Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in common, including language relatedness, cultural practices, and traditional beliefs. In centuries past, they had a strong shared tradition of sailing and using stars to navigate at night.
Cook's Bay on Moorea, French Polynesia
Mokoliʻi Isle near Oahu, Hawaii
Moai at Ahu Tongariki on Rapa Nui
Grinding stones discovered from archaeology in Samoa
Oceania is a geographical region comprising Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, at the centre of the water hemisphere, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of about 9,000,000 square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi) and a population of around 44.4 million as of 2022. When compared to the continents, Oceania is the smallest in land area and the second-least populated after Antarctica.
A 19th-century engraving of an Aboriginal Australian encampment
Stone money transport to Yap Island in Micronesia (1880)
Moai at Ahu Tongariki on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
New Zealand troops land on Vella Lavella, in Solomon Islands