French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of France and its only overseas country. It consists of over 100 islands and atolls in the South Pacific Ocean with Tahiti being the most populated.
The first European to visit the islands was Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Over the centuries, the Dutch, British and Spanish all visited the area.
French Catholic missionaries arrived on Tahiti in 1834 and were promptly expelled in 1836. This led to Tahiti and Tahuata being declared a French protectorate in 1842, to allow Catholic missionaries to work undisturbed.
Even though French Polynesia achieved self-rule in September 1984, the date of this holiday commemorates the annexation of the Kingdom of Tahiti and the turnover of native sovereignty by King Pōmare V to France on this day in 1880.