Nuku Hiva

Nuku Hiva
Map showing the location of Nuku Hiva within the Marquesas Islands
Nuku Hiva is located in Pacific Ocean
Nuku Hiva
Nuku Hiva
Location of Nuku Hiva Island in the Pacific Ocean
Geography
LocationSouth Pacific Ocean
Coordinates8°52′S 140°08′W / 8.867°S 140.133°W / -8.867; -140.133
ArchipelagoMarquesas Islands
Area339 km2 (131 sq mi)
Highest elevation1,224 m (4016 ft)
Highest pointTekao
Administration
Overseas countryFrench Polynesia
Demographics
Population3,120 (2017)
Pop. density7.8/km2 (20.2/sq mi)

Nuku Hiva (sometimes spelled Nukahiva or Nukuhiva) is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean. It was formerly also known as Île Marchand and Madison Island.

Herman Melville wrote his book Typee based on his experiences in the Taipivai valley in the eastern part of Nuku Hiva. Robert Louis Stevenson's first landfall on his voyage on the Casco was at Hatihe'u, on the north side of the island, in 1888.