The Gambier Islands (French: Îles Gambier
or Archipel des Gambier) are a populated (1319
people), small (30 km2 or 12 sq mi) group
of islands, remnants of a caldera along with
islets on the surrounding fringing reef, in
French Polynesia, located at the southeast
terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They
are generally considered a separate island
group from Tuamotu both because their culture
and language (Mangarevan) are much more closely
related to those of the Marquesas Islands,
and because, while the Tuamotus comprise several
chains of coral atolls, the Gambiers are of
volcanic origin with central high islands.
== Geography ==
The Gambier Islands include the Mangareva
Islands (the Gambier Islands proper), which
have an enclosing coral reef which is broken
by only three passages to the open sea. Besides
Mangareva, the other notable high islands
of the group are Akamaru, Angakauitai, Aukena,
Kamaka, Kouaku, Makapu, Makaroa, Manui, Mekiro
and Taravai. These are primarily of volcanic
origin. A number of others are actually coral
islands, hence of secondary volcanic origin,
including Papuri, Puaumu, Totengengie and
the Tokorua group.
The Mangareva Islands are located at 23°09′S
134°58′W and are approximately 26.6 km²
in area. The total population in 2016 was
1319. The primary town is Rikitea, located
on Mangareva, as is the highest point in the
Gambiers, Mt. Duff, rising to 441 metres (1,447
ft) along that island's south coast.
The islands of Gambier comprises:
Temoe atoll: one main island and a dozen motus
separated by passes over the coral reef.
Mangareva Islands
islands in the central lagoon (only high islands
are permanently inhabited):
to the north, the high island of Mangareva
(the largest island of the atoll), and the
islet of Rumarei;
to the north-east, the high island of Aukena;
to the south-east, the high island of Akamaru,
the two smaller islands Makapu, Mekiro, and
the two islets of Atumata, Teohootepohatu;
to the south, the high island of Kamaka, the
two smaller islands of Makaroa, Manui, and
the islet of Motu Teiku;
to the west, the high islands of Taravai and
Angakauitai, and the islets of Tepu Nui and
Motu-O-Ari;
low islands on the coral reef (none of them
are inhabited):
to the north-west, the islet of Tenoko;
to the north, the islet of Papuri; the three
islands of Teauaone, Tepapuri and Puaumu;
to the north-east, the four islets of Vaiatekeue,
Teauotu, Apou, and Tuaeu; the three islands
of Totegegie (location of the Totegegie Airport),
Tarauru Roa, Gaioio;
to the east, the two islets of Tauna and Tekava;
to the south-east, the island of Kouaku;
to the west, the reef of Tokorua (occasionally
emerging).
== History ==
Approximately from the 10th to the 15th centuries,
the Gambiers hosted a population of several
thousand people and traded with other island
groups including the Marquesas, the Society
Islands and Pitcairn Islands. However, excessive
logging by the islanders resulted in almost
complete deforestation on Mangareva, with
disastrous results for the islands' environment
and economy. The folklore of the islands records
a slide into civil war and even cannibalism
as trade links with the outside world broke
down, and archaeological studies have confirmed
this. Today, the islands can support a population
of only a few hundred.
In 1834, the French Picpus priests Honoré
Laval and François Caret with their assistant
Columba Murphy founded a Roman Catholic mission
in the Gambiers. After their success here,
they moved to Tahiti in 1836.
Mangareva along with its dependencies in the
Gambier Islands were ruled by a line of kings
and later regents that ruled until the French
formally annexed the islands in 1881. A French
protectorate was requested on 16 February
1844 by King Maputeoa but was never ratified
by the French government. On 4 February 1870,
Prince Regent Arone Teikatoara and the Mangarevan
government formally withdrew the protectorate
request and asked the French to not intervene
in the kingdom's affairs. After Father Laval
was removed to Tahiti, the native government
changed their stance and an agreement between
the native government and the French colonial
authority in Tahiti was signed reaffirming
the protectorate status on 30 November 1871.
The Gambier Islands were finally annexed on
21 February 1881 under Prince Regent Bernardo
Putairi and approved by the President of France
on 30 January 1882.
=== Effects of French nuclear testing ===
The Gambiers served as a logistical staging
base for French nuclear testing activity in
Mururoa, approximately 400 kilometers away.
During this time, the French military dragged
a chain through some of the coral reef beds
to cut a wider and deeper channel for deep
draft vessels. Higher rate of infections by
ciguatera were subsequently recorded.French
military vessels visited the area (as of 1993)
every six months collecting specimens of water,
food, human hair and other material, as well
as taking detailed accounts of births, deaths
and other demographic events, presumably for
on-going research into the effects of the
nuclear testing. The results of this research
are not published.According to French Polynesian
doctors who have worked in the area, considerably
higher than normal incidences of cancer and
thyroid problems are found amongst Polynesians
who live near the Moruroa atoll.
== Gallery ==
== See also ==
List of non-marine molluscs of the Gambier
Islands
List of monarchs of Mangareva
== Notes ==
== References ==
Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose
to Fail or Succeed (2005), Ch. 3
== External links ==
Atoll list (in French)
Death of a People. A look at the decline of
Mangareva and the missionary influence on
the people of the Gambiers.
