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Pitcairn Island was discovered in 1767 by the British and settled in 1790 by the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. Pitcairn was the first Pacific island to become a British colony (in 1838) and today remains the last vestige of that empire in the South Pacific. Outmigration, primarily to New Zealand, has thinned the population from a peak of 233 in 1937 to less than 50 today.
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Country
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Surface Area: 47 square km (Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands)
Population: 47 (July 2002 est.)
Located in: Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean
Capital City: Adamstown
Head of State: Queen ELIZABETH II, represented by UK High Commissioner to New Zealand and Governor (nonresident) of the Pitcairn Islands Martin WILLIAMS
Prime Minister: Mayor and Chairman of the Island Council Steve CHRISTIAN
Independent since: overseas territory of the UK
Currency: New Zealand dollar (NZD)
Flag (image): 
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