Papeete

Papeete (Tahitian: Papeʻete, pronounced [pa.pe.ʔe.te]; old name: Vaiʻete[4]) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the French Republic in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Papeete is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands, of which Papeete is the administrative capital.[5] Both the President of French Polynesia and French High Commissioner reside in Papeete.[6]

It is the primary center of Tahitian and French Polynesian public and private governmental, commercial, industrial, and financial services, the hub of French Polynesian tourism and a commonly used port of call.[6] The Windward Islands are themselves part of the Society Islands. The name Papeʻetē,[Note 1] means "water from a basket"[7]— this was an effect of a naming taboo during Pōmare I's reign where the Tahitian contemporary word for water vai was substituted with pape,[8] the old name Vaiʻetē is still recognised in some areas such as the Marquesas.[4] The urban area of Papeʻetē had a total population of 124,724 inhabitants at the 2022 census, 26,654 of whom lived in the commune of Papeʻetē proper.[3]