Marquesas Islands

History

The first recorded settlers of the Marquesas were Polynesians, who, from archeological evidence, are believed to have arrived before 100 AD. However, a recent study using revised, high-precision radiocarbon dates pushes forward the date of Polynesian settlement to between 1200-1277 AD. Ethnological and linguistic evidence suggests that they likely arrived from the region of Tonga and Samoa.

The first Europeans to reach the Marquesas may have been the crew of San Lesmes, a Spanish vessel which disappeared in a storm while passing through the region as part of an expedition headed by Garcia Jofre de Loaisa in June 1526. The islands were given their name by the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana who reached them seventy years later on 21 July 1595. He named them after his patron, Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Canete (Spanish: Marques de Canete) who was Viceroy of Peru at the time. Mendana visited first Fatu Hiva and then Tahuata before continuing on to the Solomon Islands. They charted the four southernmost Marquesas as Magdalena (Fatu Hiva), Dominica (Hiva Oa), San Pedro (Moho Tani), and Santa Cristina (Tahuata).

The American maritime fur trader Joseph Ingraham first visited the northern Marquesas while commanding the brig Hope 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. In 1842, France—following a successful military operation on behalf of a native chief (named Iotete) who claimed he was king of the whole island of Tahuata—took possession of the whole group and established a settlement (abandoned in 1859) on Nuku Hiva. France reestablished control over the group in 1870, and later incorporated it into French Polynesia.

Of all major island groups in the Pacific, the Marquesas suffered the greatest population decline from diseases brought by Western explorers. Imported diseases reduced the eighteenth century population of over 78,000 inhabitants, to about 20,000 by the middle of the nineteenth century, and to just over 4,000 by the beginning of the 1900s. During the course of the twentieth century, the population increased to 8,548 at the November 2002 census, not including the Marquesan community residing on Tahiti, and it has continued to increase since then, reaching 9,264 inhabitants at the August 2012 census.

The sparsely populated Marquesas Islands, located 1,371 km (852 mi) from Tahiti, the most populous island and dominant political center of French Polynesia, often feels neglected by politicians in Tahiti, and some favor a direct link with Paris instead of depending on Papeete. Several prominent Marquesan political leaders have repeatedly declared themselves in favor of separating from French Polynesia and remaining within the French Republic in case French Polynesian political leaders in Tahiti proclaim independence from France. This has generated controversies in Tahiti where pro-independence Tahitian leaders have accused the French central government of encouraging the separation of the Marquesas Islands from French Polynesia.