Vocabulary - gap-fill activities 1 (Upper Intermediate)

 

The Pitcairn Islands are in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway Peru and New Zealand. The larger island of Pitcairn was in 1767 by the British and settled in 1790 by the mutineers from the English ship 'Bounty' and their Tahitian companions. Pitcairn was the Pacific island to become a British colony (in 1838) and today the last vestige of the British empire in the South Pacific. The population of about 50 are the of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian wives. English is the official language, but many islanders communicate in Pitcairnese (a pidgin language comprising of elements of 18th century English and a Tahitian dialect).

 

The of this tiny island exist on fishing, subsistence farming, handicrafts, and postage stamps. The fertile soil of the valleys produces a wide of fruits and vegetables, including citrus, sugarcane, watermelons, bananas, yams, and beans. Bartering is an part of the economy. The major sources of revenue are the sale of postage stamps to collectors and the sale of handicrafts to passing . It has no port or harbour; and supplies must be transported by rowed longboat from larger ships stationed .