The Gambier Islands are a 26 islands archipelago east of the 140th longitude in the South Pacific, about 1800 kilometers southeast of Tahiti. Geographically, the Gambier Islands belong to the Tuamotu Archipelago, politically to French Polynesia. 7 islands are inhabited. The main island Mangareva, which is located in the center of the group, is eight-kilometer long and on average one and a half kilometers wide, is of volcanic origin. The highest elevation is Mt. Duff with 440 meters to the south of the island. Rivers and streams do not exist, the water supply is furnished by rainwater collected in cisterns.
The island is surrounded on three sides by a 65 km long barrier reef with numerous uninhabited Motus.
It was discovered in Europe in 1797 by James Wilson, captain of the "Duff" ship of the London Missionary Society that set sail from Great Britain for missionary work of the "heathen" on Tahiti, Tonga and the Marquesas. He named the islands after his model, the British admiral James Gambier, commander of the Channel Fleet and governor of Newfoundland.
In 1881 France took over the administration of the islands. Today, they are part of the overseas territory of French Polynesia.
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The largest settlement is the village of Rikitea in the southeast of the main island of Mangareva, with a population of 680, mainly Polynesian. The main source of income is today the cultivation of the black-lipped pearl oysters for the production of black pearls. The trade with black pearls is mainly controlled by Hong Kong Chinese. As a result of pearl breeding, Chinese, Europeans and Japanese have settled here in recent years.
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