Total population | |
---|---|
800-1,000 worldwide[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Pitcairn Islands | 47 (2021)[2] |
Norfolk Island | 484 (2016)[3] |
Australia | 262 (2016)[4] |
New Zealand | 48 (2018 birthplace)[5][6] |
United Kingdom | 30 |
Languages | |
Religion | |
Seventh-day Adventist Church | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Pitcairn Islanders, also referred to as Pitkerners and Pitcairnese, are the native inhabitants of the Pitcairn Islands, a British Overseas Territory including people whose families were previously inhabitants and maintaining cultural connections. Most Pitcairn Islanders are descendants of the Bounty mutineers and Tahitians.
The mainstream Pitcairn culture is a mixture of British (specifically English, Manx and Scottish) and Polynesian (specifically Tahitian) cultures derived from the traditions of the settlers that landed in 1790, plus a few that settled afterwards.[7][8] As of 2021, there are a total of 47 people inhabiting the island.[1][9]
There is also a Pitcairnese diaspora, particularly in Norfolk Island, New Zealand and mainland Australia. Fearing overcrowding, in 1856 all 194 Pitkerners immigrated to Norfolk Island aboard the Morayshire (including a baby born en route) but 16 of them returned to Pitcairn on the Mary Ann in 1858, followed by a further four families in 1864.[10]