Portal:Oceania/Selected article/June, 2006
Bora Bora (16°26′40″S 151°45′5″W / 16.44444°S 151.75139°W) is an island in the Leeward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, about 260 km northwest of the capital, Papeete. The island is surrounded by a lagoon and a fringing reef. In the center of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano, rising to two peaks, Mt. Pahia, and the highest point, Mount Otemanu, reaching 727 meters (2,385 ft.).
As of 2000, the population was about 4,500 people. The major settlement, Vaitape is on the western side of the island, opposite the main channel into the lagoon. The original name in the Tahitian language might be better rendered as Pora Pora, meaning "First Born".
The island is mainly dependent on tourism. It has many high-end resorts, mostly visited by American and Japanese tourists. Many tourists come to Bora Bora for a beach holiday, and are surprised to learn it is a lagoon destination, with relatively few, narrow beaches.