Henderson Island

　　    Henderson Island is located in the Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and is the largest island in the group, covering an area of 37.3 km². It is also one of the most remote islands in the South Pacific. It was incorporated into the British Pitcairn Islands dependency in 1902. Henderson Island is one of the world’s best-preserved examples of an elevated coral atoll ecosystem. Compared to other coral atolls, this island has experienced relatively low disturbance, which makes it particularly notable.

　　    Henderson Island is one of the most remote islands in the South Pacific and the largest in the Pitcairn Islands of the Pacific. It covers an area of 37.3 square kilometers. Compared to other coral atolls, Henderson Island has been less disturbed, thus preserving one of the best elevated coral atoll ecosystems in the world. The significance of Henderson Island has been recognized by international organizations and individuals. In accordance with Natural Heritage criteria N (III) (IV), it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.

　　    Due to its remote location and harsh natural environment, Henderson Island remains an environment largely untouched by development. The island is well known for its ten endemic plant species and four bird species.

　　    Archaeologists believe that Polynesians were the earliest inhabitants of the Pitcairn Islands, with evidence of their presence dating back as late as the 15th century. However, by the time Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós discovered the islands, they were uninhabited. In 1767, the British sailor John Pitt rediscovered the islands and named them after himself, with Henderson Island being the largest.

　　     On January 15, 1790, nine mutineers from the Bounty and their Tahitian companions fled to the island. They included the leader of the mutiny, Fletcher Christian, the ship’s first mate, and eight other crew members, along with six Tahitian men and twelve Tahitian women. They removed all supplies from the Bounty and then set the ship on fire. The wreckage of the Bounty can still be seen on the ocean floor.

　　    On the island, the crew quickly descended into internal conflict. Coupled with disease, by 1800 only John Adams, one of the mutineers, had survived. In 1814, the British Navy rediscovered the island but, moved by the history of the island’s inhabitants, decided not to arrest the last remaining mutineer.

　　    In 1838, the island officially became a British colony. By the mid-1850s, the population had grown to a level that the island could no longer sustain, so the residents appealed to Queen Victoria for help. The Queen approved their relocation to Norfolk Island. On May 3, 1856, all 193 inhabitants began the move. However, 18 months later, 17 of them returned to the Pitcairn Islands, and five years after that, 27 more came back.

　　    In 1937, the island’s population reached a historic peak of 233, after which large-scale emigration began, mostly to nearby New Zealand, keeping the population at around 50.