesia has a much larger population of about 280,900 people.
The majority of Bora Bora’s population works in the tourism industry, which is the islands’ primary economic driver. The first hotel opened in 1961 and since then, several have been built featuring over-water bungalows. Most resorts are built on the motus, or small islands, that surround the lagoon.