Marquesas Islands, Markizy, Îles Marquises |
 |
 |
|
|
The first recorded settlers of the Marquesas were Polynesians, who, from archaaological evidence, are believed to have arrived before 100 CE. Ethnological and linguistic evidence suggests that they likely arrived from the region of Samoa. The islands were given their name by Álvaro de Mendana de Neira who reached them in 1595, visiting first Fatu Hiva and then Tahuata before continuing on to the Solomon Islands. The American navigator Capt. Joseph Ingraham first visited the northern Marquesas in 1791, giving them the name Washington Islands. In 1813, Commodore David Porter claimed Nuku Hiva for the United States, but the United States Congress never ratified that claim, and in 1842, France, following a successful military operation on behalf of a native chief (named Iotete) who claimed to be king of the whole of the island of Tahuata, took possession of the whole group, establishing a settlement (abandoned in 1859) on Nuku Hiva. French control over the group was reestablished in 1870, and later incorporated into the territory of French Polynesia. The Marquesas Islands suffered the greatest population decline as a result of diseases brought by European and American explorers, reducing the estimated sixteenth century population of over 100,000 inhabitants, to about 20,000 by the middle of the nineteenth century, and to just over 2,000 by the beginning of the 1900s. During the course of the twentieth century, the population increased to about 8,500 by 2002, not including the Marquesan community residing on Tahiti. |
|
 |
|
|
14. Photos 15. Anthem - sound file |
1. Dependency status: Dependent territory, administrative division of French Polynesia 2. Government type: parliamentary democracy 3. Location: lying between 400 and 600 miles (600 and 1,000 km) south of the equator and approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) northeast of Tahiti 4. Border Countries: none (island) 5. Climate: tropical, but moderate6. Terrain: mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs 7. Area: 1,274 km2 8. Capital: Tai o Hae 9. Administrative divisions: none; 10. Population: 8,712 inhabitants (2002) 11. Languages: French, Tahitian 12. Religions: na 13. Currency: CFP franc |
 |
|
18. Recommended Travel Oficies:
19. Airlines:
20. Other transport (train, coach, boat etc.)
21. Office in Poland:
|
| *click for look in interesting offers |
 |
|
22. Intresting WEB's:
|