The Marquesas Islands ( ; 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 () on Ua Pou island, at 1,230 m (4,035 ft) above sea level.
Archaeological research suggests the islands were settled in the 10th century AD by voyagers from West Polynesia.Allen, Melinda S. and McAlister, Andrew J., 2010, "The Hakaea Beach Site, Marquesan colonisation, and Models of East Polynesian Settlement" Archaeology in Oceania, Vol. 45, p. 54-65. 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 (), 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 is the town of Taioha'e, on the island of Nuku Hiva. The population of the Marquesas Islands was 9,346 inhabitants at the time of the August 2017 census.
Geography
The Marquesas Islands group is one of the most remote in the world. It lies about northeast of Tahiti and about southwest of Mexico (the nearest continental land mass). It is thought to have been formed by a centre of upwelling magma, called the Marquesas hotspot. The islands in the group fall naturally into two geographical divisions. One is the northern group, consisting of Eiao, Hatutu (Hatutaa), Motu One, and the islands surrounding the large island of Nuku Hiva: Motu Iti, also called Hatu Iti; Ua Pou; Motu Oa; and Ua Huka. The other is the southern group, consisting of Fatu Uku, Tahuata, Moho Tani (Motane), Terihi, Fatu Hiva, and Motu Nao (also called Thomasset Rock), which are clustered around the main island of Hiva Oa.
The Marquesas are among the largest island groups in French Polynesia. Their combined land area is . One of the islands in the group, Nuku Hiva, is the second-largest island in the entire territory (after Tahiti). With the exception of Motu One, all the islands of the Marquesas are of volcanic origin.
Although Polynesia tends to be associated with images of lush tropical vegetation, and the Marquesas lie within the tropics, they are remarkably dry. That is because they constitute the first major break for the prevailing easterly winds that arise from the (atmospherically) dry Humboldt Current. This subjects the Marquesas to frequent drought conditions. Only those islands that reach highest into the clouds (generally, higher than above sea level) reliably have periods of precipitation. These conditions have historically led to periodic fluctuations in the availability of fresh water. Periodic lack of water has made human habitation only intermittently sustainable in certain parts of the various islands throughout the archipelago. For example, Ua Huka Island (maximum elevation ) has a history of low population levels, and Eiao Island (maximum elevation ) has been intermittently uninhabited.
Islands of the Marquesas
Northern Marquesas
Eiao Hatutu Motu Iti Motu Oa Motu One Nuku Hiva Ua Huka Ua Pou
Southern Marquesas Fatu Hiva Fatu Huku Hiva Oa Moho Tani Motu Nao Tahuata Terihi
Seamounts There are also a number of seamounts or shoals, located primarily in the area of the northern Marquesas. Among these are: Clark Bank Hinakura Bank Lawson Bank Bank Jean Goguel
Geology
Most of the Marquesas Islands are of volcanic origin, created by the Marquesas hotspot that underlies the Pacific Plate. The Marquesas Islands lie above a submarine volcanic plateau of the same name. The plateau, like the islands, is generally believed to be less than 5 million years old, though one hypothesis is that the plateau (not the islands) is significantly older, and has been formed by forces similar to those that have formed the Inca Plateau, which is subducting under northern Peru.The "lost Inca Plateau": cause of flat subduction beneath Peru? , 1999
The Marquesas islands are estimated to range in age from 1.3 million years old (Fatu Hiva) to 6 million years old (Eiao). All of them except Motu One are volcanic islands. Motu One is a low island, consisting of a small sand bank on a coral reef, the only atoll in the Marquesas Islands. Unlike most French Polynesian islands, the Marquesas islands (other than Motu One) are not surrounded by protective fringing reefs. In those islands, coral is found only in bays and other protected areas, or, in the case of Fatu Huku, in an unusual place: in fossilized form at the top of the island. The South Equatorial Current lashes all these islands fiercely; its force has carved sea-caves that dot their shores. Although the islands have valleys that empty into small bays, they are remarkable for their mountain ridges, which end abruptly in cliffs at the edge of the sea.
Climate
Temperatures in the Marquesas are stable all year round. Precipitation is highly variable: greater in the northern and eastern (windward) coastal areas and mountains, averaging annually; much lower in the western (leeward) areas. Average annual precipitation in the "desert" region of Nuku Hiva is only . Droughts are frequent, sometimes lasting several years, and seem to be associated with the phenomenon.Addison, David J. "Traditional Agriculture of the Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia)" Rapa Nui Journal 21.2 (2007): 111–27. The typical variability of the sea-level climate in the Marquesas is well illustrated by measurements made at the Atuona weather station on Hiva Oa: The highest recorded annual rainfall there is ; the lowest is .Florence, Jacques and Lorence, David H. "Introduction to the Flora and Vegetation of the Marquesas Islands" Allertonia, Vol. 7, No. 4, p. 223
History
The first recorded settlers of the Marquesas were Polynesians who arrived from West Polynesia, descendants of the Lapita Culture. Early attempts to carbon-date evidence from the site suggested they arrived before 100 AD, with other estimates proposing settlement from 600 AD, but several more recent independent studies suggest that they arrived more recently.
