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Pitcairn Islands
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volcanic island (1995 est. pop. 50), 2.5 sq mi (6.5 sq km), South Pacific, SE of Tuamotu Archipelago. A British possession since 1839, the island is officially administered by the British High Commissioner to New Zealand. Local matters, however, are handled by a council of islanders. The Pitcairn Island district includes the uninhabited atolls of Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno islands. Handicrafts are exported. The island was discovered in 1767 by Philip Carteret, a British admiral, but was named after Robert Pitcairn, the midshipman who first sighted it. It was colonized in 1790 by mutineers from the Bounty and Tahitian women. Their descendants, who speak English, still inhabit the island. In 1856 overpopulation caused the removal of the inhabitants, at their request, to Norfolk Island, but some soon returned to Pitcairn. In 1957 the remains of the Bounty were discovered off the southern end of the island.—continue at Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. (Copyright © 2002-2008 Columbia University Press.)
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Pronunciation:  p t´kârn´´ from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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