Map of Melanesia, showing its location within OceaniaMelanesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Micronesia and Polynesia.Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange)
Melanesia (UK: /ˌmɛləˈniːziə/, US: /ˌmɛləˈniːʒə/) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east,[1][2][3] and includes the Arafura Sea.[citation needed]
The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. It also includes the Indonesian part of New Guinea, the French oversea collectivity of New Caledonia, and the Torres Strait Islands. Almost all of the region is in the Southern Hemisphere; only a few small islands that are not politically considered part of Oceania—specifically the northwestern islands of Western New Guinea—lie in the Northern Hemisphere.
The name Melanesia (in French, Mélanésie) was first used in 1832 by French navigator Jules Dumont d'Urville: he coined the terms Melanesia and Micronesia to go alongside the pre-existing Polynesia to designate what he viewed as the three main ethnic and geographical regions forming the Pacific.
^Keesing, Roger M.; Kahn, Miriam (21 April 2023). "Melanesian culture". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 23 April 2023. [...] Pacific Islands known as Melanesia. From northwest to southeast, the islands form an arc that begins with New Guinea (the western half of which is called Papua and is part of Indonesia, and the eastern half of which comprises the independent country of Papua New Guinea) and continues through the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides), New Caledonia, Fiji, and numerous smaller islands.
^Matthews, P. H. (2014). Melanesia. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-967512-8. Retrieved 23 April 2023. Group of islands in the south-west Pacific running from New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east.
^Bedford, Stuart (2014). "Melanesia". In C. Renfrew; P. Bahn (eds.). The Cambridge World Prehistory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 622–631. doi:10.1017/CHO9781139017831.043. ISBN 978-1-139-01783-1. Melanesia, home to some 7 million people, covers a vast geographic region of the Southwest Pacific, comprising more than ten thousand islands, ranging from New Guinea, the world's second largest at some 785,753 km², to a myriad of high volcanic islands through to small low atolls, stretching for thousands of kilometres across the Pacific Ocean.
Melanesia (UK: /ˌmɛləˈniːziə/, US: /ˌmɛləˈniːʒə/) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west...
Island Melanesia is a subregion of Melanesia in Oceania. It is located east of New Guinea island, from the Bismarck Archipelago to New Caledonia. Austronesian...
Melanesians are the predominant and indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, in an area stretching from New Guinea to the Fiji Islands. Most speak one of...
OH-shee-A(H)N-ee-ə) is a geographical region comprising Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western Hemispheres...
term referring to one of the three parts of Oceania (the others being Melanesia and Micronesia). The following islands and island groups are either nations...
Solomon Islands, and human flesh was sold at markets in some parts of Melanesia and of the Congo Basin. A form of cannibalism popular in early modern...
disruption to traditional ways of life caused by the colonisation of Melanesia during the late 19th century by Western powers and the resulting oppression...
Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term Pacific...
peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oceania (Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia). Melanesians include the Fijians (Fiji), Kanaks...
regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples...
musical traditions found across the vast region of Melanesia. Vocal music is very common across Melanesia; sitting dances are also attested.[citation needed]...
second-largest island, with an area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi). Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia...
The Free Papua Movement or Free Papua Organization (Indonesian: Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM) is a name given to an independence movement based on Western...
The Archbishop of Melanesia is the spiritual head of the Anglican Church of Melanesia, which is a province of the Anglican Communion in the South Pacific...
people descend from Polynesians whose ancestors emigrated from Taiwan to Melanesia between 3000 and 1000 BCE and then travelled east, reaching the Society...
Companion of the Star of Melanesia (CSM). It is awarded for distinguished service of a high degree to Papua New Guinea and Melanesia, sustained over a period...
Sisters of Melanesia, more usually called The Sisters of Melanesia, is the third order for women to be established in the Church of Melanesia, which is...
populations in maritime Southeast Asia, coastal New Guinea, and Island Melanesia later intermarried with the incoming Austronesian settlers from Taiwan...
parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austronesian languages. They also...
Austronesian people and their distinct material culture, who settled Island Melanesia via a seaborne migration at around 1600 to 500 BCE. The Lapita people...
Stenoma melanesia is a moth of the family Depressariidae. It is found in Colombia. The wingspan is about 18 mm. The forewings are light bronzy brownish...
Lists of mammals by region cover mammals found in different parts of the world. They are organized by continent, region, and country, and in some places...
'Island Southeast Asia'. e.g.: Philippines, Indonesia), Near Oceania (Melanesia), Remote Oceania (Micronesia and Polynesia), Madagascar, and the Comoros...
equator, in tropical areas with intense sunlight: Africa, Australia, Melanesia, New Guinea, South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and the Americas....
Melanesian is an obsolete term referring to the Austronesian languages of Melanesia: that is, the Oceanic, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, or Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian...
governor-general of Solomon Islands. He was the archbishop of Melanesia and bishop of the Diocese of Central Melanesia from 2009 to 2015. Vunagi was born in Samasodu...
Northern Europe Southern Europe Western Europe Australia and New Zealand Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia UN geoscheme for Africa Eastern Africa Middle...
and dependencies by population in Oceania, which includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Projections are from the United Nations and...
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