Knowra Melanesia Melanesia Melanesia is a southwestern Pacific region encompassing New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji. Its communities speak hundreds of languages and have diverse histories and cultures.
New Guinea : A large island north of Australia, divided between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its eastern half forms Papua New Guinea, Melanesia’s largest country and landmass.
Sahul : The prehistoric landmass that joined Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania during low sea levels. Early human settlement of New Guinea began on this larger, connected landmass.
Papua New Guinea : An independent country occupying the eastern half of New Guinea and nearby islands. Its many peoples and languages illustrate Melanesia’s internal diversity.
Micronesia : A Pacific region of small islands and archipelagos north of Melanesia. Its neighboring islands belong to a different conventional Pacific regional grouping.
Bismarck Archipelago : An island group northeast of New Guinea, including New Britain and New Ireland. These islands link New Guinea geographically with the Solomon Islands.
Lapita culture : An ancient Pacific archaeological culture known for distinctive dentate-stamped pottery and ocean voyaging. Lapita communities spread through parts of Melanesia and onward into Remote Oceania.
Kanak people : The Indigenous Melanesian people of New Caledonia. Kanak identity and political movements shape New Caledonia’s place in the region.
Polynesia : A large Pacific region whose islands include Samoa, Tonga, and Hawaiʻi. It is another major Pacific grouping, distinguished from Melanesia by geography and history.
Solomon Islands : An island country and archipelago in the southwestern Pacific, east of Papua New Guinea. They form a central part of the region’s island chain.
Austronesian expansion : The prehistoric dispersal of Austronesian-speaking peoples from Taiwan through Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific. This movement brought new languages and cultural practices into parts of Melanesia.
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