Marquesas << mahr KAY suhz >> Islands are a group of 10 rugged volcanic islands and a few small islets in the South Pacific Ocean. They lie about 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) northeast of Tahiti and have a total area of about 500 square miles (1,300 square kilometers). The islands are part of French Polynesia, an overseas possession of France.
Seven main islands, including Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva, and Ua Pou, form northern and southern island groups. The village of Taiohae, on Nuku Hiva, in the northern island group, is the main port and administrative center. The islands have steep mountains that drop sharply to the sea and fertile valleys with many streams and waterfalls. They have a warm, humid climate, with an average temperature of about 78 °F (25 °C). Annual rainfall varies from about 50 inches (125 centimeters) to more than 100 inches (250 centimeters).
About 10,000 people, mainly Polynesians, live on the Marquesas Islands. Many of them farm and fish to provide basic foods. The chief crops are bananas, breadfruit, coconut, sweet potatoes, and taro. Copra (dried coconut meat) is the main export.
The first settlers on the Marquesas Islands arrived about 2,000 years ago. Archaeologists believe they came from western Polynesia. Evidence suggests that more than one group of early sea voyagers settled on the Marquesas. Artifacts from these settlers include stone carvings in human form, house foundations made of stone, and large courtyards for religious ceremonies. A Spanish explorer, Álvaro de Mendaña, reached the southernmost islands in 1595. He named them after the Marqués de Mendoza, the Spanish viceroy of Peru. The British navigator Captain James Cook visited and mapped the Marquesas in 1774. Joseph Ingraham, an American sea captain, sailed among the northern islands in 1791.
Christian missionaries, sandalwood traders, and whalers from America and Europe visited the islands in the 1800’s. They carried diseases that killed thousands of islanders. In 1842, France annexed the Marquesas and stationed troops on Nuku Hiva. But the French government did not extend its administration over all of the islands until the 1870’s. The French painter Paul Gauguin spent his final years on Hiva Oa.
See also French Polynesia; Quirós, Pedro Fernández de.
