Editing Pitcairn Islands (section)

== Demographics ==
{{main|Pitcairn Islanders}}
The islands have suffered a substantial population decline since 1940, and the island's community recognise that for the long-term sustainability repopulation is the number one strategic development objective (see {{section link|#Population decline}}, below). The government is committed to attracting migrants.<ref name="star"/>

Only two children were born on Pitcairn in the 21 years prior to 2012. However, in this period, other children were born to Pitcairn mothers who travelled to New Zealand to receive increased health care safeguards during pregnancy and childbirth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/news/releases/news56--04-03-07.shtml |title=News Releases: Pitcairn Island Enjoying Newest {{not a typo|Edition}} {{bracket|''sic''}} |date=30 March 2007 |editor-last=Ford |editor-first=Herbert |website=Pitcairn Islands Study {{not a typo|Center}} |publisher=Pacific Union College |location=Angwin, California |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012131006/http://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/news/releases/news56--04-03-07.shtml |archive-date=12 October 2008 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In 2005, Shirley and Simon Young became the first married outsider couple in history to obtain citizenship on Pitcairn.<ref>''Pitcairn Miscellany'', March 2005.</ref>

=== Language ===
Over 60% of Pitcairn Islanders are [[descendants of the Bounty mutineers|descendants of the ''Bounty'' mutineers]] and Tahitians (or other Polynesians). [[Pitkern]] is a [[creole language]] derived from 18th-century English, with elements of the [[Tahitian language]].<ref name="CIA"/><ref name="Britannica"/> It is spoken as a first language by the population and is taught alongside English at the island's only school. It is closely related to the creole language [[Norfuk language|Norfuk]], spoken on [[Norfolk Island]], because Norfolk was repopulated in the mid-19th century by Pitcairners.

=== Religion ===
The only church building on the island is [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventist]].<ref name="CIA"/> The Seventh-day Adventist Church is not a [[state religion]], as no laws concerning its establishment were passed by the [[local government]]. A successful Seventh-day Adventist mission in the 1890s was important in shaping Pitcairn society. In recent years, the church population has declined, and {{as of|2000|lc=y}}, eight of the then forty islanders attended services regularly,<ref name="ANN">{{cite news |url=http://news.adventist.org/en/all-news/news/go/2001-05-28/turning-point-for-historic-adventist-community-on-pitcairn-island/ |title=Turning Point for Historic Adventist Community on Pitcairn Island |date=28 May 2001 |work=Adventist News Network |location=Silver Spring, Maryland |publisher=General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019232148/http://news.adventist.org/en/all-news/news/go/2001-05-28/turning-point-for-historic-adventist-community-on-pitcairn-island/ |archive-date=19 October 2015 |url-status=live |quote=Although the Adventist Church has always maintained a resident minister and nurse on Pitcairn, there have been fewer adherents and some church members have moved away from the island. By the end of 2000, regular church attendees among the island population of 40 numbered only eight. |df=dmy-all }}</ref> but most attend church on special occasions. From Friday at sunset until Saturday at sunset, Pitcairners observe a day of rest in observance of the [[Sabbath and Seventh-day Adventism|Sabbath]], or as a mark of respect for observant Adventists.
[[File:Pitcairn - Church of Adamstown.jpg|thumb|Church of Adamstown|alt=Adamstown]]
The church was built in 1954. The Sabbath School meets at 10 am on Saturday mornings, and is followed by Divine Service an hour later. On Tuesday evenings, there is another service in the form of a prayer meeting.

=== Education ===
Education is free and compulsory between the ages of five and 15.<ref name=PUCEd>{{cite web|url=https://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/pitcairn/education.shtml|title=Education on Pitcairn Island|work=[[Pacific Union College]]|access-date=2020-01-07|archive-date=29 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929155717/https://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/pitcairn/education.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Children up to the age of 12 are taught at [[Pulau School]], while children of 13 and over attend secondary school in New Zealand, or are educated via correspondence school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pitcairn.gov.pn/policies/SDP%202014-2018%20-%20Amended%2011-05-2016.pdf|page=8|title=Pitcairn Islands Strategic Development Plan 2014-2018|publisher=Government of Pitcairn Islands|access-date=21 March 2018|archive-date=13 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413112728/http://pitcairn.gov.pn/policies/SDP%202014-2018%20-%20Amended%2011-05-2016.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The island's children have produced a book in [[Pitkern language|Pitkern]] and English called ''Mi Bas Side orn Pitcairn'' or ''My Favourite Place on Pitcairn''.

