The islands of the Marquesas group are belived by many historians to be the oldest inhabited islands in French Polynesia, having first been colonised by Samoan explorers between 300 and 150 years BC. Located approximately 950 miles north east of Tahiti, the Marquesas archipelago consists of 16 islands divided between a northern and southern grouping. There are six inhabited islands, Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou, Ua Huka, Hiva Oa, Tahuata and Fatu Hiva, and eleven deserted islets.
