Duke of Gloucester Islands

Duke of Gloucester Islands
	Duke of Gloucester Islands Location in French Polynesia
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	20°16′S 143°56′W / 20.267°S 143.933°W
Archipelago	Tuamotus
Area	17.72 km2 (6.84 sq mi)
Administration
	France
Overseas collectivity	French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision	Tuamotus
Commune	Hao
Largest settlement	Otetou
Demographics
Population	56 (2012)

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.

Atolls[edit]

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

Hereheretue (19°52′S 144°58′W / 19.867°S 144.967°W / -19.867; -144.967) is located to the northwest of the group of the other three atolls, which are located at 20°36′S 143°20′W / 20.600°S 143.333°W / -20.600; -143.333 and are uninhabited. Hereheretue is the only permanently inhabited island of the Duke of Gloucester Islands, with 57 inhabitants in 2002.

History[edit]

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[edit]

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

References[edit]

^ "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
^ Burney, James A chronological history of the discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean London, 1803, vII, p.326.
^ "Te-moana-nui-o-Kiwa". Expedition Magazine. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.