The school on Pitcairn, Pulau School, provides pre-school and primary education based on the New Zealand syllabus. The teacher is appointed by the governor from qualified applicants who are registered in New Zealand as teachers. The government officially took responsibility for education in 1958; the Seventh-day Adventist Church had done so from the 1890s until 1958. There were ten students in 1999; enrolment was previously 20 in the early 1950s, 28 in 1959, and 36 in 1962. The Pulau School has a residence for teachers built in 2004; there was a previous such facility built in 1950.<ref name=PUCEd/>

=== Historical population ===
Pitcairn's population has significantly decreased since its peak of over 200 in the 1930s, to fewer than fifty permanent residents today (2021).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/pitcairn/census.shtml |title=Pitcairn Census |publisher=Pitcairn Islands Study Center |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-date=13 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413133737/http://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/pitcairn/census.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.government.pn/|title=Pitcairn Islands Government online portal|website=www.government.pn|access-date=10 August 2018|archive-date=24 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224091504/http://government.pn/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|-
! Year !! Population !! Year !! Population !! Year !! Population !! Year !! Population !! Year !! Population !! Year !! Population
|-
| 1790 || 27 || 1880 || 112 || 1970 || 96 || 1992 || 54 || 2002 || 48 || 2012 || 48
|-
| 1800 || 34{{efn-lr|two men and nine women from the ''Bounty'' remain}} || 1890 || 136 || 1975 || 74 || 1993 || 57 || 2003 || 59 || 2013 || 56
|-
| 1810 || 50 || 1900 || 136 || 1980 || 61 || 1994 || 54 || 2004 || 65 || 2014 || 56
|-
| 1820 || 66 || 1910 || 140 || 1985 || 58 || 1995 || 55 || 2005 || 63 || 2015 || 50
|-
| 1830 || 70 || 1920 || 163 || 1986 || 68 || 1996 || 43 || 2006 || 65 || 2016 || 49
|-
| 1840 || 119 || 1930 || 190 || 1987 || 59 || 1997 || 40 || 2007 || 64 || 2017 || 50
|-
| 1850 || 146{{efn-lr|last person from the ''Bounty'', [[Teraura]] dies}} || 1936 || 250 || 1988 || 55 || 1998 || 66 || 2008 || 66 || 2018 || 50
|-
| 1856 || 193/0{{efn-lr|Migration to Norfolk Island in 1856 leaves Pitcairn uninhabited}} || 1940 || 163 || 1989 || 55 || 1999 || 46 || 2009 || 67 || 2019||50
|-
| 1859 || 16{{efn-lr|First group returns from Norfolk Island}} || 1950 || 161 || 1990 || 59 || 2000 || 51 || 2010 || 64 || 2020|| 50
|-
| 1870 || 70 || 1960 || 126 || 1991 || 66 || 2001 || 44 || 2011 || 67 || 2021 ||47{{efn-lr|Latest population figure<ref name="bbc.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56923016 |title=Covid: How the UK has been getting jabs to remote territories |publisher=BBC News |access-date=2021-04-30 |date=2021-04-28}}</ref>}}
|}
{{notelist-lr}}

