History
|
French commune of Gambier |
|
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Overseas collectivity | French Polynesia |
| Administrative subdivision | Îles Tuamotu-Gambier |
| Mayor | Monique Labbeyi-Richeton |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 0–441 m (0–1,447 ft) |
| Land area | 46 km2 (18 sq mi) |
| Population | 1,337 |
| - Density | 29 /km2 (75 /sq mi) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 98719/ 98755 |
| 1 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
Coordinates: 23°08′S 134°56′W / 23.14°S 134.94°W / -23.14; -134.94
There was a time (approximately the 10th to the 15th centuries) when the Gambiers hosted a population of several thousand people and traded with other island groups including the Marquesas, the Society Islands and Pitcairn Islands. However, excessive logging by the islanders resulted in almost complete deforestation on Mangareva, with disastrous results for the islands' environment and economy. The folklore of the islands records a slide into civil war and even cannibalism as trade links with the outside world broke down, and archaeological studies have confirmed this tragic story. Today, the islands can support a population of only a few hundred.
In 1834, the Belgian Jesuit priests Honoré Laval and François Caret founded a Roman Catholic mission in the Gambiers. Supposedly they ruled a very cruel regime and worked the native inhabitants cruelly to death in order to create a 'settlement of god' which included a huge cathedral, a monastery, plantations, a convent and a school. Repeatedly complaints to the French government in Tahiti resulted in sending the Compte Emile de la Ronciere to Mangareva to investigate Laval. Honore Laval was sent to Tahiti in 1846 and treated as insane. He died in Papeete in 1880.
Read more about this topic: Gambier Islands
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