Nuka Hiva
Map showing the location of Nuku Hiva within the Marquesas Islands
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 Nuku Hiva
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| Geography | |
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| Location | South Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | 8°52′S 140°08′W / 8.867°S 140.133°WCoordinates: 8°52′S 140°08′W / 8.867°S 140.133°W |
| Archipelago | Marquesas Islands |
| Area | 339 km2 (131 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 1,224 m (4,016 ft) |
| Highest point | Tekao |
| Administration | |
| Overseas country | French Polynesia |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 2,660 (2007) |
| Pop. density | 7.8 /km2 (20.2 /sq mi) |
Nuku Hiva (sometimes erroneously spelled "Nukahiva") is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It was formerly also known as Île Marchand and Madison Island.
Herman Melville wrote his book Typee based on his experiences in the Taipivai valley in the eastern part of Nuku Hiva. Robert Louis Stevenson's first landfall on his voyage on the Casco was at Hatihe'u, on the north side of Nuku Hiva, in 1888.
The coastline of western Nuku Hiva is characterized by a steep, but fairly regular coastline, indented occasionally by small bays leading to deep valleys, which lead into the interior. There are no villages on this side.
The coastline of the eastern part of the island has few places to land by sea and takes the brunt of the ocean swells.
The north, on the other hand, is indented by deep bays, the largest of which are Anahō and Hatihe'u. 'A'akapa bay is not as large but has a village of the same name.
The south has fewer bays, among which those of Taioha'e, Taipivai, Ho'oumi, Hakaui (the last three are parts of the larger Baie du Contrôleur) and the bays of Hakau'i and Hakatea both accessed by the same narrow entrance.
The central part of the island is a high plateau called To'ovi'i, covered primarily by a tall-grass prairie, on which experiments in cattle raising are taking place for the first time — 15 years ago all the cattle were feral and hunted with rifles.
On the western edge of To'ovi'i rises Tekao, the island's highest peak, which reaches an elevation of 1224 m (4,016 ft). The western and northern edges of To'ovi'i are a mountain ridge, which catches much of the rain that waters the island.
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Wikipedia