Tahiti’s People

Oceania Now Has Over 40,000

From Our Own Correspondent

Papeete, Jan. 29.

THE results of the 1931 census, just published in the “Journal Officiel,” show a total population in French Oceania, which includes the Society, Marquesas, Tuamotu, Austral and Gambler Groups, of 39,713 persons.

The returns from three small, iso lated islands have yet to come in, and these will bring the total to well over 40,000, which is an increase on the 1926 figures of more than 4000.

According to the returns, this in crease is almost entirely accounted for under the heading of “French,” the numbers given being 870 and 5280 for 1926 and 1931 respectively. Here there obviously has been a change made in the system of classification, and it may safely be assumed that the latter figures includes a majority of people of mixed French and Polynesian blood who were formerly classed under the heading of “natives.”

Natives are shown as 29,101 for 1931, as compared with 29,644 in 1926, an apparent decrease; but in the light of

what has been said in the preceding paragraph it will be realised that there is an actual increase in the native population of nearly 4000.

Another interesting fact brought out by the census is that the Chinese ele ment is not overrunning the colony to the extent portrayed by writers of sen sational fiction. The figure for 1931 is 4056, a gain of 67 only since 1926.

Other Asiatics total 356, a decrease of 168 during the period under considera tion.

English and Americans (470), other foreigners (307) and floating popula tion (307) all show small increases on the 1926 returns.