Papeete
Capital of French Polynesia: population, location, elevation, climate and landmarks.
Papeete - Marina Taina: Remi Jouan, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Overview
Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia, in Îles du Vent. About 26,357 people live in the city proper, making it the 2nd largest city of French Polynesia in our atlas.
It lies at 17.53° S, 149.57° W, about 42 m (138 ft) above sea level, and keeps time on the Pacific/Tahiti time zone. It sits inside the tropics.
Location
Red dot: Papeete. Green dots: other major cities of French Polynesia. Map data: Natural Earth.
Climate
Papeete has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw). The warmest month is usually Mar, with average highs near 28°C (82°F); the coolest nights come in Aug at about 24°C (76°F). Around 1,331 mm (52 in) of rain and snow falls in a typical year, most of it in Dec.
Bars: average daily high and low (°C) for each month; blue columns and figures: average precipitation (mm). Gridded 2001-2025 averages from NASA POWER, so mountain and coastal spots can differ from local station records.
Landmarks and places to see
Popular sights within a few kilometres of the city centre, ranked by how widely they are documented on Wikipedia.
What to eat in French PolynesiaNational dishes, street food, desserts and drinks on Intercontinental Chef.Nearby major cities
- Population, coordinates, elevation, time zone: GeoNames 4033936 (CC BY 4.0)
- Wikidata Q130800 (CC0)
- Climate: NASA POWER 2001-2025 climatology
Text written by Geographical Effect from these sources.
- Papeete - Marina Taina: Remi Jouan, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- The Fautaua Castade - A Tahitian "Staubach", by Clement Lindley Wragge: Clement Lindley Wragge, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Marché Papeete: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
