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59-599: The Gambier Islands (French: Îles Gambier or Archipel des Gambier ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia , located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of 27.8 km or 10.7 sq mi, and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera along with islets on the surrounding fringing reef , and the uninhabited Temoe atoll , which

118-464: A hot spot under the Pacific Plate , which is moving northwestward at a rate of 12.5 cm per year. They are part of an atoll that formed between 5.6 and 5.7 million years ago. The central island has already partially subsided, so that ancient parts of the crater rim still protrude from the water as islands of igneous rocks. The long-sunken caldera can still be noted by the position of the islands in

177-698: A Greek Christian, known as George of Antioch , who previously had served as a naval commander for several North African Muslim rulers. Roger styled George in Abbasid fashion as Amir of Amirs , or Amīr al-Umarāʾ, with the title becoming Latinized in the 13th century as ammiratus ammiratorum . The Sicilians and later the Genoese took the first two parts of the term from their Aragon opponents and used them as one word, amiral . . The French gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese and Spanish

236-506: A cargo service operated by two schooners, which rotate every three weeks. The inhabitants are self-sufficient. They grow yams, taro and breadfruit , as well as all kinds of tropical fruits and, to a lesser extent, coffee for export. Politically, the Gambier Islands belong to French Polynesia. They form one of 17 municipalities ( Commune des Gambier ) administered by a subdivision ( Subdivision administrative des Tuamotu-Gambier ) of

295-685: A meter high and only remotely human, represents the god Rao, supposedly the "god of inequity" according to Father Caret's description, the third most important deity in the Mangareva pantheon. A four-armed stand, like the one described in the text fragment above, is on display at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris. Another naturalistic statue, approximately one meter high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York ,

354-463: A news article published by an Arabic news outlet: On 24 May 2012, in a change of command ceremony aboard aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) , while docked at Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Bahrain , U.S. Marine Corps Gen . James Mattis , Commander, U.S. Central Command , introduced Vice Admiral Mark I. Fox as "Admiral Fox, the prince of the sea, emir of the sea – to translate 'admiral' from

413-530: A population density of 43 p.e./km. The official language is French. The currency is (still) the CFP franc , which is pegged to the euro. The administrative budget of the Gambier Islands is largely subsidized with funds from France and the European Union. The main island is Mangareva , on which, however, only the seat of the local administration is located. The Gambier Islands had a population of 1,431 inhabitants at

472-701: Is a 60% lexical similarity, and usually with French, as well. It is a member of the Marquesic subgroup, and as such is closely related to Hawaiian and Marquesan . According to the Endangered Languages Project , Mangarevan is considered endangered with fewer than 900 speakers out of an ethnic population of 1,491. The larger portion of the population in the Gambier Islands speak French. Archipelago An archipelago ( / ˌ ɑːr k ə ˈ p ɛ l ə ɡ oʊ / AR -kə- PEL -ə-goh ), sometimes called an island group or island chain ,

531-561: Is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands , or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Archipelagos are sometimes defined by political boundaries. For example, while they are geopolitically divided, the San Juan Islands and Gulf Islands geologically form part of a larger Gulf Archipelago. The word archipelago is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄρχι-( arkhi- , "chief") and πέλαγος ( pélagos , "sea") through

590-410: Is believed to represent the god Rogo, the sixth son of Tagaroa and Haumea, the mythical founders of Mangareva. Rogo was the ancient deity of peace and hospitality and was revealed as a rainbow . His cult was associated with the cultivation of turmeric. At the 2017 census, only 24.8% of the population age 15 and older in the Gambier Islands still reported that Mangarevan was the language they spoke

649-450: Is dry grassland. The fringing reef coral islands are species-poor due to poor soil fertility. Here mainly coconut trees ( Cocos nucifera ) thrive, which are used economically for a small copra production. The fauna of the coral islands, poor in species, is limited to birds, insects and lizards. In contrast, the underwater fauna is species-rich. All kinds of coral fish make the lagoon a paradise for divers. The Gambier Islands formed from

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708-652: Is expressly defined as "of the sea, Lat. marinus, epith. of sea-gods , nymphs , etc." Though there are multiple meanings for the Arabic Amīr (أمير), the literal meaning of the phrase Amīr al-Baḥr (أمير البحر) is "Prince of the Sea." This position, versus "commander of the sea," is demonstrated by legal practices prevailing in the Ottoman Empire , whereas it was only possible for Phanariots to qualify for attaining four princely positions, those being grand dragoman , dragoman of

