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Marquesas
The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") 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 (french: Mont Oave, links=no) on Ua Pou island, at 1,230 m (4,035 ft) above sea level. Archaeological research suggests the islands were colonized in the 10th century AD by voyagers from West Polynesia. Over the centuries that followed, the islands have maintained a "remarkably uniform culture, biology and language". The Marquesas were named after the 16th century Spanish Viceroy of Peru, the Marquis of Cañete ( es, Marqués de Cañete, italic=unset) by navigator , who visited them in 1595. The Marquesas Islands constitute one of the five administrative divisions (') of French Polynesia. The capital of the Marquesas Islands' administrative subdivision i ...
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Hiva Oa
With its , 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 . History Colonial period The first recorded sighting of Hiva Oa by the Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña on 21 July 1595. They charted it as ''Dominica''. Overview Administratively, Hiva Oa is part of the commune (municipality) of Hiva-Oa, itself in the administrative subdivision of the Marquesas Islands. Atuona, on the coast of Hiva Oa island, is the administrative centre of the commune. Atuona was formerly the seat of government for all of the Marquesas Islands, but it has been replaced by Taiohae on Nuku Hiva island. The island is famous as the final home of French painter Paul Gauguin and Belg ...
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Ua Huka
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 to the east of Nuku Hiva, at . Name Ua Huka is sometimes also found spelled ''Roohka'' or ''Ua Huna''. The first Western navigator to sight the island was U.S. Navy Captain Joseph Ingraham in 1791. He named the island "Washington Island" in honor of U.S. President George Washington, a name which was eventually extended to include all of the northern group of the Marquesas Islands. Other names for the island include ''Riou'' and ''Solide''. ''See also Names of the Marquesas Islands''. The spider genus ''Uahuka'' is named after this island. History Although Ua Huka is located in the northern Marquesas, historically, culturally and linguistically the island's tribes were far more closely aligned with the southern Marquesas Islands, especially with the tribes from Pepane, in the eastern hal ...
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Ua Pou
Ua Pou (french: Ua Pou, North Marquesan: ''’uapou'') is the third largest of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. History Pre-European history Ua Pou is the only major island that was unified under a single monarch prior to the arrival of European explorers. Prior to the island's unification, reportedly about 1585, there is evidence that the tribes of Ua Pou were sometimes united in war with the tribes of Te I'i on Nuku Hiva against those of Tai Pi Vai. Despite the fact that tribes from both the eastern and western halves of Ua Pou were often united in war against each other, however, it appears that such differences among them were not considered when members of tribes from either side of the island sought refuge among the tribes of Te I'i on Nuku Hiva. The early Polynesian settlers of Ua Pou lived under rock overhangs, as excavations from 1982 onwards at the Anapua rock shelter, not far from the village of Ha ...
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Fatu Hiva
Fatu-Hiva (the "H" is not pronounced, see name section below) is the southernmost island of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. With Motu Nao as its closest neighbor, it is also the most isolated of the inhabited islands. ''Fatu Hiva'' is also the title of a book by explorer and archaeologist Thor Heyerdahl, in which he describes his stay on the island in the 1930s. Name The name of the island in Marquesan is Fatu Iva (without "h": ). However, the name was recorded by Europeans as ''Fatu-Hiva,'' perhaps under the influence of other Marquesan islands containing the element ''Hiva'' ( Nuku-Hiva and Hiva-Oa) and also because in French the letter "h" is silent. The spelling ''Fatu-Hiva'' has now become official. The island was named ''Isla Magdalena'' ("Magdalene Island") by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, a name rarely used. Hatauheva is another name form that appears in 1817, by Camille de Roquefeuil during h ...
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Flag Of The Marquesas Islands
The flag of the Marquesas Islands is the flag chosen by the regional government to represent the islands. However, it is not formally recognized by France, the administrative government of the region. Description The flag is divided into two horizontal stripes with yellow on top and red on bottom, with a white equilateral triangle emerging from the hoist. The yellow represents youth and joy, while the red and white are ''tapu'', or sacred, to the chiefs and priests respectively. In the white triangle, a black design of '' Matatiki'' (English: the gaze of Tiki) represents the first man in Polynesian mythology, and the inventor of sculpture and tattooing. The tattoo design on Tiki's cheeks are ''tapu'' symbols. History The first version of the flag was revealed December 30, 1978 by the Motu Haka Association. The flag was formally adopted by the local government on November 30, 1998. The flag was used informally for many years, having been first raised on December 14, 1980, at ...