For example, a 2010 study that applied higher-precision radiocarbon dating methods to more reliable samples suggests that the earliest colonisation of eastern Polynesia took place much later, within a shorter time period, and in two waves: The first was a migration into the Society Islands between about 1025 and 1120 AD (four centuries later than had previously been thought); the second, between 70 and 265 years later, was a dispersal of migrants to all the remaining Marquesas islands between about 1190 and 1290 AD.Janet M. Wilmshurst, Terry L. Hunt, Carl P. Lipo, and Atholl J. Anderson. "High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent and rapid initial human colonisation of East Polynesia" , PNAS, vol. 108 no. 5, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1015876108, accessed 26 October 2015 This relatively rapid colonisation is believed to account for the "remarkable uniformity of East Polynesian culture, biology and language".
Historical culture
The richness of the natural resources in the islands has historically supported a large population. The inhabitants historically made a living by fishing, collecting shellfish, hunting birds, and gardening. They relied heavily on breadfruit but raised at least 32 other introduced crops. Hard evidence of significant pre-European interarchipelago trade has been found in basalt from the Marquesan quarry island of Eiao. It is known to have been distributed via sailing canoes over distances of more than to provide adze heads to Mo'orea (Society Islands), Mangareva (Gambier Islands), Tubuai (Austral Islands), Rarotonga (Cook Islands), and Tabuaeran (Northern Line Islands).
European contact
The first Europeans to reach the Marquesas may have been the crew members aboard the San Lesmes, a Spanish vessel that disappeared in a storm in June 1526; it was part of an expedition headed by García Jofre de Loaísa. The Spanish explorer reached them nearly 70 years later, on 21 July 1595. He named the islands after his patron, , 5th Marquis of (), who served as Viceroy of Peru from 1590 to 1596. Mendaña visited first Fatu Hiva and then Tahuata before continuing on to the Solomon Islands. His expedition charted the four southernmost Marquesas as (Fatu Hiva), (Hiva Oa), (Moho Tani), and (Tahuata).Sharp, Andrew, The Discovery of the Pacific Islands, Oxford 1960 p. 51
In the late 18th century, European explorers estimated that the population was 80,000 to 100,000. Europeans and Americans were impressed with how easy life appeared to be in the islands, which had a rich habitat and environment. In 1791, the American maritime fur trader Joseph Ingraham first visited the northern Marquesas while commanding the brig . He named them the Washington Islands. From 1797 to 1799, William Pascoe Crook became the first Protestant missionary to live in the Marquesas. In 1813, Commodore David Porter claimed Nuku Hiva for the United States, but the United States Congress never ratified that claim. For a brief period the islands exported sandalwood, but the resource was depleted within four years.
The islands were a popular port of call for whaling ships in the Age of Sail. The first on record to visit was the Hope, in April 1791.Langdon, Robert (1984), Where the whalers went: An index to the Pacific ports and islands visited by American whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th century, Canberra, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, p.168 & 171. The last known such visitor was the American whaler Alaska in February 1907.Langdon, p.175
In 1842, France conducted a successful military operation in support of the native chief Iotete's claim that he was king of the whole island of Tahuata. The French government then laid claim to the whole island group and established a settlement on Nuku Hiva. That settlement was abandoned in 1857, but France re-established control over the group in 1870. It later incorporated the Marquesas into French Polynesia.
The indigenous people of the Marquesas suffered high death rates from diseases carried by Western explorers, such as smallpox and measles, because none of them had any immunity to them.
The Marquesas lost more people to death from these diseases than any other island group in Polynesia. The population shrank from over 78,000 inhabitants in the 18th century to about 20,000 by the middle of the 19th century, and to just over 4,000 by the beginning of the 20th century, reaching an all-time low of 2,255 in 1926. After that, the population started to increase, reaching 8,548 by the time of the November 2002 census (not including the Marquesan community residing in Tahiti), and 9,346 by the time of the August 2017 census.
Contemporary history In 2024, the Marquesas Islands were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under "Te Henua Enata" (), as part of the committee's commitment to conservation efforts protecting indigenous populations.
Government and politics The Marquesas Islands form one of the five administrative divisions () of French Polynesia. French and Tahitian are the official languages of government. The capital of the Marquesas Islands administrative subdivision is the settlement of Taioha'e on the island of Nuku Hiva.
The sparsely populated Marquesas Islands are located from Tahiti. With 183,645 inhabitants (2012 census), Tahiti is the most populous island of French Polynesia, containing 68.5% of the total population of the grouping.Chart of the Island Otaheite, by Lieut. J. Cook 1769 . National Maritime Museum. nmm.ac.uk