Pitcairn Islands
(overseas territory of the UK)
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The inhabitants of this tiny isolated economy exist on fishing, subsistence farming, handicrafts, and postage stamps. The fertile soil of the valleys produces a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including citrus, sugarcane, watermelons, bananas, yams, and beans. Bartering is an important part of the economy. The major sources of revenue are the sale of postage stamps to collectors and the sale of handicrafts to passing ships. In October 2004, more than one-quarter of Pitcairn's small labor force was arrested, putting the economy in a bind, since their services were required as lighter crew to load or unload passing ships. Source: The World Factbook, CIA. |
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Places
Fiji |
Pitcairn
Island was discovered in 1767 by the British and settled in 1790 by the Bounty
mutineers and their Tahitian companions. Pitcairn was the first Pacific island
to become a British colony (in 1838) and today remains the last vestige of that
empire in the South Pacific. Outmigration, primarily to New Zealand, has thinned
the population from a peak of 233 in 1937 to less than 50 today.