767-469: Is located 45 km (28 mi) south-east of the Mangareva Islands. In the Mangareva Islands, besides Mangareva proper (the main island), the other notable high islands of the group are Akamaru , Angakauitai , Aukena , Kamaka , Kouaku , Makapu , Makaroa , Manui , Mekiro and Taravai . These are primarily of volcanic origin . A number of others are actually coral islands , hence of secondary volcanic origin, including Papuri , Puaumu , Totengengie and

826-535: Is located 45 km (28 mi) south-east of the Mangareva Islands. The Gambiers 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 Mangareva Islands are of volcanic origin with central high islands. Administratively,

885-522: Is pronounced "naúarkhēs," existed from very ancient times in Greece. While ναύαρχος may be defined as "admiral" as used by Plutarch in his Parallel Lives , the very pronunciation of ναύαρχος demonstrates that it is not a part of the etymology for the English word "admiral." The word "admiral" has come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest naval rank in most of the world's navies , equivalent to

944-535: Is relatively constant throughout the year. Temperatures are similar to those of the Austral Islands, with a warm season from November to April and a cool season from May to October. The minimum and maximum temperatures recorded at Gambier (Rikitea meteorological station; station météorologique de Rikitea) are 13.2 °C (27 August 1992) and 31.2 °C (23 January 1989). The volcanic islands are covered with lush tropical vegetation. The windward side of Mount Duff

1003-511: The Arabic amīral ( أمير الـ ) – amīr ( أمير ) [ʔmjr] ( listen ), " king , prince , chief, leader, nobleman , lord , a governor , commander , or person who rules over a number of people" and al ( الـ ), the Arabic definite article meaning "the." In Arabic, admiral is also represented as Amīr al-Baḥr ( أمير البحر ), where al-Baḥr (البحر) means the sea . The 1818 edition of Samuel Johnson 's A Dictionary of

1062-463: The Catholic missionaries , provoking a diplomatic conflict. France sent Admiral Dupetit-Thouars to try to remedy the matter. The admiral ended up establishing a protectorate, and later the annexation of Tahiti. Meanwhile, the Gambier Islands suffered a strong earthquake and tsunami in 1837. Laval and Caret returned to the archipelago and established a theocratic regime. But, most notably, they taught

1121-513: 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. The Gambier Islands include the Mangareva Islands (the Gambier Islands proper), which have an enclosing coral reef which is broken by only three passages to the open sea , and Temoe atoll, which

1180-556: The Tokorua group. The Mangareva Islands have a land area of 25.71 km, with a population of 1,431 people at the 2017 census. 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 comprise: The Gambier Islands have a typical maritime climate, tropical in character but relatively cool. Rainfall

1239-494: The 2017 census. The population was spread over the following islands: The majority of the islands' population follows Christianity, mostly the Catholic Church and various Protestant groups , a legacy of the missionary activity that began with the arrival of Europeans to the region. According to 1991 data, between 5 and 6% of the population belonged to a Protestant Christian group. Recently restored after years of closure,

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1298-501: The Arabic to English;" On 04 Feb 2021, in an announcement of his coronavirus -related death, the Arabic news website Saudi 24 News referred to Admiral Edmond Chagoury by the title "Prince of the Sea." One alternate etymology proposes that the term admiral evolved, instead, from the title of Amīr al-Umarā ʾ (أمير الأمراء). Under the reign of the Buyid dynasty (934 to 1062) of Iraq and Iran ,

1357-641: The Bishop Museum in Honolulu assumed that the Gambier Islands, like the other islands of East Polynesia, were colonized from the Marquesas. However, it is now more likely that settlement originated in the Society Islands around 1000 A.D. There is archaeological evidence that the islands of Mangareva , Taravai, Agakauitai, Akamaru, Aukena and Kamaka were colonized by Polynesians in protohistoric times. The social form

1416-606: The Church of Saint Raphael in Aukena ( Église de Saint-Raphaël ), the Church of Saint Joseph of Taku in Mangareva ( Église de Saint-Joseph-de-Taku ), the Church of Saint Joseph in Marutea ( Église de Saint-Joseph ), and the aforementioned Ancient Cathedral of Saint Michael in Rikitea ( Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Michel ) (Eastern Oceania cathedral between 1833 and 1848) Little is known about

1475-656: The English Language , edited and revised by the Rev. Henry John Todd , states that the term "has been traced to the Arab. emir or amir, lord or commander, and the Gr . ἄλιος , the sea, q. d. prince of the sea . The word is written both with and without the d, in other languages, as well as our own. Barb. Lat. admirallus and amiralius. V. Ducange. Barb. Græc. ἄμηρχλιος. V. Meursii Gloss. Græco-Barbarum, edit. 1610. p. 29. Fr. admiral and amiral. Dan.

