Marquesas Islands

The Marquesas Islands are a group of rugged volcanic islands in the north-east of French Polynesia, among the earliest settled in eastern Polynesia and a likely source of settlers for Hawaii and Rapa Nui. Visited by the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña in 1595, they were annexed by France in 1842. Disease drastically reduced their population in the 19th century; the painter Paul Gauguin died on Hiva Oa in 1903.