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The Marquesas Islands (from Spanish
Marquesas) is a group of islands in French Polynesia. They were named by a Álvaro de Mendaña who reached them in 1595. In
French, Iles Marquises.
With a combined area of some 807 square miles (2090 km²), the Marquesas are among the largest island groups of French
Polynesia and were formerly a major center of east Polynesian civilization.
They lie 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. They fall naturally into two
geographical divisions: the northern group centered around the large island of Nuka
Hiva and the two smaller islands of Ua
Pou and Ua Huka, and the southern group
of Tahuata, Moho Tani and Fatu Hiva, clustered around the main island of
Hiva Oa.
The Marquesas provided inspiration to American novelist Herman
Melville, whose experiences in the Marquesas formed the bases for the novels Typee and Omoo.
The Marquesas Islands temporarily got national spotlight in the United
States when the reality TV show Survivor: Marquesas was
filmed here. It was the 4th installment of the TV series Survivor.
See also
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