1534-467: The Gambier Islands are inside the commune of Gambier , which also includes several atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago. The town hall ( mairie ) of the commune of Gambier is located on Mangareva , which is the largest island in the Gambier Islands group. The population of the Gambier Islands was 1,431 people at the 2017 census, all living in the Mangareva Islands. Ethnologist Kenneth P. Emory of

1593-605: The High Commissariat of French Polynesia ( Haut-commissariat de la République en Polynésie française ) in Papeete , Tahiti. In addition to the Gambier Islands in the geographical sense (i.e. including the atolls of Gambier and Temoe), the following atolls in the southeast of the Tuamotu archipelago belong to the municipality of Gambier: The municipality of Gambier had a total population of 1,421 inhabitants according to 2012 data, with

1652-715: The Huguenot James Gambier , who had financially supported the expedition. In 1825, the British Frederick William Beechey reached the Gambier Islands with his ship HMS Blossom during a long voyage of exploration to the Pacific and Arctic of North America. In 1834 the missionaries of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts Honoré Laval and François Caret arrived in the islands to found

1711-757: The Italian arcipelago . In antiquity , "Archipelago" (from Medieval Greek * ἀρχιπέλαγος and Latin archipelagus ) was the proper name for the Aegean Sea . Later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea has a large number of islands). Archipelagos may be found isolated in large amounts of water or neighbouring a large land mass. For example, Scotland has more than 700 islands surrounding its mainland, which form an archipelago. Archipelagos are often volcanic, forming along island arcs generated by subduction zones or hotspots , but may also be

1770-686: The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary of Picpus. The Catholic missionaries quickly converted almost the entire population . They constructed many religious buildings and had the marae, the places of worship of the ancient local gods , destroyed. Today the Catholic Church administers 6 buildings in the region the Church of Saint Gabriel in Agonoko, Taravai ( Église de Saint-Gabriel ), the Church of Our Lady of Peace in Akamaru ( Église de Notre-Dame-de-Paix ),

1829-502: The acquiescence and then with the active support of the ruler, the Picpusians deployed an extensive development program for the islands . Encouraged by their success, after baptizing the entire population of the Gambier Islands, they moved to Tahiti in 1836. On this island, since Wilson's expedition, there was a Protestant mission led by Pritchard, who was also British consul and advisor to Queen Pomare Vahine. Pritchard succeeded in expelling

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1888-416: The army rank of general . However, this was not always the case; for example, in some European countries prior to the end of World War II , admiral was the third highest naval rank after general admiral and grand admiral . The rank of admiral has also been subdivided into various grades, several of which are historically extinct while others remain in use in most present-day navies. The Royal Navy used

1947-426: The art and culture of the Gambier Islands before European influence. Ethnological studies on a scientific basis could not be carried out because the works of art were almost eliminated by the colonizers in a very short time. Father Laval claimed to have burned 40 wooden idols in a single day. The scant information that has survived on the religion and worship of the Gambier Islands comes mainly from letters written by

2006-470: The colours red, white, and blue, in descending order to indicate seniority of its admirals until 1864; for example, Horatio Nelson 's highest rank was vice-admiral of the white. The generic term for these naval equivalents of army generals is flag officer . Some navies have also used army-type titles for them, such as the Cromwellian "general at sea". While the rank is used in most of NATO countries, it

2065-541: The definition of Amīr (أمير), as given in Edward William Lane 's Arabic-English Lexicon , concurs, in part, with Minsheu's definition, stating that the term means "One having, holding, or possessing, command; a commander; a governor; a lord; a prince, or king." While other Greek words of the period existed to indicate "belonging to the sea," or "of the sea," the now obsolete Gr. ἄλιος mentioned in Johnson's Dictionary

