The Marquesas Islands are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. The Marquesas are located at 9.7812° S, 139.0817° W. The 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.
Atuona, located on Atuona Bay on the southern side of Hiva Oa island, French Polynesia, is the administrative centre of the commune (municipality) of Hiva-Oa. Atuona was the capital of all the Marquesas Islands but it has been replaced by Taiohae.
Te I‘i is a traditional province of Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands. The province covers slightly more than the western two-thirds of the island. The western coast is characterized by steep slopes which plunge directly into the sea, indented occasionally by small bays leading to short deep valleys leading to the interior.
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 finally 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.
The Marquesas Islands were the first of the island groups discovered by European explorers in the Pacific. Over the centuries, these Polynesian islands have been variously known by a number of names.
Air Tahiti is a French airline company which operates in French Polynesia, France. Its principal base is Faa'a International Airport.
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′S 139°33′W.
Abutilon sachetianum is a small tree only known from the Marquesas. The species is found in small subpopulations on the islands of Eiao, Hatutaa, Hiva Oa, Mohotani and Nuku Hiva. Populations on Eiao and Hatutaa are in a critically endangered state.
The red-moustached fruit dove was a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It was endemic to French Polynesia. The last record was of the subspecies P. m. tristrami on Hiva Oa, in 1922. Its extinction has been attributed to predation by the introduced great horned owl, as well as by introduced rats and cats. In 1994, it was listed as an extinct species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Endangered Species.
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.
Phyllanthus marchionicus is a species of tree in the Phyllanthaceae family. 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 Marquesas Islands are the island group farthest from any continent in the world, lying between 400 and 600 miles south of the equator and approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) northeast of Tahiti. They fall naturally into two geographical divisions: the northern group, consisting of Eïao, Hatutu (Hatutaa), Motu One, and the islands centered on the large island of Nuku Hiva: Motu Iti, Ua Pou, Motu Oa and Ua Huka, and the southern group of Fatu Uku, Tahuata, Moho Tani (Motane), Terihi, Fatu Hiva and Motu Nao, clustered around the main island of Hiva `Oa.
Nuku is an element in a number of Polynesian placenames, as well as having a number of other uses. These include:
Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, and is therefore an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean. It was formerly also known as Île Marchand and Madison Island.
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 French Polynesia 's 2nd constituency is a French legislative constituency in French Polynesia. It is currently represented by Nicole Sanquer of Tahoera'a Huiraatira.
