Gambier Islands

The Gambier Islands are a small, remote archipelago in southeastern French Polynesia centred on the main island of Mangareva and the town of Rikitea. The islands are noted for sheltered coral lagoons, small motus and traditional Polynesian culture.

Visitors come for lagoon scenery, snorkeling, and to see the historic churches and colonial-era buildings in Rikitea. The archipelago has a local economy that includes black-pearl farming and small-scale fishing, and its sheltered lagoons are the focal point for marine tourism and boat access.

The islands were settled by Polynesian seafarers before European contact; missionary activity and colonial administration in the 19th century left a legacy of stone churches and Western-style architecture in Rikitea. The Gambiers were later integrated administratively into French Polynesia.

The Gambier Islands lie in the southeastern reaches of French Polynesia in the South Pacific, several hundred nautical miles southeast of the Society Islands; Mangareva and Rikitea are the main inhabited centres.

• Political status: An outlying archipelago of French Polynesia in the southeastern Pacific, administratively linked to French Polynesia with a small, dispersed population.
• Main settlement: Rikitea on Mangareva is the islands' main settlement and service centre, known for 19th-century churches and colonial-era architecture.

What to See #

• Mangareva (Rikitea): Mangareva is the largest inhabited island and administrative centre, with the town of Rikitea and historical churches.
• Lagoon and motus: A central lagoon enclosed by a ring of small islets and motus that form the archipelago's reef-fringed lagoon system and anchorage areas.
• Pearl farming areas: Local pearl farms and lagoons where black pearl cultivation and small-scale aquaculture are concentrated on sheltered reef flats.