See Also: Marquesas Islands(encyclopedia)
Islands, Bay of(encyclopedia)
Aru Islands(encyclopedia)
cpg islands(medicine)
Bay of Islands(tourism)
Channel Islands(dictionary)
Paracel Islands map(tourism)
Trobriand Islands(encyclopedia)
Windward Islands(dictionary)
Thousand Islands(encyclopedia)

Marquesas Islands (sh)




Island group (pop., 1996: 8,064), French Polynesia.

Located in the central South Pacific Ocean northeast of Tahiti, the Marquesas comprise 10 islands. The southeastern group includes Hiva Oa, the largest and most populous island and the burial place of artist Paul Gauguin; Fatu Hiva and Tahuata; and the uninhabited Motane and Fatu Huku. The northwestern group comprises Nuku Hiva, Ua Pu, Ua Huka, Eiao, and Hatutu. The Spanish explorer alvaro de Menda?a de Neira named the islands for the marquesa de Mendoza in 1595. Annexed by France in 1842, the Marquesas form an administrative division of French Polynesia with headquarters at Taiohae on Nuku Hiva.