Bora Bora is a striking volcanic island part of the Leeward group in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Surrounded by a lagoon and coral reefs, it lies in the central South Pacific Ocean. The earliest name of the island is known to have been ‘Pora pora mai to pora’, meaning ‘created by the gods’ in the local Tahitian dialect. It later became ‘Bora Bora’.
Historically, the island was inhabited by Polynesian people sometime in the 4th century BC. It gained global attention only in the 18th century when the Dutch admiral Jacob Roggeveen spotted it in 1722. In the late 19th century, Bora Bora was annexed by France.
In terms of its geography, the settlement of Vaitape lies on the western side of the main island. In the central region, there are two peaks rising from an extinct volcano. They are the Mount Pahia and the Mount Otemanu. Other than these, the island offers much more too visiting tourists.