Rapa (Rapa Iti, Oparo) | island

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Rapa or Rapa Iti (Little Rapa) as it is sometimes called in more recent years (to distinguish it from "Rapa Nui" (Big Rapa), a name for Easter Island), is the largest and only inhabited island of the Bass Islands in French Polynesia. An older name for the island is Oparo. Its area is 40 km2 with a population of almost 500 and a max elevation of 650 m. Its main town is Ahuréi.

It is shaped roughly like a Greek final sigma (ς), with a well-protected central bay, surrounded by a ring of relatively high mountains. The whole island appears very much to be the peak of a sinking volcano, with the bay as the caldera. The area of the island is 40 km2 (15 sq mi).
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Its main town, Ahuréi (sometimes called Ahurei, Ha'urei or Ha'uréi, latter two also show how it is pronounced), lies on both the northern and southern shores of that bay, which is called the Baie d'Ahuréi. The people are Polynesian. Former times' warfare is indicated by 28 extant ridgetop forts. Today Rapa is home to the Tahitian Choir, in which a third of the island's population sing traditional songs.

Although sometimes considered part of the Austral Islands, the Bass Islands have a different geological, linguistic and cultural history. A description of the culture of Rapa is found in Rapan Lifeways (1970), by F. Allan Hanson.

Rapa was first discovered by Europeans in 1791 by George Vancouver, who named the island Oparo. Numerous ancient ruins ("pa" or "pare", a type of fort) are found on the island, particularly on peaks and clifftops. Thor Heyerdahl, notably, made excavations here, seeking links between the two Rapas.