2124-481: The deity. On each side of the idol were carved three-armed stands on which were presented various objects, such as decorated coconut shells and pieces of bamboo, possibly intended to represent musical instruments. Only eight artifacts from the pre-European period from the Gambier Islands remain in the world, including a carved deity of the type described by Beechey in the above text in the Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie in Paris. The wooden figure, about

2183-438: The eyes themselves, were molded and, from the way the figure was carved, one could deduce that no consideration had been given to human anatomy. The idol was placed in an upright position with its limbs attached to the wall of the hut. The head and loins were tied with a piece of white cloth and the feet were placed in a gourd filled with water. Next to the idol were various oars, mats, coils of rope and garments, obviously gifts for

2242-681: The first Catholic mission in Polynesia, after the failed attempt of the Spaniards in Tahiti in 1775. The two priests ended up being protagonists of the French union of Tahiti. At first, King Maputeoa , the last king of Mangareva, resisted, but after attributing the recovery from a serious illness to the new god, he increasingly submitted to the influence of the Christian missionaries and was baptized in 1836. First with

2301-585: The fleet , and the voivodees of Moldavia and Wallachia . Those Phanariots who attained the princely position of dragoman of the fleet served under the Ottoman admiral having administration of the Aegean islands and the Anatolian coast. Modern acknowledgement of the phrase Amīr -al-Baḥr (أمير البحر) meaning "Prince of the Sea" includes a speech made in an official U.S. military ceremony conducted in an Arabic port, and

2360-518: The former cathedral of St. Michael of Mangareva , in the Gambier archipelago, bears witness to the time when the first Catholic missionaries settled there in the 19th century. It is a building protected as a historical monument of France. The structure is considered one of the centers of Catholicism in Polynesia. The activity of the Catholic Church was boosted by the Missionary work of the Congregation of

2419-568: The inhabitants of the islands to read and write, and protected them from European traders and whalers. According to a phrase of Father Laval, "civilization leads to contentment". On the other hand, religious zeal led them to systematically replace all the idols and temples, and in their place they ordered the construction of more than a hundred stone buildings: churches, chapels , convents, seminaries , cemeteries, vicarages, triumphal arches. The cathedral of St. Michael in Mangareva alone could accommodate more than 2,000 people. The population , which

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2478-426: The lagoon. The entire group sits on an underwater rise that sinks relatively rapidly in the south and east, so that the 65 km long fringing reef only rises above the water surface on three sides. From there, numerous low motus, composed of coral sand and rubble, rise just above the sea surface . Today, pearl farming is practiced in the numerous pearl farms in the Gambier lagoons, whose relatively cold waters allow

2537-419: The missionaries to their religious superiors. A thatched hut twenty feet long, ten feet wide, and seven feet high contained the idols. In front of the structure was a space twenty feet square paved with hewn coral blocks and bordered with curbs. Inside the hut was a boundary one meter high along its entire length, in the center of which stood a finely carved and polished one meter high idol. The eyebrows, but not

2596-400: The most at home (down from 38.6% at the 2007 census), while 62.6% reported French as the main language spoken at home (up from 52.3% at the 2007 census), 4.9% reported Tahitian (down from 6.4% in 2007), and 4.6% reported some Chinese dialects (predominantly Hakka ) (up from 3.5% in 2007). In the Gambier Islands, the number of people age 15 and older who reported that the language they spoke

2655-581: The most at home was Mangarevan declined from 300 at the 2007 census to 270 at the 2017 census. In the entire French Polynesia, the number of people age 15 and older who reported that the language they spoke the most at home was Mangarevan declined from 424 at the 2007 census to 332 at the 2017 census. Most of the people who spoke Mangarevan at home outside of the Gambier Islands at the 2017 census lived in Tahiti . Speakers have some bilingualism in Tahitian, in which there

2714-534: The price of airfare to get there are largely responsible for this, but the islands have potential because of their climate , environment and unique historical past. A few sailboats call at Rikitea Bay and tourists wishing to visit the British Pitcairn Islands pass through Mangareva as a base. Local production in the Gambier Islands is limited to a few productive sectors, such as subsistence farming and fishing, and most consumer goods are transported by

2773-470: The production of quality pearls. There are 129 farms, including fourteen companies. In recent years, although far from the large population centers of French Polynesia, the archipelago has seen its population increase thanks to pearl farming and the exploitation of mother-of-pearl. In terms of tourism, the Gambier archipelago is one of the least visited in French Polynesia. The remoteness of Tahiti and

