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Nuku Hiva (Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia)

Geography and history of Nuku Hiva
Kingdom of Nuku Hiva, 1835

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Geography and history of Nuku Hiva

Quoting the website of the Presidency of French Polynesia:

Nuku Hiva's 330 square kilometers make it the largest island of the Marquesas archipelago. It is 1,500 kilometers northeast of Papeete, located at 8º49'S by 140º12'W. Its tallest point is Mt. Tokao (1,208 meters). Nuku Hiva has a quadrilateral shape with a length of about 30 kilometers and a width of 15 kilometers. The town of Taiohae, the administrative capital of the Marquesas Islands, is located in the center of the southern coast at the foot of the deep Taiohae Bay. In effect, the town is in the center of a volcanic crater, half of which has collapsed into the ocean, creating the bay.
The 1996 census recorded a population of 2,375 persons divided up among three villages: Hatiheu (pop. 343, with 115 in Aakapa), Taipivai (pop. 345) and Taiohae (pop. 1,687). The population density of 7.2 persons per square kilometer is one of the smallest of any district in French Polynesia.
The first humans arrived in Nuku Hiva in 150 BC. There was a development period on Nuku Hiva that lasted until 1100 AD. Many stone facilities were built between 1100-1400 AD. They included platforms (pa'epa'e), tohua and me'ae. It was also during this period that artisans began what later became their famous sculpturing of tikis, such as those of the Taipivai Valley.

Captain Joseph Ingraham, an American explorer, was the first westerner to set foot on Nuku Hiva in April 1791. The island was subsequently visited by many ships seeking a safe h