Austronesia

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For other uses, see Austronesian (disambiguation).

Austronesia, in historical terms, refers to the homeland of the people who speak Austronesian languages, to which Malay, Filipino, Indonesian, Maori, Malagasy, native Hawaiian, the Fijian language and around a thousand other languages belong. The Austronesian homeland is thought by linguists to have been prehistoric Taiwan.

The name Austronesia comes from the Latin austrālis "southern" plus the Greek νήσος (nêsos) "island".

However, in present terminologies, the word Austronesia pertains to the regions where Austronesian languages are spoken. Austronesia then covers about half of the globe, although mostly ocean and oceanic islands, starting from Madagascar to the west until Easter Island, to the east. Austronesia as a region has three traditional divisions: Formosa (Taiwan), the Malay Archipelago, and Austronesian Oceania (Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia).

1 Formosa
2 Malay Archipelago
3 Oceania
4 See also

Formosa

Main articles: Taiwan and Taiwanese aborigines

Malay Archipelago

Main articles: Nusantara and Malay Archipelago

See also: East Indies and Maritime Southeast Asia

The Malay archipelago covers the modern nations of:

Brunei
East Timor
Indonesia, except for the Papuan territories
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore

And to a lesser extent: Madagascar, the Pattani region of Thailand, and the Chamic areas of Vietnam, Cambodia and Hainan Island.

Other islands with native populations having Malay or mixed Malay ancestry but are not part of the traditional area include: New Guinea and the Marianas Islands.

Oceania

Main article: Oceania

Micronesia

The term Micronesia was coined in 1893 by Jules D'Ormont from the Greek roots, meaning 'small islands'.

Politically, Micronesia is divided between eight territories:

the Federated States of Micronesia (sometimes referred to simply as "Micronesia", or alternatively abbreviated "FSM");
the Republic of the Marshall Islands;
the Republic of Palau;
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
the Republic of Nauru;
the Republic of Kiribati;
the Territory of Guam.
the Territory of Wake Island.

Melanesia

The term Melanesia was coined in 1893 by Jules D'Ormont from the Greek meaning 'black islands', in reference to the physiognomy of the Melanesians.

The following islands and groups of islands are traditionally considered part of Melanesia:

Fiji
New Caledonia
New Guinea, politically split between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands
Vanuatu
Maluku, politically in Indonesia
Torres Strait Islands, politically in Australia

Other islands with populations of mixed Melanesian ancestry but are not part of the traditional Melanesian area include:

Nauru
Timor, politically split between Indonesia and East Timor
Maluku Utara, politically in Indonesia
Flores, politically in Indonesia
Sumba, politically in Indonesia

Polynesia

The term Polynesia was coined in 1893 by Jules D'Ormont from the Greek meaning "many islands," describing the multiplicity of the islands in this area of the Pacific.

Countries and territories traditionally included in Polynesia include:

American Samoa (overseas United States territory)
Cook Islands (self-governing former territory of New Zealand)
Easter Island (part of Chile, called Rapa Nui in the Rapa Nui language)
Fiji (Lau Islands)
French Polynesia ("overseas nation", a territory of France)
Hawai‘i (a state of the United States)
Loyalty Islands (a dependency of the French territory of New Caledonia)
New Zealand (called Aotearoa in Māori)
Niue (a self-governing dependency of New Zealand)
Rotuma (an island in the extreme north of Fiji)
Samoa (independent nation)
Swains Island (politically part of American Samoa)
Tokelau (overseas dependency of New Zealand)
Tonga (independent nation)
Tuvalu (independent nation)
Wallis and Futuna (overseas territory of France)

In addition to these islands in this mid-Pacific ocean, Polynesia often is meant to include the Polynesian outliers: islands that are culturally or linguistically Polynesian, but that are geographically in Melanesia or Micronesia. Most of these are small or isolated islands, like Rennell or Tikopia in the Solomon Islands.