The Marquesas Islands is a group of islands in French Polynesia. They were named by �lvaro de Menda�a who reached them in 1595. In French they are known as the Iles Marquises.

With a combined land area of 1,050 km² (405 sq. miles), the Marquesas are among the largest island groups of French Polynesia and were formerly a major center of east Polynesian civilization.

The population of the Marquesas Islands at the 2002 census was 8,712 inhabitants.

The Marquesas 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 Nuku 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.

Famous French painter Paul Gauguin and Belgian singer Jacques Brel (often wrongly assumed to be French) spent the last years of their lives in the Marquesas, and are buried there. Brel composed a famous song, Les Marquises, about the Marquesas Islands, his last home.

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 received an international spotlight in the United States when the reality TV show Survivor: Marquesas was filmed there. It was the fourth installment of the TV series Survivor.

See also

• Jacques Brel
• Paul Gauguin
• Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans

External link

• Finding French Polynesia (http://www.southpacific.org/text/finding_tahiti.html)

de:Marquesas fr:�les Marquises he:איי מרקיז nl:Markiezenarchipel pl:Markizy