Melanesia

Information about 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 north-east of Australia. The term was first used by Jules Dumont d'Urville in 1832 CE 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 which groups are also Austronesian).

In contrast, the geopolitical conception of Melanesia is widely used. 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, to refer to the area when national, ethnic and linguistic distinctions are not relevant.[1]

People

The original inhabitants of the islands now named Melanesia are likely to have been the ancestors of the present-day Papuan language 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 further 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 four thousand years ago. It seems there was a long period of interaction which resulted in many complex changes in genetics, languages and culture.[3] It is likely that it is from this area that a very small group of people (who spoke an Austronesian language) departed to the east to become the Founders of the Polynesian people.[4]

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 which 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.

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. 

See also

External links

 •  • [ e]
Countries and territories of Oceania
1 Often included in Polynesia 2 New Guinea is often included in Australasia
 •  • [ e]
Regions of the world
Africa Central Eastern Northern Southern Western
Americas Anglo Caribbean Central Latin Middle North Northern South
Asia Central Eastern Northern Southern Southeastern Southwestern / Western
Europe Central Eastern Northern Southern Western
Oceania Australasia Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia
Other
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Polar Arctic Antarctic
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See also
Greek}}} 
Writing system: Greek alphabet 
Official status
Official language of:  Greece
 Cyprus
 European Union
recognised as minority language in parts of:
 European Union
 Italy
 Turkey
Regulated by:
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A subregion is a conceptual unit which derives from a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south or southern, are commonly used to define a subregion.
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Oceania (sometimes Oceanica) is a geographical, often geopolitical, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The exact scope of Oceania is defined variously, with interpretations often including Australia, New Zealand, New
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The designation West Pacific refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean nearest to Asia and Oceania. There appears to be no single official definition of the term. However, its eastern boundary is generally taken to be the ±180° meridian.
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Arafura Sea is west of the Pacific Ocean overlying the continental shelf between Australia and New Guinea. It is bordered by Torres Strait and through that the Coral Sea to the east, the Gulf of Carpentaria to the south, the Timor Sea to the west and the Banda and Ceram seas to the
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Anthem
Advance Australia Fair [1]


Capital Canberra

Largest city Sydney
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Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (May 23, 1790, Condé-sur-Noireau, France – May 8, 1842, Meudon, France) was a French explorer and naval officer, who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica.
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Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean.
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Micronesia, from the Greek mikros (μικρός) (meaning small) and nesos (νῆσος) (meaning island), is a subregion of Oceania, comprising hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean.
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RACE can refer to:
  • Research and Development in Advanced Communications Technologies in Europe, a program launched in 1988 by the Commission of the European Communities
  • Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends, a molecular biology technique

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The academic field of population genetics includes several hypotheses regarding genetic diversity. The neutral theory of evolution proposes that diversity is the result of the accumulation of neutral substitutions.
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Geopolitics is the study that analyzes geography, history and social science with reference to spatial politics and patterns at various scales (ranging from home, city, region, state to international and cosmopolitics).
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The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Preferential Trade Agreement is a trade treaty governing the four melanesian states of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and recently, Fiji.
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Preferential Trade Area is a trading bloc which gives preferential access to certain products from certain countries. This is done by reducing tariffs, but does not abolish them completely.
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Motto
"Long God yumi stanap" (In God we stand)
Anthem
Yumi, Yumi, Yumi


Capital Port Vila

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Motto
"To Lead is to Serve"
Anthem
God Save Our Solomon Islands
Royal anthem
God Save the Queen
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Motto
Unity in diversity[1]
Anthem
O Arise, All You Sons[2]


Capital Port Moresby

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Motto
Rerevaka na Kalou ka Doka na Tui
Fear God and honour the Queen
Anthem
God Bless Fiji
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Geography - (from the Greek words Geo (γη) or Gaea (γαία), both meaning "Earth", and graphein (γράφειν) meaning "to describe" or "to write"
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San Cristóbal, the Spanish language name of St. Christopher, is a common geographical name. It could refer to any of the following:
  • In Argentina:
  • San Cristóbal, Santa Fe

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New Guinea<nowiki />

Political division of New Guinea

Geography
<nowiki/>
Location Island north of Australian continent
Coordinates
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Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and part of Papua New Guinea.

Geography

The Bismarck archipelago includes mostly volcanic islands spread into 4 provinces with an area of 49.
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Motto
Rerevaka na Kalou ka Doka na Tui
Fear God and honour the Queen
Anthem
God Bless Fiji
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Anthem
La Marseillaise


Capital Nouméa
Largest city Nouméa
Official languages French
Government Overseas territory of France
 -  President of France Nicolas Sarkozy
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New Guinea<nowiki />

Political division of New Guinea

Geography
<nowiki/>
Location Island north of Australian continent
Coordinates
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Motto
Unity in diversity[1]
Anthem
O Arise, All You Sons[2]


Capital Port Moresby

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For other uses, see Papua (disambiguation).


Papua is a province of Indonesia comprising a majority part of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands (see also Western New Guinea).
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Maluku Islands<nowiki />

Maluku Islands location

Geography <nowiki/>
Location South East Asia
Coordinates <nowiki /> <nowiki />

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