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Marquesas Islands

Monday, 27 January 2025 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union
Category/Kategorie: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  3 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post The Marquesas Islands (French: Îles Marquises or Archipel des Marquises or Marquises; Marquesan: Te Henua ʻEnana (North Marquesan) and Te Fenua ʻEnata (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) 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 (Spanish: Marqués de Cañete), by navigator Álvaro de Mendaña, who visited them in 1595.

The Marquesas Islands constitute one of the five administrative divisions (subdivisions administratives) of French Polynesia. The capital of the Marquesas Islands’ administrative subdivision is the town of Taiohae, on the island of Nuku Hiva. The population of the Marquesas Islands was 9,346 inhabitants at the time of the August 2017 census.

The Marquesas Islands have a rich tradition of art. Art of the Marquesas ranges from large wooden sculptures of ancestors created for temples to small, intricate personal ornaments made from bone and shell. Carved wooden objects were decorated in elaborate anthropomorphic and geometric motifs, similar to tattoo designs that are part of a traditional practice.

In 1996 Lucien Kimitete, the Mayor of Nuku Hiva, proposed that the Marquesas become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In May 2022 public consultations on their listing began. The French government formally lodged an application with UNESCO in January 2023. Te Henua Enata was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on July 31, 2024.

Read more on Wikivoyage Marquesas Islands and Wikipedia Marquesas Islands (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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