The Duke of Gloucester Islands (french: Îles du Duc de Gloucester) is a subgroup of the

Tuamotu The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extendin ...

group in French Polynesia. They are located southeast of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

and south of the main Tuamotu atoll cluster and are rather isolated.

Atolls

The Duke of Gloucester Islands include four

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

s of relatively small size: *

Anuanuraro Anuanuraro is an atoll in French Polynesia, Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Duke of Gloucester Islands, a subgroup of the Tuamotu group. Anuanuraro's nearest neighbor is Anuanurunga, which is located about 29 km to the southeast. Anuanura ...

* Anuanurunga *

Hereheretue Hereheretue or Hiri-oro is an atoll in French Polynesia, Pacific Ocean. It is the northernmost island of the Duke of Gloucester Islands group, or Îles du Duc de Gloucester, a subgroup of the Tuamotu group. Hereheretue's nearest neighbour is ...

* Nukutepipi Hereheretue () is located to the northwest of the group of the other three atolls, which are located at and are uninhabited. Hereheretue is the only permanently inhabited island of the Duke of Gloucester Islands, with 57 inhabitants in 2002.

History

First sighting recorded by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of

Pedro Fernández de Quirós Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

on 4 February 1606. They were named Cuatro Coronas ("Four Crowns" in Spanish). Gaspar González de Leza, pilot of Fernández de Quiros, charted them as Cuatro Anegadas ("Flooded Four"). They were renamed Duke of Gloucester Islands by the British explorer

Philip Carteret Rear-Admiral Philip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity (22 January 1733, Trinity Manor, Jersey – 21 July 1796, Southampton) was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in two of the Royal Navy's circumnavigation expeditions in 176 ...

, who visited them in 1767, in honour of

Prince William, Duke of Gloucester Prince William, Duke of Gloucester (24 July 1689 – 30 July 1700), was the son of Princess Anne (later Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1702) and her husband, Prince George of Denmark. He was their only child to survive infanc ...

Administration

Administratively the four atolls of the Duke of Gloucester Islands belong to the commune of Hereheretue, which is associated with the Hao commune.

References

External links

Maps of all the Duke of Gloucester atolls
Atolls of the Tuamotus Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean {{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub