Marquesas Islands

American  

[mahr-key-zuhz, -suhz, -suhs] / mɑrˈkeɪ zəz, -səz, -səs /

plural noun

1. a group of French islands in the S Pacific. 480 sq. mi. (1,245 sq. km).

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Marquesas Islands British  

/ mɑːˈkeɪsæs /

plural noun

1. French name: Îles Marquises.  a group of volcanic islands in the S Pacific, in French Polynesia. Pop: 8712 (2002). Area: 1287 sq km (497 sq miles)

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Example Sentences

In French Polynesia, officials raised predicted wave heights for Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands to 4m, with smaller waves of just under a metre expected on surrounding islands.

From BBC • Jul. 30, 2025

The territory has one bright spot: Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands, where French Polynesia’s vaccination campaign began in January and 85% of the population is fully vaccinated.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 3, 2021

The islands of Samoa sit roughly in the middle of Oceania, nearly equidistant from our other study sites in the Solomon Islands and the Marquesas Islands.

From New York Times • Aug. 8, 2012

That home was in the Marquesas Islands, where he moved in 1901.

From New York Times • Feb. 24, 2011

He was first transported to Nukahiwa, one of the Marquesas Islands, and afterwards received permission to settle at Papeete in Tahiti.

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume III (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Scherzer, Karl Ritter von