Official language:
French

Other language:
Tahitian

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• Cousins, uncles, aunts, etc are all part of the scene and are called fetii.
• The family might also have adopted children, faaamu, and children are commonly entrusted to relatives or childless women.
• Family ties are very strong and children are highly valued.
• Although it may be considered impolite to refuse an offer of food, leaving some food on the plate ensures that further helpings are not served and reassures the host that the guest has been well fed.
• They shake hands when they meet, and it is impolite not to shake hands with every person in a small gathering.
• It is customary to remove one’s shoes before entering the home.
  
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• Protestant
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• Food is still cooked in traditional pit ovens. A hole is dug in the ground, stones are placed within it and then a fire is lit to heat the stones. The food, wrapped in banana leaves, is placed on top, and then the hole is filled in again with earth. The baking process takes several hours. In French Polynesia this kind of oven is called an ahimaa and the feast is called a tamaaraa.
• Eat three meals a day.
• Main meal is eaten in the middle of the day. Breakfast usually consists of bread and a hot drink.
• The evening meal is also light, except when it is a special occasion or when people are dining in a restaurant.
• Diet consists of fish and other seafood, chicken, pork, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, rice, and local fruit and vegetables such as papaya, mangoes, pineapples, bananas, and fafa, a type of spinach.
  
  
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• Soccer is the national sport, but they participate in many others, such as boxing, volleyball, basketball, canoeing, windsurfing, swimming, fishing, and diving.
  
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