Mangareva

Mangareva

NASA picture of Mangareva Island
Mangareva
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	23°06′34″S 134°57′57″W / 23.10944°S 134.96583°W / -23.10944; -134.96583Coordinates: 23°06′34″S 134°57′57″W / 23.10944°S 134.96583°W / -23.10944; -134.96583
Archipelago	Tuamotus
Area	15.4 km2 (5.9 sq mi)
Length	8 km (5 mi)
Highest elevation	441 m (1,447 ft)
Highest point	Mt. Duff
Administration
France
Overseas collectivity	French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision	Tuamotus
Commune	Gambier Islands
Largest settlement	Rikitea
Demographics
Population	1,239 (2012)

Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islands: Taravai in the southwest, Aukena and Akamaru in the southeast, and islands in the north. Mangareva has a permanent population of 1,239 (2012) and the largest village on the island, Rikitea, is the chief town of the Gambier Islands.

The island is approximately 8 km long and, at 15.4 km², it comprises about 56% of the land area of the whole Gambier group. Mangareva has a high central ridge which runs the length of the island. The highest point in the Gambiers is Mt. Duff, on Mangareva, rising to 441 m along the island's south coast. The island has a large lagoon 24 km in diameter containing reefs whose fish and shellfish helped ancient islanders survive much more successfully than on nearby islands with no reefs.

Mangareva was once heavily forested and supported a large population that traded with other islands via canoes. However, excessive logging by the islanders during the 10th to the 15th centuries resulted in deforestation of the island, with disastrous results for its environment and economy (see Gambier Islands for more details).

The first European to arrive at Mangareva was British Captain James Wilson in 1797 on the ship Duff. Wilson named the island group in honour of Admiral James Gambier, who had helped him to equip his vessel.

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 Honoré Laval was removed to Tahiti, the native government changed its stance and an agreement between Prince Regent Arone 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.