2832-411: The result of erosion , deposition , and land elevation . Depending on their geological origin, islands forming archipelagos can be referred to as oceanic islands , continental fragments , or continental islands . Oceanic islands are mainly of volcanic origin, and widely separated from any adjacent continent. The Hawaiian Islands and Galapagos Islands in the Pacific , and Mascarene Islands in

2891-517: The same. Germ. ammiral. Dutch, admirael or ammirael. Ital. ammiraglio. Sp. almirante. Minsheu, in his Spanish Dictionary, says 'almiralle is a king in the Arabian language.' Amrayl is used by Robert of Gloucester, in the sense of a prince, or governour." The quote from John Minsheu 's Dictionarie in Spanish and English (1599), given in Johnson's Dictionary, has been confirmed as being accurate. Additionally,

2950-571: The second half of the 19th century, the archipelago remained in the sphere of influence of the Pomaré royal dynasty of Tahiti. The Gambier Islands were discovered for Europe in 1797 by James Wilson, captain of the ship Duff of the London Missionary Society , which had left Great Britain to carry out missionary work in Tahiti, Tonga and the Marquesas . He named the islands after his role model,

3009-646: The shelf. The islands of the Inside Passage off the coast of British Columbia and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago are examples. Artificial archipelagos have been created in various countries for different purposes. Palm Islands and The World Islands off Dubai were or are being created for leisure and tourism purposes. Marker Wadden in the Netherlands is being built as a conservation area for birds and other wildlife. The largest archipelago in

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3068-432: The south Indian Ocean are examples. Continental fragments correspond to land masses that have separated from a continental mass due to tectonic displacement. The Farallon Islands off the coast of California are an example. Sets of islands formed close to the coast of a continent are considered continental archipelagos when they form part of the same continental shelf, when those islands are above-water extensions of

3127-476: The spread of previously unknown infectious diseases led to destitution and a drastic decline in population. On the other hand, the missionaries suppressed constant tribal warfare, as well as human sacrifice and combated cannibalism. The French governor of Tahiti stood by and watched the actions on the islands for many years. Only when complaints from businessmen and merchant ships became more frequent did he intervene. Father Laval had to leave Mangareva in 1871 at

3186-609: The title of Amīr al-Umarāʾ, which means prince of princes, came to denote the heir-apparent , or crown prince . This alternate etymology states that the term was in use for the Greco-Arab naval leaders (e.g. Christodulus ) in the Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture of Norman Sicily , which had formerly been ruled by Arabs, at least by the early 11th century. During this time, the Norman Roger II of Sicily (1095–1154) employed

3245-644: The urging of the Bishop of Tahiti, Florentin Etienne "Tepano" Jaussen. He died on 1 November 1880, and was buried in Tahiti. The Gambier Islands were finally annexed on 21 February 1881 under Prince Regent Bernardo Putairi and approved by the President of France on 30 January 1882. The Gambiers served as a logistical staging base for French nuclear testing activity in Mururoa , approximately 400 kilometers away. During this time,

3304-510: The word changed to almirante . As the word was used by people speaking Latin or Latin-based languages it gained the "d" and endured a series of different endings and spellings leading to the English spelling admyrall in the 14th century and to admiral by the 16th century. It is important to note that the etymology of a word does not suggest the antiquity of the word as it may have appeared in other languages with entirely different pronunciations. The Greek ναύαρχος, for instance, which

3363-537: The world by number of islands is the Archipelago Sea , which is part of Finland . There are approximately 40,000 islands, mostly uninhabited. The largest archipelagic state in the world by area, and by population, is Indonesia . Admiral The word admiral in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral , "commander", from Medieval Latin admiralis , admirallus . These evolved from

3422-426: Was a strictly stratified tribal society, with constant inter-clan warfare and intermittent food shortages; cannibalism was not unknown. There is evidence that, shortly before European influence, unrest was taking place that led to turmoil and civil war between the social classes. This social upheaval may have greatly facilitated the conquest of the archipelago by King Pomaré II of Tahiti in the early 19th century. Until

3481-405: Was over 2,000 when Laval and Caret left, dropped to 500 at the end of the 19th century due to disease and emigration. Many laborers were sent from Mangareva to Tahiti to build the cathedral of Papeete in 1856. The recruitment of labor for the large-scale projects depopulated the smaller Gambier Islands and led according to some sources to famine , as daily food procurement was neglected. This and

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