Gambier Islands

The Gambier Islands are an archipelago in French Polynesia at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago, covering about 27.8 square kilometers. They comprise the Mangareva Islands, high volcanic islands that are remnants of a caldera together with islets on the surrounding fringing reef, and the uninhabited Temoe atoll 45 kilometers to the southeast. The Gambiers are considered distinct from the Tuamotus both culturally, since the Mangarevan language is more closely related to those of the Marquesas Islands, and geologically, since the Mangareva Islands are of volcanic origin with central high islands rather than the coral atolls typical of the Tuamotus.