Melanesia 83393 224386261 2008-07-08T16:59:09Z Badagnani 308437 rvv [[Image:Map OC-Melanesia.PNG||thumb|right|300px|Map of Melanesia, surrounded by a pink line]] '''Melanesia''' (from [[Greek language|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 [[Race (classification of human beings)|racial]] classification is regarded to be inaccurate because it ignores the broad cultural, linguistic, and [[genetic diversity]] in the area. There is no one 'Melanesian culture' or way of life. The peoples in the area named Melanesia are among the most diverse in the world; linguistically, genetically, socially and culturally. The European powers in the 19th and 20th centuries were the ones who fostered the illusion of there being one 'Melanesian culture.' More accurately however, there is a widely used [[geopolitics|geopolitical]] conception of the term 'Melanesia'. For example, the [[Melanesian Spearhead Group]] [[Preferential Trade Arrangement|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 [[geography|geographic]] term, used as a reference to the area when national, ethnic, and linguistic distinctions are not relevant.<ref name="birds">{{cite book|author=Diamond, Jared and Ernst Mayr|year=2001|title=The Birds of Northern Melanesia: Speciation, Ecology, and Biogeography|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=N.Y.|id=ISBN 0-19-514170-9}}</ref> ==People== The original inhabitants of the islands now named Melanesia were likely the ancestors of the present day Papuan-speaking people. These people are thought to have occupied New Guinea tens of millennia ago and reached the islands 35,000 years ago (according to radiocarbon dating).<!--It should be stated where they came from before they got to Papua and the Pacific Islands.--> They appear to have occupied these islands as far east as the main islands in the Solomon Islands (i.e., including [[Makira|San Cristobal]]) and perhaps even to the smaller islands farther to the east.<ref>{{cite journal| author=Dunn, Michael, Angela Terrill, Ger Reesink, Robert A. Foley, Stephen C. Levinson| year=2005| title=Structural Phylogenetics and the Reconstruction of Ancient Language History| journal=Science| volume=309| pages=2072–2075| doi=10.1126/science.1114615| pmid=16179483 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book| author=Spriggs, Matthew|year=1997|title=The Island Melanesians|publisher=Blackwell|id=ISBN 0631167277}}</ref> 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 peoples| Polynesian people]].<ref>{{cite journal | author=Kayser, Manfred, Silke Brauer, Gunter Weiss, Peter A. Underhill, Lutz Rower, Wulf Schiefenhövel and Mark Stoneking| year=2000 | title=The Melanesian Origin of Polynesian Y chromosomes| journal=Current Biology |volume=10|pages=1237–1246 |doi=10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00029-X }}</ref> This finding is, however, contradicted by a study published by [[Temple University]] finding that Polynesians and Micronesians have little genetic relation to Melanesians; instead they found significant diversity of between groups living within the Melanesian islands. [http://www.temple.edu/ATTIC/newsroom/2007_2008/01/stories/pacificislander.htm] Genome scan shows Polynesians have little genetic relationship to Melanesians. {{cite journal | last = Friedlaender | first = Jonathan | authorlink = Jonathan Friedlaender... | coauthors = Friedlaender JS, Friedlaender FR, Reed FA, Kidd KK, Kidd JR, et al. | title = The Genetic Structure of Pacific Islanders | journal = Public Library of Science | volume = PLoS Genet | issue = 4(1): e19 doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.0040019 | pages = | publisher = [[Temple University]] | location = Philadelphia, PA 19122 | date = 2008-01-18 | url = http://genetics.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.0040019 | doi = | id = | accessdate = 2008-01-18}} == Location == The following islands and groups of islands since the 19th century have been considered part of Melanesia: * [[Bismarck Archipelago]] * [[Fiji]] * [[Maluku Islands]] * [[New Caledonia]] * [[New Guinea]] ([[Papua (Indonesian province)|Papua]] and [[West Papua (Indonesian province)|West Papua]] in Indonesia, and the 15 provinces of the [[Papua New Guinea]] mainland) * [[Norfolk Island]] * [[Solomon Islands]] * [[Torres Strait Islands]] * [[Vanuatu]] Islands whose long-established inhabitants are of mixed ancestry who do not necessarily self-identify as Melanesian: * [[Flores]] * [[Nauru]] * [[Sumba]] * [[Timor]] ([[West Timor]] in Indonesia and the nation of [[Timor-Leste]]) 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 == <div class=references-small><references/></div> == See also == *[[Papuan]] *[[Negrito]] *[[Bishop of Melanesia]] *[[Melanesian Brotherhood]] *[[Polynesians]] *[[Micronesians]] == External links == * [http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/ Map South Pacific] * [http://www.southpacific.org/ South Pacific Organizer] * [http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/PNAS_2000_v97_p8225.pdf Polynesian origins: Insights from the Y chromosome] * [http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/AJHG_2001_v68_p173-190.pdf Independent Histories of Human Y Chromosomes from Melanesia and Australia] *[http://westmelanesia.com/ A site about West Melanesia] *[http://birdsofmelanesia.net/ Bird checklists for Melanesian islands] *[http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/cart/shopcore/?db_name=uhpress&page=shop/flypage&product_id=2978&category_id=b3e6237d1b1b3b8594488ed1c40d0dfb&PHPSESSID=40c869f223f32d8c1b34a69d0fc051d4 New Guinea: Crossing Boundaries and History] - a general history of New Guinea * [http://anglicanhistory.org/oceania Anglican historical texts related to Melanesia] {{Countries and territories of Oceania}} {{Regions of the world}} <!--Categories--> [[Category:Melanesia| ]] [[Category:Oceania]] [[Category:Islands of Oceania]] [[Category:Islands of the Pacific Ocean]] <!--Other languages--> [[ar:ميلانيسيا]] [[frp:Mèlanèsie]] [[zh-min-nan:Melanesia]] [[bs:Melanezija]] [[bg:Меланезия]] [[ca:Melanèsia]] [[cv:Меланези]] [[cs:Melanésie]] [[da:Melanesien]] [[de:Melanesien]] [[et:Melaneesia]] [[el:Μελανησία]] [[es:Melanesia]] [[eo:Melanezio]] [[eu:Melanesia]] [[fa:ملانزی]] [[fr:Mélanésie]] [[gl:Melanesia]] [[ko:멜라네시아]] [[hr:Melanezija]] [[id:Melanesia]] [[is:Melanesía]] [[it:Melanesia]] [[he:מלנזיה]] [[jv:Mèlanésia]] [[pam:Melanesia]] [[sw:Melanesia]] [[la:Melanesia]] [[lv:Melanēzija]] [[lt:Melanezija]] [[hu:Melanézia]] [[nl:Melanesië]] [[ja:メラネシア]] [[no:Melanesia]] [[nn:Melanesia]] [[pl:Melanezja]] [[pt:Melanésia]] [[ro:Melanezia]] [[ru:Меланезия]] [[sm:Melanisia]] [[sco:Melanesie]] [[simple:Melanesia]] [[sk:Melanézia]] [[sr:Меланезија]] [[sh:Melanezija]] [[fi:Melanesia]] [[sv:Melanesien]] [[ta:மெலனீசியா]] [[th:เมลานีเซีย]] [[vi:Melanesia]] [[tr:Melanezya]] [[uk:Меланезія]] [[wo:Melaneesi]] [[bat-smg:Melanezėjė]] [[zh:美拉尼西亚]]