Melanesia

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map of Melanesia

Melanesia (from Greek: μέλας black, νῆσος island) is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western side of the West Pacific to the Arafura Sea, north and northeast of Australia. The term was first used by Jules Dumont d'Urville in 1832 to denote an ethnic and geographical grouping of islands distinct from Polynesia and Micronesia.

Today, d'Urville's racial classification is known to be inaccurate because it obscures the very great cultural, linguistic, and genetic diversity in the area and combines two quite distinct groups, the Austronesians (who have a much wider distribution than just Melanesia) and the Papuans (who themselves comprise a number of separate groups). A further complication is that the term Melanesian is sometimes used to refer solely to the Austronesian peoples of that region, especially when contrasting them with the Polynesians and Micronesians (both of whom are also Austronesian).

In contrast, there is a widely used geopolitical conception of Melanesia. For example, the Melanesian Spearhead Group Preferential Trade Agreement is a regional trade treaty governing the states of Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji. Melanesia is also current as a geographic term, used as a reference to the area when national, ethnic, and linguistic distinctions are not relevant.[1]

Contents

[edit] People

The original inhabitants of the islands now named Melanesia were likely the ancestors of the presentday Papuan-speaking people. These people are thought to have occupied New Guinea tens of millennia ago and reached the islands at least 35,000 years ago (according to radiocarbon dating). They appear to have occupied these islands as far east as the main islands in the Solomon Islands (i.e., including San Cristobal) and perhaps even to the smaller islands farther to the east.[2]

It was particularly along the north coast of New Guinea and in the islands north and east of New Guinea that the Austronesian people came into contact with these pre-existing populations of Papuan-speaking peoples, probably around 4000 years ago. There was probably a long period of interaction that resulted in many complex changes in genetics, languages, and culture.[3] It is likely that from this area a very small group of people (speaking an Austronesian language) departed to the east to become the forebears of the Polynesian people.[4]

[edit] Location

The following islands and groups of islands since the 19th century have been considered part of Melanesia:

Islands whose long-established inhabitants are of mixed ancestry who do not necessarily self-identify as Melanesian:

Some of the islands to the west of New Guinea such as Halmahera, Alor, and Pantar can also be considered to be part of Melanesia, although people in this area do not make use of the term.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Diamond, Jared and Ernst Mayr (2001). The Birds of Northern Melanesia: Speciation, Ecology, and Biogeography. N.Y.: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514170-9. 
  2. ^ Dunn, Michael, Angela Terrill, Ger Reesink, Robert A. Foley, Stephen C. Levinson (2005). "Structural Phylogenetics and the Reconstruction of Ancient Language History". Science 309: 2072-2075. doi:10.1126/science.1114615.
  3. ^ Spriggs, Matthew (1997). The Island Melanesians. Blackwell. ISBN 0631167277. 
  4. ^ Kayser, Manfred, Silke Brauer, Gunter Weiss, Peter A. Underhill, Lutz Rower, Wulf Schiefenhövel and Mark Stoneking (2000). "The Melanesian Origin of Polynesian Y chromosomes". Current Biology 10: 1237-1246. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00029-X.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Countries and territories of Oceania
Image:Australasia.png AustralasiaAustralia · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · New Zealand1[›] · Norfolk Island
Image:Melanesia.png  MelanesiaEast Timor2[›] · Fiji · Indonesia (Maluku Islands) · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea3[›] · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu
Image:Micronesia.png MicronesiaFederated States of Micronesia · Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Nauru · Northern Mariana Islands · Palau
Image:Polynesia.png  PolynesiaAmerican Samoa · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · Niue · Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna
^ 1: New Zealand is often included in Polynesia.
 ^ 2: East Timor is often included in Asia.
 ^ 3: New Guinea is often included in Australasia.
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See also Continents of the world
ar:ميلانيسيا

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