Fatu Hiva

Fatu Hiva (the "H" is not pronounced, see name section below) is the southernmost island of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. With Motu Nao as its closest neighbor, it is also the most isolated of the inhabited islands.

Fatu Hiva is also the title of a book by explorer and archaeologist Thor Heyerdahl, in which he describes his stay on the island in the 1930s.

Name

The name of the island in Marquesan is Fatu Iva (without "h": [ˈfatu ˈiva]). However, the name was recorded by Europeans as Fatu Hiva, perhaps under the influence of other Marquesan islands containing the element Hiva (Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa) and also because in French the letter "h" is silent. The spelling Fatu Hiva has now become official.

The island was named Isla Magdalena ("Magdalene Island") by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, a name rarely used.

Geography

The eastern coastline of Fatu Hiva is characterized by a number of narrow valleys, carved by streams that lead to the interior. Between these valleys are headlands which terminate in cliffs that plunge directly into the sea, making travel between them possible only by travelling over the high mountain ridges between them, or by boat. The largest of these valleys is at Uia.

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Fatu_Hiva

Latest News for: fatu hiva

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A to Z: Cruising the Marquesas and the islands of French Polynesia

Stuff 29 Dec 2017

Troubled painter Paul Gauguin spent his last years at Atuona, on the Marquesan island of Hiva Oa ... Hiva Oa ... On the most isolated Marquesan Island, Fatu Hiva – where Kontiki adventurer Thor Heyerdahl spent a year in the wilds – there's an optional 16km walk from one side of the island to the other....

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Cruising the Marquesas Islands: Love Boat meets Dirty Dancing

Stuff 30 Sep 2017

Nuku Hiva is the first to sharpen into ... Fatu Hiva is the farthest outpost of these islands of isolation – the spot Thor Heyerdahl chose for his anthropological experiment living for a year in deepest nature ... One of the cruise highlights is a 16km walk across the island of Fatu Hiva....

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Majestic Marquesas

Star Advertiser 05 Feb 2017

... island, Hiva Oa, where museums remember both artists ... On the island of Fatu Hiva — where Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl lived during the 1930s and developed his controversial Kon Tiki raft migration theories — native islanders demonstrated traditional tapa- making....