Gambier Islands

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Gambier Islands
Native name:
Îles Gambier
Flag of the Gambier Islands.svg
Karta FP Gambier isl.PNG
The Gambier Islands form the easternmost part of French Polynesia
LocationPacific Ocean
Total islands14
Major islandsMangareva, Akamaru, Aukena, Taravai
Area29.6 km2 (11.4 sq mi)
Overseas collectivityFrench Polynesia
Population1319 (2016)
Gambier Islands is located in Pacific Ocean
Gambier Islands
Gambier Islands
Location of the Gambier Islands in the Pacific Ocean

The Gambier Islands (French: Îles Gambier or Archipel des Gambier) are a populated (1319 people), small (30 km2 or 12 sq mi) group of islands, remnants of a caldera along with islets on the surrounding fringing reef, in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They are generally considered a separate island group from Tuamotu both because their culture and language (Mangarevan) are much more closely related to those of the Marquesas Islands, and because, while the Tuamotus comprise several chains of coral atolls, the Gambiers are of volcanic origin with central high islands.


Gambier Islands (Mangareva)


The Mangareva Islands are located at 23°09′S 134°58′W﻿ / ﻿23.150°S 134.967°W﻿ / -23.150; -134.967 and are approximately 26.6 km² in area. The total population in 2016 was 1319. The primary town is Rikitea, located on Mangareva, as is the highest point in the Gambiers, Mt. Duff, rising to 441 metres (1,447 ft) along that island's south coast.


The islands of Gambier comprises:





Effects of French nuclear testing[edit]

The Gambiers served as a logistical staging base for French nuclear testing activity in Mururoa, approximately 400 kilometers away. During this time, the French military dragged a chain through some of the coral reef beds to cut a wider and deeper channel for deep draft vessels. Higher rate of infections by ciguatera were subsequently recorded.[2]

French military vessels visited the area (as of 1993) every six months collecting specimens of water, food, human hair and other material, as well as taking detailed accounts of births, deaths and other demographic events, presumably for on-going research into the effects of the nuclear testing. The results of this research are not published.[citation needed]

According to French Polynesian doctors who have worked in the area, considerably higher than normal incidences of cancer and thyroid problems are found amongst Polynesians who live near the Moruroa atoll.[citation needed]


See also[edit]


  1. ^ Gonschor, Lorenz Rudolf (August 2008). Law as a Tool of Oppression and Liberation: Institutional Histories and Perspectives on Political Independence in Hawaiʻi, Tahiti Nui/French Polynesia and Rapa Nui. Honolulu: University of Hawaii at Manoa. pp. 56–59. hdl:10125/20375.
  2. ^ Vincent, Lindsay (2006-01-01). "French accused of Pacific nuclear cover-up". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-05-12.


  • Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005), Ch. 3

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