Mehetia

Mehetiʻa, also known as Meʻetiʻa, is an active stratovolcano located in the Windward Islands of French Polynesia. Situated 110 kilometres east of Tahiti's Taiarapu Peninsula, it forms part of the Teahitiʻa-Mehetia hotspot. The island measures 2.3 square kilometres and features a prominent volcanic crater at its highest point, which reaches 435 metres in elevation. Geologically young, Mehetiʻa experienced significant seismic activity in 1981.

Tahitian oral traditions suggest that early Polynesian navigators visited the island, considering it sacred during their voyages to New Zealand. This is supported by geological evidence linking Mehetiʻa to southern New Zealand. The island's highest peak, Mount Hiurai (also spelled Hi’ura’i or Hikurangi), shares its name with a mountain in New Zealand, likely deriving from Siʻulagi in Samoa.

The first European sighting of Mehetiʻa occurred on February 9, 1606, by the Spanish navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós, who charted it as Decena. Subsequent visits were made by Samuel Wallis and Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1767 and 1768, respectively. Spanish navigator Domingo de Boenechea later named the island San Cristóbal during his visit on November 6, 1772.

Administratively, Mehetiʻa belongs to the commune of Taiarapu-Est and its associated easternmost commune, Tautira. The uninhabited island lacks significant vegetation but boasts a small coral reef on its underwater slopes.