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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).

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[edit] Formosa

Main articles: Taiwan and Taiwanese aborigines

[edit] Malay Archipelago

Main articles: Nusantara and Malay Archipelago
See also: East Indies and Maritime Southeast Asia

The Malay archipelago covers the modern nations of:

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.

[edit] Oceania

Main article: Oceania

[edit] 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:

[edit] 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:

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

[edit] 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:

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.

[edit] See also

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austronesia"
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