The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia. The population is about 6,300 on almost 150 km2. The capital of the Austral Islands administrative subdivision is Tubuai.

Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely, in the northwest, the Tubuai Islands, consisting of the Îles Maria, Rimatara, Rurutu, Tubuai Island, and Raivavae or Raevavae, and in the southeast, the Bass Islands, composed of the main island of Rapa and the small Marotiri.

From ancient times, these islands were in frequent contact with Tahiti. Capt. Cook was thus able to discover Rurutu in 1769 based on the directions of Tupaia, the high priest of Tahiti, who was very knowledgeable in the science of navigation. Unfortunately the old canoes of the Austral Islands have long since disappeared and were only very poorly described by early travelers.