Pitcairn Islands overview
The Pitcairn Islands belongs to Polynesia, and it is a dependent territory rather than a country in the political sense. The long form of the name is Pitcairn Group of Islands. The capital is Adamstown.
Its territory runs to 47 km², which ranks it 237th of the 249 countries and territories in this dataset — just behind Bouvet Island and just ahead of Norfolk Island. For scale, it is around a fifth smaller than San Marino.
Its recorded population is just 47, among the smallest anywhere. Within Polynesia alone it is the 8th largest of 10 and the 10th most populous.
Location, borders and position
The coordinates the dataset gives are 25.1° S, 130.1° W, which puts it in the southern hemisphere, roughly 2,790 km from the equator, in what geographers would call subtropical latitudes.
Australia and Eswatini sit at almost exactly the same latitude on other parts of the globe.
No land border connects it to another territory. That puts it among the 85 entries of 249 here with no land neighbours, a group made up mostly of islands and island groups.
Where Pitcairn Islands is on the map
The map below is centred on Pitcairn Islands at roughly -25.07°, -130.10°. Pan and zoom to see how it sits against its surroundings — the shape of a country's borders explains a surprising amount about its history.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Pitcairn Islands at a glance
- Capital
- Adamstown
- Population
- 47
- Area
- 47 km²
- Region
- Polynesia, Oceania
- Languages
- English
- Currency
- New Zealand dollar (NZD)
- Calling code
- +64
- Internet TLD
- .pn
- People per km²
- 1
How big is Pitcairn Islands, really?
Put next to every other entry on this site, Pitcairn Islands ranks 237th of 249 by area and 246th by population. That works out at less than a thousandth of a percent of the combined land area of all 249 entries and less than a thousandth of a percent of their combined population. Those denominators matter: this list includes territories and dependencies as well as UN member states, so a rank here is not the same as a rank among sovereign countries.
For a sense of scale, the entries immediately either side of Pitcairn Islands in the size ordering are Bouvet Island at 49 km² and Norfolk Island at 36 km², against Pitcairn Islands's 47 km². If you can already picture one of those, you can picture this one.
Density tells a different story from either raw figure. Pitcairn Islands averages 1 people per square kilometre of total area, which makes it among the emptiest places on the list — 241st of the 247 entries that have both a population and a measured area. Total area includes inland water, so the true figure for habitable land is higher than this.
What lies nearest to Pitcairn Islands
Pitcairn Islands has no land border with any country, which changes what "nearby" means. Measured centre to centre in a straight line, the closest other entry on this site is French Polynesia, roughly 1,520 km away. These are approximate distances between representative points, not the shortest crossing between two shorelines, so treat them as a sense of scale rather than a sailing chart.
No land border also means no land crossing: everything and everyone arrives by sea or by air. That single fact drives a lot of what follows on this page, from how goods reach the shops to why Pitcairn Islands's dialling code and internet domain are worth knowing before you travel.
| Nearest entry | Region | Approx. distance |
|---|---|---|
| French Polynesia | Oceania | 1,520 km |
| Cook Islands | Oceania | 3,100 km |
| Niue | Oceania | 4,100 km |
| American Samoa | Oceania | 4,300 km |
| Samoa | Oceania | 4,600 km |
The status of Pitcairn Islands
Pitcairn Islands does not hold a United Nations seat of its own. It is administered as a dependency or overseas territory rather than as a sovereign state, which is why it sits outside the 192 member states while still appearing among the 249 entries on this site.
Not holding a UN seat is not the same as having no self-government, and the administrative details make that clear. Pitcairn Islands has 5 of the five markers of separate administration tracked on this page — its own currency, its own dialling code, its own internet domain, its own iso codes and a designated capital. In day-to-day terms it is run substantially as its own jurisdiction.
- Its own currencyNZD
- Its own dialling code+64
- Its own internet domain.pn
- Its own ISO codespn / PCN
- A designated capitalAdamstown
Pitcairn Islands codes and abbreviations
Every country carries a small set of codes that quietly run the practical world — phone networks, web addresses, passports, luggage tags and dropdown menus. Here are Pitcairn Islands's, and what each one is actually for.
- Calling code+64
- Dial +64 after your international access code to reach a number in Pitcairn Islands.
- Internet domain.pn
- .pn is the country-code top-level domain, so a web address ending in it is registered to Pitcairn Islands.
- ISO two-letter codepn
- Used on vehicle plates, in currency pairs and in almost every dropdown list of countries.
- ISO three-letter codePCN
- The form you will see on passports, at airports and in sports scoreboards.
- DemonymPitcairn Islander
- The correct word for a person from Pitcairn Islands, and for the adjective form.
Fun facts about Pitcairn Islands
- People from the Pitcairn Islands are known as Pitcairn Islanders.
- It is 246th of 249 by population, with about 47 residents.
- Australia and Eswatini sit at almost the same latitude, on the far side of the globe.
- Its currency, the New Zealand dollar, is shared with 4 other entries.
- Its full official name is Pitcairn Group of Islands.
- Its capital city is Adamstown.
- Websites based there use the .pn domain.
Pitcairn Islands — frequently asked questions
- What is the capital of the Pitcairn Islands?
- The capital of the Pitcairn Islands is Adamstown.
- Does the Pitcairn Islands border any other country?
- No. The Pitcairn Islands has no land border with any other country, so every route in or out is by sea or air. 85 of the 249 entries on this site are in the same position.
- How big is the Pitcairn Islands?
- The Pitcairn Islands covers 47 km², ranking 237th of 249 by land area. That makes it around a fifth smaller than San Marino.
- Where is the Pitcairn Islands located?
- The Pitcairn Islands is in Polynesia, part of Oceania. Its reference coordinates are 25.1° south and 130.1° west, roughly 2,790 km from the equator in subtropical latitudes.
- What currency does the Pitcairn Islands use?
- The Pitcairn Islands uses the New Zealand dollar, written $ (currency code NZD). It is shared with 4 other entries: the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Niue and Tokelau.
- Is the Pitcairn Islands a country?
- Not in the political sense. The Pitcairn Islands is a dependent territory rather than a sovereign state, and it is not a UN member. The dataset points to New Zealand as the administering state. It appears on this site because it has its own flag, codes and statistics, but it does not have a seat at the United Nations.
- What language is spoken in the Pitcairn Islands?
- The official language of the Pitcairn Islands is English. It is also official in 90 other entries on this list.
- What is the population of the Pitcairn Islands?
- The Pitcairn Islands has a population of about 47, which makes it the 246th most populous of the 249 countries and territories listed on this site. The United States Minor Outlying Islands sits just above it and South Georgia just below.
