Nuku Hiva
Country	France French Polynesia
Archipelago	Marquesas Islands
Region	South Pacific Ocean
Area	131 sq. mi. 339 km²
Coastline	- km
Highest elevation	Tekao 4,016 ft. 1,224 m
Population  - Density	2,375 ppl. (2002) 18.13 ppl./sq.mi. 7.01 ppl./km²

Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. It was formerly called also Île Marchand and Madison Island. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This is an alphabetical list of countries of the world, including independent states (both those that are internationally recognised and generally unrecognised), inhabited dependent territories and areas of special sovereignty. ... The Mergui Archipelago An archipelago is a landform which consists of a chain or cluster of islands. ... National motto: Mau‘u‘u ha‘e iti Official languages French, Tahitian Political status Dependent territory, administrative division of French Polynesia Capital Tai o Hae Largest City Tai o Hae Area 1,274 km² ( 492 sq. ... The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, peaceful sea, bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan) is the worlds largest body of water. ... Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. ... Tekao is the highest peak on the island of Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands. ... National motto: Mau‘u‘u ha‘e iti Official languages French, Tahitian Political status Dependent territory, administrative division of French Polynesia Capital Tai o Hae Largest City Tai o Hae Area 1,274 km² ( 492 sq. ...

This was the site for Survivor: Marquesas, the fourth installment of the popular CBS reality television show. Herman Melville wrote his book Typee based on his experiences in the Tai Pi Vai valley in the eastern part of the island. Robert Louis Stevenson's first landfall on his voyage on the Casco, was at Hatiheu, on the north side of Nuku Hiva, in 1888. Survivor: Marquesas was the fourth installment of the popular United States reality show Survivor. ... Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. ... Typee (1846; in full: Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life) is American writer Herman Melvilles first novel, partly based on his actual experiences as a beachcomber in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands. ... Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson (November 13, 1850–December 3, 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. ...

Geography

Its highest point, in the northwestern part of the island, is Tekao, which reaches an elevation of 1,224 m (4,016 ft.). Tekao is the highest peak on the island of Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands. ...

The coastline of western Nuku Hiva is characterized by a steep, but fairly regular coastline, indented occasionally by small bays leading to deep valleys, which lead into the interior.

The coastline of the eastern part of the island, on the other hand, is indented by deep bays, the largest of which are Haka Ui and Tai o Hae, and in the former province of Tai Pi, Vai‘i, Ho‘o Umi, Ha‘a Tuatua, Ana Ho and Hatiheu. Located at the head of a wide bay of the same name, on the south side of Nuku Hiva, Tai o Hae is the principal town of Nuku Hiva, as well as the capital of the Marquesas Islands. ...

The central part of the island is a high plateau, the Tōvi‘i, covered primarily by a tall-grass prairie, on which experiments in cattle raising are taking place for the first time. On the western edge rises Tekao, the island's highest peak. The western and northern edges of Tōvi‘i are a mountain ridge, which catches much of the rain that waters the island. In one place, Vaipo Waterfall, the collected water falls off a highland and falls 350 m (1148 ft). The slopes of the western side of the island are much drier than the rest of the island, and are often described as a desert. Tovi‘i is a high plateau in western Nuku Hiva, located in the traditional province of Te I‘i. ... Vaipo Waterfall (also Ahuii or Ahuei) is a waterfall on the island of Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas of French Polynesia. ... This article is about arid terrain. ...

The capital of the Marquesas Islands, Tai o Hae, is located at the head of the bay of that same name.

Demographics

The population in 2002 was 2,375. This is hugely reduced from the numbers encountered in the 1840s when the French first invaded the islands. The usual afflictions beset the islanders at this point with ailments like venereal disease and influenza causing massive mortality rates at such an alarming speed that a great deal of the Shamanistic Knowledge of plants as sources of medecine was lost.

The demographic split of the island is vast majority Polynesian with a very small proportion French colonisers ie Police, Church and various other officials.

Important to note that the Mayor of Nuku Hiva who promoted independence from Tahiti was mysteriously killed in an airplane accident which many locals still state was never properly investigated. There is a considerable amount of latent resentment and hostility about this incident and it is strongly felt by many that this incident was covered up by the French authorities.

The primary diet of the peoples tends to be vegetables, breadfruit, coconut and fruit (both growingin abundance all over the island), but particularly pig and fish. There is a great deal of wild pig on the island. The pig is customarily still killed by hand with a knife as a matter of personal Male honour. The young bucks wear the teeth of the dead wild pigs around their neck as an adornment to woo the women.

Cannibis grows in abundance in this tropical climate but is carefully grown well away from the prying eyes of State Officials.

There is one jail on the island, which is generally used for 'short stay' internments and is also often altogether empty.

Communications

Nuku Hiva is served by a single-runway airport in the northwest corner of the island, approximately 30 miles by road, northwest of Tai o Hae. The airport is NOT capable of handling the largest of aircraft. The only commercial flights to this island seem to be twin engine Fokker with seating capacity of approx 38 people max but 1/2 of that is taken up with cargo for the island and post. Located at the head of a wide bay of the same name, on the south side of Nuku Hiva, Tai o Hae is the principal town of Nuku Hiva, as well as the capital of the Marquesas Islands. ...

