Welcome to Papeete!
Papeete is the largest city in and capital of French Polynesia on the island of Tahiti. Papeete 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. The French High Commissioner also resides in Papeete. 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. The Windward Islands are themselves part of the Society Islands. The name Papeete, sometimes also spelled Papeʻete in Tahitian, means "water from a basket". The urban area of Papeete had a total population of 136,771 inhabitants at the August 2017 census, 26,926 of whom lived in the commune of Papeete proper.