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Pitcairn Islands: A French map and chart of Pitcairn Island made in 1774. The then uninhabited island was first sighted by the Portuguese in 1606 and then 'rediscovered' by the British in 1767

Pitcairn Islands: A French map and chart of Pitcairn Island made in 1774. The then uninhabited island was first sighted by the Portuguese in 1606 and then 'rediscovered' by the British in 1767

The Pitcairn Islands, officially named the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, form a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. The islands are a British Overseas Territory (formerly a British colony), the last remaining in the Pacific. Only Pitcairn, the second largest and measuring about 2 miles (3.2 km) across, is inhabited.

The islands are best known as home of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers and the Tahitians (or Polynesians) who accompanied them. With only about 50 inhabitants from four families as of 2010: Christian, Warren, Young, and Brown), Pitcairn is the least populous jurisdiction in the world (although it is not a sovereign nation). The United Nations Committee on Decolonisation includes the Pitcairn Islands on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

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