Melanesia - mĕlənēˈzhə, –shə, one of the three main divisions of
Oceania, in the SW Pacific Ocean, NE of Australia and S of the equator. Melanesia includes the
Solomon Islands,
Vanuatu,
New Caledonia,
Tuvalu, the
Bismarck Archipelago, the
Admiralty Islands, and
Fiji.
New Guinea is sometimes included in Melanesia. The Melanesians are largely of Australoid stock; they speak
Malayo-Polynesian languages.
See study by H. C. Brookfield and D. Hart (1971). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved. |