Duke of Gloucester Islands
Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Pacific Ocean |
Coordinates | 20°16′S 143°56′W / 20.267°S 143.933°W |
Archipelago | Tuamotus |
Area | 17.72 km2 (6.84 sq mi) |
Administration | |
France | |
Overseas collectivity | French Polynesia |
Administrative subdivision | Tuamotus |
Commune | Hao |
Largest settlement | Otetou |
Demographics | |
Population | 56[1] (2012) |
The Duke of Gloucester Islands (French: Îles du Duc de Gloucester) is a subgroup of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. They are located southeast of Tahiti and south of the main Tuamotu atoll cluster and are rather isolated.
Atolls
[edit]The Duke of Gloucester Islands include four atolls of relatively small size:
Hereheretue (19°52′S 144°58′W / 19.867°S 144.967°W) is located to the northwest of the group of the other three atolls, which are located at 20°36′S 143°20′W / 20.600°S 143.333°W and are uninhabited. Hereheretue is the only permanently inhabited island of the Duke of Gloucester Islands, with 57 inhabitants in 2002.
History
[edit]First sighting recorded by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 4 February 1606. They were named Cuatro Coronas ("Four Crowns" in Spanish). Gaspar González de Leza, pilot of Fernández de Quiros, charted them as Cuatro Anegadas ("Flooded Four").[2]
They were renamed Duke of Gloucester Islands by the British explorer Philip Carteret, who visited them in 1767, in honour of Prince William, Duke of Gloucester.[3]
Administration
[edit]Administratively the four atolls of the Duke of Gloucester Islands belong to the commune of Hereheretue, which is associated with the Hao commune.
References
[edit]- ^ "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ Burney, James A chronological history of the discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean London, 1803, vII, p.326.
- ^ "Te-moana-nui-o-Kiwa". Expedition Magazine. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
External links
[edit]Media related to Duke of Gloucester Islands at Wikimedia Commons