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Nuku Hiva
Nuku Hiva (sometimes spelled Nukahiva or Nukuhiva) 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''. Herman Melville wrote his book ''Typee'' based on his experiences in the Taipivai valley in the eastern part of Nuku Hiva. Robert Louis Stevenson's first landfall on his voyage on the ''Casco'' was at Hatihe'u, on the north side of the island, in 1888. Geography Coast Western Nuku Hiva is characterized by a steep but fairly regular coastline, indented occasionally by small bays, leading to deep valleys, which in turn lead into the interior. There are no villages on the western side. The coastline of the eastern part of the island has few places to land by sea and takes the brunt of the ocean swells. The northern side, in contrast, is indented by deep bays, the largest of which are Anahō and Hatihe'u. A third bay, 'A'akapa, is smaller and li ...
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Tahuata
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. History Archæological evidence indicates that Tahuata was inhabited by Polynesians as early as AD 200. In later pre-European times, the tribes of Tahuata were allied with the tribes from the Nuku province of Hiva Oa, and the island was considered a dependency of that province. The first recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mandaña on 22 July 1595. They charted the island as ''Santa Cristina''. They landed at Vaitahu that they named ''Madre de Dios'' (God's Mother in Spanish). According to the Spanish accounts Tahuata had fowls, fish, sugar cane, plantains, nuts and fruits. The existent town was built on two sides of a rectangular space, the houses being of timbe ...
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French Polynesia
)Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of French Polynesia , map_caption = Location of French Polynesia (circled in red) , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , established_title = Protectorate proclaimed , established_date = 9 September 1842 , established_title2 = Territorial status , established_date2 = 27 October 1946 , established_title3 = Collectivity status , established_date3 = 28 March 2003 , established_title4 = Country status (nominal title) , established_date4 = 27 February 2004 , official_languages = French , regional_languages = , capital = Papeete , coordinates = , largest_city = Fa'a'ā , demonym = French Polynesian , ethnic_groups = 66.5% unmixed  Polynesians7.1% mixed Polynesians9.3% Demis1 ...
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Marquesas Hotspot
The Marquesas hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is responsible for the creation of the Marquesas Islands – a group of eight main islands and several smaller ones – and a few seamounts. The islands and seamounts formed between 5.5 and 0.4 million years ago and constitute the northernmost volcanic chain in French Polynesia. There are two competing theories concerning the origins of volcanism associated with the Marquesas hotspot. Many geoscientists maintain that the area is underlain by a mantle plume which has transported hot material from the lower mantle to the surface, forming the chain of islands and seamounts as the Pacific Plate moved in a north-westerly direction relative to the stationary plume. Radiometric dating of the youngest volcanic rocks suggests that volcanism is still active. Evidence for a plume origin comes mainly from seismic imaging, with large-scale low velocity anomalies being observed from the core-mantle boundary to arou ...
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Administrative Divisions Of French Polynesia
In French Polynesia, there are two levels of administrative divisions: five administrative subdivisions (french: subdivisions administratives) and 48 communes.Codification des collectivités d'outre-mer (COM)
INSEE, 1 March 2017
Loi n° 2004-193 du 27 février 2004 complétant le statut d'autonomie de la Polynésie française (1)


Hatutu
Hatutu (also called Hatuta‘a) is a small island approximately 3 km (2 mi.) northeast of Eiao in the northern Marquesas Islands. Hatutu is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Nuku-Hiva, itself in the administrative subdivision of the Marquesas Islands. It consists of a high central ridge, which runs the full 6.5 km (4 mi.) length of the island. The ridge rises to heights up to 428 m (1,404 ft.) above sea level. In 1992, Hatutu was declared a nature reserve: the Hatutu Nature Reserve. The island is an important nesting ground for red-footed booby, black noddy, white tern, great frigatebird, and masked booby, and home to the endemic northern Marquesan reed warbler and the Marquesan ground dove. It is also the largest breeding site of Phoenix Petrel in French Polynesia. The island is plagued by Polynesian rat (Rattus exulens) a species introduced by humans sometime in the last several hundred years. The rats likely prey upon nat ...
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South Marquesan Language
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.See Charpentier & François (2015). Phonology The most striking feature of the Marquesan languages is their almost universal replacement of the or of other Polynesian languages by a (glottal stop). Like other Polynesian languages, the phonology of Marquesan languages is characterized by a scarcity of consonants and a comparative abundance of vowels. The consonant phonemes are: Of this small number of consonants, is found only in eastern Nuku Hiva (Tai Pi Marquesan), and is found only in South Marquesan dialects. In writing, the phoneme is written , and is written , the okina. Unlike Samoan, the is not an isolated nasal: it is found only in conjunction with a following . So, whereas the Samoan word for 'bay' is , pr ...
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