Melanesia
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Melanesia is a region of islands in Oceania.
It stretches from the Western Side of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, to the Arafura Sea, northeast of Australia. Its name means "black islands".
following islands and groups of islands since the 19th century have been considered part of Melanesia:
- Bismarck Archipelago
- Fiji
- New Caledonia
- New Guinea (Papua New Guinea mainland and the Indonesian province of Papua)
- Maluku Islands
- Solomon Islands
- Torres Strait Islands
- Vanuatu
- Palau Islands
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.
| Countries and territories of Oceania | |
|---|---|
| Australia | Australia · Coral Sea Islands · Norfolk Island |
| Melanesia | East Timor · Fiji · Maluku Islands & Western New Guinea (part of Indonesia) · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu |
| Micronesia | Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Northern Mariana Islands · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · Palau |
| Polynesia | American Samoa · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · Hawaii · New Zealand · Niue · Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna |
