Tubuai

Life is quiet for the 2,000-some inhabitants of Tubuai, which is 644 km (400 mi) south of Tahiti. It's a mellow, subtropical island of approximately 70 square km (27 square mi) and the capital of the Austral Islands chain. Mts. Taitaa (1,280 feet) and Tonorutu (1,023 feet) dominate the horizon, and the island is fringed by a barrier reef scattered with motu (small coral islets), while its lagoon side offers brilliant, white-sand beaches. Polynesians have lived on the island for more than 2,000 years. English explorer James Cook first mapped it in 1777; the island was annexed in 1881 by France.