===Structure of the population===

{{Hidden begin 
|title= Population by age group (Census 19.II.2020): <ref>{{Cite web |title=UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/products/dyb/#statistics |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=unstats.un.org}}</ref>
|titlestyle = background:#EEBC35;
}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="80pt"|Age Group
! width="80pt"|Total
! width="80pt"|%
|-
| align="right" | Total 
| align="right" | 45
| align="right" | 100
|-
| align="right" | 0–4
| align="right" | 2
| align="right" | 4.44
|-
| align="right" | 5–9
| align="right" | 0
| align="right" | 0
|-
| align="right" | 10–14
| align="right" | 3
| align="right" | 6.67
|-
| align="right" | 15–19
| align="right" | 2
| align="right" | 4.44
|-
| align="right" | 20–24
| align="right" | 2
| align="right" | 4.44
|-
| align="right" | 25–29
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 2.22
|-
| align="right" | 30–34
| align="right" | 0
| align="right" | 0
|-
| align="right" | 35–39
| align="right" | 3
| align="right" | 6.67
|-
| align="right" | 40–44
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 2.22
|-
| align="right" | 45–49
| align="right" | 4
| align="right" | 8.89
|-
| align="right" | 50–54
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 2.22
|-
| align="right" | 55–59
| align="right" | 7
| align="right" | 15.56
|-
| align="right" | 60–64
| align="right" | 5
| align="right" | 11.11
|-
| align="right" | 65-69
| align="right" | 7
| align="right" | 15.56
|-
| align="right" | 70-74
| align="right" | 2
| align="right" | 4.44
|-
| align="right" | 75-79
| align="right" | 0
| align="right" | 0
|-
| align="right" | 80-84
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 2.22
|-
| align="right" | 85-89
| align="right" | 0
| align="right" | 0
|-
| align="right" | 90-94
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 2.22
|-
| align="right" | 95-99
| align="right" | 0
| align="right" | 0
|-
| align="right" | 100+
| align="right" | 0
| align="right" | 0
|-
! width="50"|Age group 
! width="80"|Total
! width="50"|Per cent
|-
| align="right" | 0–14
| align="right" | 5
| align="right" | 11.11
|-
| align="right" | 15–64
| align="right" | 26
| align="right" | 57.78
|-
| align="right" | 65+
| align="right" | 11
| align="right" | 24.44
|-
| align="right" | unknown
| align="right" | 3
| align="right" | 6.67
|-
|}
{{Hidden end}}

==== Population decline ====
{{As of|2021|April}}, the total resident population of the Pitcairn Islands was 47.<ref name="bbc.com"/> It is rare for all the residents to be on-island at the same time; it is common for several residents to be off-island for varying lengths of time visiting family, for medical reasons, or to attend international conferences. A [[diaspora]] survey completed by Solomon Leonard Ltd in 2014 for the [[Island Council (Pitcairn)|Pitcairn Island Council]] and the [[Government of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom Government]] projected that by 2045, if nothing were done, only three people of working age would be left on the island, with the rest being very old. In addition, the survey revealed that residents who had left the island over the past decades showed little interest in coming back. Of the hundreds of emigrants contacted, only 33 were willing to participate in the survey and just three expressed a desire to return.<ref name= Solomon_2014>{{Citation | last1 = Solomon | first1 = Rob | last2 = Burnett | first2 = Kristy | title = Pitcairn Island Diaspora Survey | date = January 2014 | language = en | url = https://prdrse4all.spc.int/sites/default/files/pitcairn_diaspora_survey_-_final_report.pdf}}</ref>

{{As of|2014}}, the labour force consisted of 31 able-bodied persons: 17 males and 14 females between 18 and 64 years of age. Of the 31, just seven are younger than 40, but 18 are over the age of 50.<ref name="government.pn"/> Most of the men undertake the more strenuous physical tasks on the island such as crewing the longboats, cargo handling, and the operation and maintenance of physical assets. Longboat crew retirement age is 58. There were then 12 men aged between 18 and 58 residing on Pitcairn. Each [[longboat]] requires a minimum crew of three; of the four longboat [[coxswain]]s, two were in their late 50s.<ref name="government.pn"/>

