(still) the CFP franc, which is pegged to the euro. The administrative budget of the Gambier Islands is largely subsidized with funds from France and the European Union. The main island is Mangareva, on which, however, only the seat of the local administration is located. Demographics The Gambier Islands had a population of 1,431 inhabitants at the 2017 census. The population was spread over the following islands: Temoe atoll: uninhabited Mangareva Islands: Mangareva Island proper: 1,384 Aukena Island: 25 Akamaru Island: 12 Taravai Island: 8 Angakauitai Island: 1 Kamaka Island: 1 Historical population Religion The majority of the islands' population follows Christianity, mostly the Catholic Church and various Protestant groups, a legacy of the missionary activity that began with the arrival of Europeans to the region. According to 1991 data, between 5 and 6% of the population belonged to a Protestant Christian group. Recently restored after years of closure, the former cathedral of St. Michael of Mangareva, in the Gambier archipelago, bears witness to the time when the first Catholic missionaries settled there in the 19th century. It is a building protected as a historical monument of France. The structure is considered one of the centers of Catholicism in Polynesia. The activity of the Catholic Church was boosted by the Missionary work of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary of Picpus. The Catholic missionaries quickly converted almost the entire population. They constructed many religious buildings and had the marae, the places of worship of the ancient local gods, destroyed. Today the Catholic Church administers 6 buildings in the region the Church of Saint Gabriel in Agonoko, Taravai (), the Church of Our Lady of Peace in Akamaru (), the Church of Saint Raphael in Aukena (), the Church of Saint Joseph of Taku in Mangareva (), the Church of Saint Joseph in Marutea (), and the aforementioned Ancient Cathedral of Saint Michael in Rikitea () (Eastern Oceania cathedral between 1833 and 1848) Culture Little is known about the art and culture of the Gambier Islands before European influence. Ethnological studies on a scientific basis could not be carried out because the works of art were almost completely eliminated by the colonizers in a very short time. Father Laval claimed to have burned 40 wooden idols in a single day. The scant information that has survived on the religion and worship of the Gambier Islands comes mainly