Government

Protected by its island warriors, Bora Bora resisted European colonisation and was an independent kingdom with its own royalty until the year 1888. During that year, Bora Bora’s last queen Teriimaevarua III was forced to abdicate by the French, under the leadership of Admiral Abel Aubert Dupetit Thouars, who annexed various Polynesian island groups including Bora Bora as a colony.

French Polynesia has greater autonomy than many other French possessions. Its legal status is that of an overseas country, which entails greater independence than that of an overseas department or territory.

Language 

The main languages in Bora Bora are French and Tahitian, but you’ll find that many people also speak English, especially resort employees.

Many elements of traditional Polynesian culture and arts, such as dancing (tamure), music, tattooing, and religion, disappeared in large part under the influence of missionaries, who began arriving in the late 18th century and suppressed the traditional culture. It has also been misrepresented and, to an extent, reduced to a sort of folklore by the romantic image that Europeans adopted.

Religion

Christianity was brought to the island by the Protestant missionaries in the 19th century.