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.
Ua Pou is the third largest of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It is located about 50 km (30 mi.) south of Nuku Hiva, in the northern Marquesas. Until the beginning of the 1980s, it was the most populous of the Marquesas Islands, because when the other islands were being ravaged by diseases introduced by European explorers and traders, the Catholic priests on the island took to quarantining the remnant of the native population inside their churches whenever visiting ships approached the island, thereby reducing their exposure to external diseases.
Hatutu is a small island approximately 3 km (2 mi.) northeast of Eiao in the northern 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.
Notre Dame Cathedral is a 20th-century church that serves as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Taiohae o Tefenuaenata. It is located in the Meau Valley near the capital city on the island of Nuku Hiva.
Libythea is a widespread genus of nymphalid butterflies commonly called beaks or snouts. They are strong fliers and may even be migratory.
The ultramarine lorikeet is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae, endemic to the Marquesas Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest and plantations. It is threatened mainly by introduction of the black rat and also by deforestation.
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.
Libythea cinyras was a species of butterfly in the nymphalid subfamily Libytheinae. It is now thought to be extinct. It was endemic to Mauritius. The only known specimen is the holotype.
Phyllanthus marchionicus is a species of tree in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is endemic to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, where it grows on the islands of Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou, Ua Huka, Hiva Oa, Tahuata, and Fatu Hiva, in a variety of habitats.
The Libytheinae are a nymphalid subfamily known as snout butterflies, containing two valid genera and about ten species: six in Libythea and four in Libytheana. The common name refers to the thick labial palps (pedipalps) that look like a "snout" in this subfamily. In older literature, this group was recognized as the family Libytheidae. They are medium-sized and typically a drab brown. The front legs are reduced in length and the ventral hindwings are cryptically colored to help them blend in with their surroundings. While at rest, the members of this subfamily keep their wings tightly closed to resemble dead leaves.
Epicephala spinula is a moth of the family Gracillariidae, one of the most primitive groups of ditrysian "micromoths". Within its family, it belongs to the subfamily Gracillariinae. Even though it was first scientifically studied in 1929, for many decades the specimens of this moth were mistaken for the related Australian species E. colymbetella, and their distinctness was only realized in 1986. It is found on the Marquesas Islands, where it occurs at least on Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou, and Fatu Hiva, and though little-known it is apparently not uncommon. The holotype specimen, a female, is USNM 100839.
The Dominican snout is a species of snout butterfly that is endemic to Dominica, an island nation in the Caribbean Lesser Antilles.
Dryopteris macropholis is a species of fern. It is distributed on the Marquesas Islands.
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).
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 a 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 population on the island are the descendants of foreign breeds later reintroduced in the 19th century as companions for European settlers.
The Marquesas tropical moist forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.
