Pitcairn Island, volcanic island (2005 est. pop. 45), 2.5 sq mi (6.5 sq km), South Pacific, SE of Tuamotu Archipelago. Adamstown is the capital and only settlement. The first British Pacific Islands possession (1838), the island is officially administered by the British High Commissioner to New Zealand as part of the Pitcairn Islands dependency, which includes three neighboring, uninhabited atolls (Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno). Local matters, however, are handled by a mayor and council. Handicrafts, honey, and postage stamps are the main source of income, and the remote island is dependent on British and European Union aid. Pitcairn has no port or natural harbor; goods must be ferried from ships anchored offshore.

The island was named in 1767 by Capt. Philip Carteret, a British naval officer, after Robert Pitcairn, the midshipman who first sighted it. It was colonized in 1790 by mutineers from the Bounty Bounty, British naval vessel, a 220-ton (200-metric-ton), 85-ft (26-m) cutter, commanded by William Bligh . She set sail for the Pacific in Dec., 1787, to transport breadfruit trees from the Society Islands to the West Indies. On Apr.
..... Click the link for more information. and Tahitian women, who discovered vestiges of previous Polynesian settlement. Their descendants, who speak an English dialect and are Seventh-day Adventists, still inhabit the island. In 1856 overpopulation caused the removal of the inhabitants, at their request, to Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (nôr`fək), island (2005 est. pop. 1,800), 13 sq mi (34 sq km), South Pacific, a territory of Australia, c.
..... Click the link for more information. , but some soon returned to Pitcairn. In 1957 the remains of the Bounty were discovered off the southern end of the island.

Pitcairn Island

Island (pop., 2003 est.: 47) and British overseas territory, south-central Pacific Ocean. It is the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn island group, which also includes Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno islands. It has an area of about 2 sq mi (5 sq km). Discovered in 1767 by the British, it was uninhabited until 1790, when it was settled by mutineers from HMS Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian. Pitcairn was annexed by Britain in 1838. The inhabitants were removed to Norfolk Island in 1856 because of overpopulation. Some returned to Pitcairn, and it is their descendants who make up the present population, subsisting on fishing and farming. In 1970 the British High Commissioner in New Zealand was appointed Pitcairn's governor.

Pitcairn Island

an island in the S Pacific: forms with the islands of Ducie, Henderson and Oeno (all uninhabited) a UK Overseas Territory; Pitcairn itself was uninhabited until the landing in 1790 of the mutineers of H.M.S. Bounty and their Tahitian companions. Pop.: 47 (2004 est.). Area: 4.6 sq. km (1.75 sq. miles)