French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. The total land area of French Polynesia is 3,521 square kilometres (1,359 sq mi), with a population of 278,786 of which at least 205,000 live in the Society Islands and the remaining population lives in the rest of the archipelago.
In Tahiti and adjacent islands, the term Maohi refers to the ancestors of the Polynesian peoples.
The Marquesas Islands are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. Their highest point is the peak of Mount Oave on Ua Pou island, at 1,230 m (4,035 ft) above sea level.
Marquesan is a collection of East-Central Polynesian dialects, of the Marquesic group, spoken in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. They are usually classified into two groups, North Marquesan and South Marquesan, roughly along geographic lines.
With its 320 square kilometres, Hiva Oa is the second largest island in the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. Located at 9 45' south latitude and 139 W longitude, it is the largest island of the southern Marquesas group. Around 2,200 people reside on the island. A volcano, Temetiu, is Hiva Oa's highest point with 1,200 metres.
Ua Pou is the third largest of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean.
Hatutu is a small island approximately 3 km (2 mi.) northeast of Eiao in the northern Marquesas Islands. It is approximately 3 km from Eiao by a channel 50 meters deep. It was also known by the names Hancock, Chanal, Langdon, and Nexsen
Eiao is the largest of the extreme northwestern Marquesas Islands. The island is uninhabited, but is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Nuku-Hiva, itself in the administrative subdivision of the Marquesas Islands.
Tahuata is the smallest of the inhabited Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It is located 4 km (2.5 mi.) to the south of the western end of Hiva Oa, across the Canal du Bordelais, called Ha‘ava in Marquesan.
Ua Huka is one of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It is situated in the northern group of the archipelago, approximately 25 mi (40 km) to the east of Nuku Hiva, at 8°54′S139°33′W.
The Marquesan monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.
This article details the history of the Marquesas. The Marquesas Islands are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. The Marquesas Islands comprise one of the five administrative divisions of French Polynesia.
This page list topics related to French Polynesia.
Robert Carl Suggs was an American archaeologist and anthropologist. He was a student of Harry L. Shapiro at the American Museum of Natural History in the 1950s and received his M.A. from Columbia University in 1956 and his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1959.
Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean. It was formerly also known as Île Marchand and Madison Island.
Joseph Kaiha is a politician of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. He has been the mayor of the island of Ua Pou since 2001. He was Minister of Culture from 2008 to 2009, and founder and first president of the Marquesas Island Community (Codim).
Wood carving in the Marquesas Islands is a practice undertaken by many of the local master craftsmen, who are known as tuhuna. The tuhuna are not only adept at wood carving, but are also skilled at tattoo art and adze manufacture. Marquesan wooden crafts are considered among the finest in French Polynesia; they are highly sought after, and of consistently high quality, although weaving, basket-making, and pareu painting is more popular, especially among women artisans. Paul Gauguin noted the artistic sense of decoration of the Marquesas and appreciated the "unheard of sense of decoration" in their creative art forms.
The Marquesan Dog or Marquesas Islands Dog is an extinct breed of dog from the Marquesas Islands. Similar to other strains of Polynesian dogs, it was introduced to the Marquesas by the ancestors of the Polynesian people during their migrations. Serving as tribal totems and religious symbols, they were sometimes consumed as meat although less frequently than in other parts of the Pacific because of their scarcity. These native dogs are thought to have become extinct before the arrival of Europeans, who did not record their presence on the islands. Petroglyphic representations of dogs and the archaeological remains of dog bones and burials are the only evidence that the breed ever existed. Modern dog populations on the island are the descendants of foreign breeds later reintroduced in the 19th century as companions for European settlers.