The Pitcairn government's attempts to attract migrants have met with some success. Since 2015 settlement applications were approved for 8 persons, 3 of whom are living on Pitcairn.<ref name="government.pn"/><ref name="star">[https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/12/16/pitcairn_island_an_idyll_haunted_by_its_past.html "Pitcairn Island, an idyll haunted by its past"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016180822/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/12/16/pitcairn_island_an_idyll_haunted_by_its_past.html |date=2017-10-16 }}. ''Toronto Star''. 16 December 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.pitcairn.pn/Laws/Cap%2022%20-%20Social%20Welfare%20Benefits%20Ordinance%202014%20Rev%20Ed.pdf "Ch. XXII. Social Welfare Benefits Ordinance"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329175605/http://pitcairn.pn/Laws/Cap%2022%20-%20Social%20Welfare%20Benefits%20Ordinance%202014%20Rev%20Ed.pdf |date=2016-03-29 }} in ''Laws of Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands. Revised Edition 2014''</ref> The migrants are expected to have at least [[NZ$]]30,000 per person in savings and are expected to build their own house at average cost of NZ$140,000.<ref name="billhaigh">Bill Haigh. [http://www.immigration.pn/FAQ.php "Pitcairn Island Immigration"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108142130/http://www.immigration.pn/FAQ.php |date=2016-01-08 }}. immigration.pn</ref><ref name="Menzies">Kerry Young, Heather Menzies. [http://www.young.pn/immigrationqa.html "Pitcairn Island Immigration Questions and Answers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221192242/http://www.young.pn/immigrationqa.html |date=2015-02-21 }}. young.pn</ref> It is also possible to bring off-island builders at an additional cost of between NZ$23,000 and NZ$28,000.<ref name="Menzies"/> The average annual cost of living on the island is [[NZ$]]9,464.<ref name="billhaigh"/> There is, however, no assurance of the migrant's right to remain on Pitcairn; after their first two years, the council must review and reapprove the migrant's status.<ref>[http://www.pitcairn.pn/Laws/Cap%2012%20-%20Immigration%20Ordinance%202014%20Rev%20Ed.pdf Ch. XII. "Immigration Control Ordinance"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213203304/http://www.pitcairn.pn/Laws/Cap%2012%20-%20Immigration%20Ordinance%202014%20Rev%20Ed.pdf |date=2015-02-13 }} in ''Laws of Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands. Revised Edition 2014''</ref><ref>[http://www.pitcairn.pn/Repopulation%20Plan.pdf Pitcairn Islands Repopulation Plan 2014–2019] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141203174021/http://www.pitcairn.pn/Repopulation%20Plan.pdf |date=3 December 2014 }}. The Pitcairn Islands Council</ref><ref name="Gay 2013">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10870574 |title=Pitcairn Island mayor faces porn charges in court |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |date=11 March 2013 |first=Edward |last=Gay |access-date=13 February 2015 |archive-date=13 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213171504/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10870574 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="www.gov.uk">{{cite web |title=Pitcairn Island travel advice |url=https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/pitcairn-island/entry-requirements |website=gov.uk |publisher=UK government |access-date=6 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918231206/https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/pitcairn-island/entry-requirements |archive-date=2015-09-18 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Freight from [[Tauranga]] to Pitcairn on the {{nowrap|MV ''Claymore II''}} (Pitcairn Island's dedicated passenger and cargo ship chartered by the Pitcairn government) is charged at NZ$350/m<sup>3</sup> for Pitcairners and NZ$1,000/m<sup>3</sup> for all other freight.<ref>[http://www.visitpitcairn.pn/visitpitcairn/claymore2shipinfo/ "Pitcairn Island Tourism: {{nowrap|MV ''Claymore II''}} Ship Info"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20150215021410/http://www.visitpitcairn.pn/visitpitcairn/claymore2shipinfo/ |date=15 February 2015 }}. visitpitcairn.pn</ref> Additionally, Pitcairners are charged NZ$500 for a one-way trip; others are charged NZ$5,000.<ref name="government.pn"/>

{{As of|2014|alt=In 2014}}, the government's Pitcairn Islands Economic Report stated that "{{bracket|no one}} will migrate to Pitcairn Islands for economic reasons as there are limited government jobs, a lack of private sector employment, as well as considerable competition for the tourism dollar." The Pitcairners take turns to accommodate those few tourists who occasionally visit the island.<ref name="government.pn"/>

As the island remains a [[British Overseas Territories|British Overseas Territory]], the British government may at some stage be required to make a decision about the island's future.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ-Q4D5aXPk |title=Pitcairn Islands Face Extinction |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=9 July 2014 |access-date=3 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515000016/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ-Q4D5aXPk |archive-date=2015-05-15 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/sound-pacific-island-of-mutiny-on-the-bounty-fame-running-out-of-people-1404863996 |title=South Pacific Island of 'Mutiny on the Bounty' Fame Running Out of People |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=3 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010094749/http://online.wsj.com/articles/sound-pacific-island-of-mutiny-on-the-bounty-fame-running-out-of-people-1404863996 |archive-date=2014-10-10 |url-status=live }}</ref>