Duke of Gloucester Islands

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.

Duke of Gloucester Islands
Duke of Gloucester Islands
Location in French Polynesia
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
Coordinates20°16′S 143°56′W
ArchipelagoTuamotus
Area17.72 km2 (6.84 sq mi)
Administration
France
Overseas collectivityFrench Polynesia
Administrative subdivisionTuamotus
CommuneHao
Largest settlementOtetou
Demographics
Population56[1] (2012)
Map of the Tuamotus; the Duke of Gloucester Islands are located south of the main Tuamotu atoll cluster.

Atolls

The Duke of Gloucester Islands include four atolls of relatively small size:

Hereheretue (19°52′S 144°58′W) is located to the northwest of the group of the other three atolls, which are located at 20°36′S 143°20′W and are uninhabited. Hereheretue is the only permanently inhabited island of the Duke of Gloucester Islands, with 57 inhabitants in 2002.

History

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

Administratively the four atolls of the Duke of Gloucester Islands belong to the commune of Hereheretue, which is associated with the Hao commune.

References
  1. "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  2. Burney, James A chronological history of the discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean London, 1803, vII, p.326.
  3. "Te-moana-nui-o-Kiwa". Expedition Magazine. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

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