History

Before 1600

Nuku Hiva was, in ancient times, the site of two provinces, Te I'i covering somewhat more than the western two thirds of the island, and Tai Pi, covering the eastern third. Te I‘i is a traditional province of Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands. ...

1600 to the Present

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 took possession of the whole group, establishing a settlement (abandoned in 1859) on Nuku Hiva. Year 1813 (MDCCCXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... David Porter (February 1, 1780 – March 3, 1843) was an officer in the United States Navy and later the commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy. ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1859 (MDCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

In 2002, France successfully requested that a 20 year moratorium be applied to French Polynesia to stop it from being incorporated into the European Union. One of the driving factors here is to stop non French investment in property for the time being.

Trivia

Lucien Berland named a genus of pisaurid spider Nukuhiva. Nursery web spiders are spiders of the family Pisauridae. ... Diversity 111 families, 40,000 species Suborders Mesothelae Mygalomorphae Araneomorphae  See table of families Wikispecies has information related to: Spiders Spiders are predatory invertebrate animals that have two body segments, eight legs, no chewing mouth parts and no wings. ... Diversity 1 species Binomial name Nukuhiva adamsoni (Berland, 1933) Type species Dolomedes adamsoni Berland, 1935 Synonyms Dolomedes adamsoni Nukuhiva is a genus of pisaurid spiders with a single species that occurs only on the Marquesas Islands. ...

Resource

• Stevenson, Robert Louis. In the South Seas, Being an Account of Experiences and Observations in the Marquesas, Paumotur and Gilbert Islands in the Course of Two Cruises, on the Yacht Casco (1888) and the Schooner Equator. 1900.

Herman Melville's first ever publication (well before Moby Dick) "Typee" documents most intimately the ways and mores of a people before the French Christian invasion of around 1842.

External links

• Nuku Hiva information, with map, from Tahiti Nui Travel
• Nuku Hiva travel and attraction guide
• Nuku Hiva information
• Presidency of French Polynesia article on Nuku Hiva

Polynesia	Marquesas Islands - French Polynesia
Northern Marquesas: Eiao | Hatutu | Motu Iti | Motu One | Nuku Hiva | Ua Huka | Ua Pu
Southern Marquesas: Fatu Hiva | Fatu Huku | Hiva Oa | Moho Tani | Motu Nao | Tahuata | Terihi
Archipelagoes: Australs | Bass | Gambiers | Marquesas | Societies | Tuamotus

Coordinates: 8°52′S, 140°06′W Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. ... National motto: Mau‘u‘u ha‘e iti Official languages French, Tahitian Political status Dependent territory, administrative division of French Polynesia Capital Tai o Hae Largest City Tai o Hae Area 1,274 km² ( 492 sq. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_French_Polynesia. ... Map of the far northwestern Marquesas Islands (modified from a screenshot of a map from MSMaps) Eïao is the largest of the extreme northwestern Marquesas Islands. ... Map of the far northwestern Marquesas Islands (modified from a screenshot of a map from MSMaps) Hatutu (also called Hatuta‘a) is a small island approximately 3 km (2 mi. ... Motu Iti (sometimes also called Hatu Iti) is one of the northern Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. ... Image of northwestern Marquesas Islands. ... Ua Huka (Marq. ... Ua Pu (also known as Ua Pou) is the third largest of the Marquesas Islands, located about 50 km (30 mi. ... Fatu Hiva is one of the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. ... Fatu Huku is a small island in the Marquesas Islands, nearly halfway between Hiva ‘Oa and Nuku Hiva. ... Hiva `Oa is the second largest island in the Marquesas Islands, and the largest island of the southern group. ... Moho Tani (sometimes also called Motane) is a small island southeast of Hiva ‘Oa in the southern Marquesas Islands. ... Motu Nao is the Marquesan name for a small rock island in the southeastern Marquesas Islands, approximately 22 km (14 miles) northeast of Fatu Hiva. ... Map of Tahuata (modified from a screenshot of a map from MSMaps) Tahuata is the smallest of the inhabited Marquesas Islands. ... Terihi is a small, uninhabited, rocky island in the Marquesas Islands, approximately 1 km (.5 mi. ... The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, sometimes also called the Tubuai Islands, after one of the main islands. ... The Bass Islands (French: Îles du Bass) consist primarily of Rapa and Marotiri. ... The Gambier Islands (French: ÃŽles Gambier or Archipel des Gambier) are a small group of islands in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. ... National motto: Mau‘u‘u ha‘e iti Official languages French, Tahitian Political status Dependent territory, administrative division of French Polynesia Capital Tai o Hae Largest City Tai o Hae Area 1,274 km² ( 492 sq. ... The Society Islands (French: ÃŽles de la Société or offically Archipel de la Société) are a group of islands in the south Pacific, administratively part of French Polynesia. ... A Satellite photo of the Acteon Group, 4 atolls in the southeastern Tuamotus. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...