Tahiti
- ISS007-E-14626
- 08 September 2003
- 20:59 UTC
Tahiti is the largest island of the Windward Group (Îles du Vent) and largest of the Society Islands with an area of 1,042 km² — making it also the largest landmass in all of French Polynesia. The island, located 13 km southeast from its nearest neighbour Moorea, has a length of 53 km.
The island consists of two eroded volcanic masses — Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti (the Taiarapu Peninsula) — connected by the narrow Isthmus of Taravao. From a narrow coastal strip, the terrain rises sharply to a mountainous interior of precipitous slopes, ridges and deep valleys reaching a maximum elevation of 2,237 m at Mt. Orohena on the larger landmass of Tahiti Nui. The smaller Tahiti Iti rises to 1,323 m at Mt. Roniu.
Prominent in the image, at the right, are the built-up areas of the French Polynesian administrative centre of Papeete.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center