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Polynesian Triangle

 
Polynesian Triangle

 
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Polynesian Triangle
 
 
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The Polynesian Triangle is a region of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 anchored by three island groups: Hawai‘i
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
, Easter Island
Easter Island

Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian triangle. The island is a special territory of Chile....
 (Rapa Nui) and New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
.

The many island cultures within this vast triangle speak Polynesian languages
Polynesian languages

The Polynesian languages are a language family spoken in the region known as Polynesia. They are classified as part of the Austronesian languages, belonging to the Eastern Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of that family....
, which are classified by linguists as part of the Malayo-Polynesian
Malayo-Polynesian languages

The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 351 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia....
 subgroup.






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Polynesiantraiangle
The Polynesian Triangle is a region of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 anchored by three island groups: Hawai‘i
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
, Easter Island
Easter Island

Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian triangle. The island is a special territory of Chile....
 (Rapa Nui) and New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
.

The many island cultures within this vast triangle speak Polynesian languages
Polynesian languages

The Polynesian languages are a language family spoken in the region known as Polynesia. They are classified as part of the Austronesian languages, belonging to the Eastern Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of that family....
, which are classified by linguists as part of the Malayo-Polynesian
Malayo-Polynesian languages

The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 351 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia....
 subgroup. They ultimately derive from the proto-Austronesian language
Austronesian languages

The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia....
 spoken in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
 5000 years ago. Polynesians also share similar cultural traditions, arts, religion, and sciences. Anthropologists believe that all modern Polynesian cultures
Polynesian culture

Polynesian culture refers to the indigenous peoples culture of the Polynesian languages-speaking peoples of Polynesia and the Polynesian outliers....
 descend from a single protoculture
Protoculture

In physical anthropology, protoculture is the passing of behaviours from one generation to another among non-human primates. These cultures are very rudimentary, and do not exhibit complex cultural technology....
 established in the South Pacific by migrant Malayo-Polynesian people (see also Lapita
Lapita

Lapita is the common name of an ancient Pacific Ocean archaeological culture which is believed by many archaeologists to be the common ancestor of several cultures in Polynesia, Micronesia, and some areas of Melanesia....
).

The seven main Polynesian cultures are from:

  • New Zealand
    New Zealand

    New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
     (Aotearoa
    Aotearoa

    Aotearoa is the most widely known and accepted Maori language name for New Zealand. It is used by both Maori and non-Maori, and is becoming increasingly widespread in the bilingual names of national organisations, such as the National Library of New Zealand / Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa....
     in contemporary Maori
    Maori language

    Maori or te reo Maori, also commonly shortened to te reo , functions as one of the official languages of New Zealand. Linguists classify it within the Eastern Polynesian languages as closely related to Cook Islands Maori, Tuamotuan language and Tahitian language; somewhat less closely to Hawaiian language and Marquesan language; a...
    )
  • Hawai‘i
    Hawaii

    File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
  • Easter Island
    Easter Island

    Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian triangle. The island is a special territory of Chile....
     (Rapa Nui)
  • Marquesas (Te Fenua ‘Enata / Te Henua Kenana)
  • Samoa
    Samoa

    Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa , is a country governing the western part of the Samoan Islands archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean....
  • Tahiti
    Tahiti

    O Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward Islands group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean....
  • Tonga
    Tonga

    The Kingdom of Tonga in the south Pacific Ocean comprises an archipelago of 171 islands, 48 of them inhabited, stretching over a distance of about 800 kilometres in a north-south line....


Fiji
Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands , is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu....
 has a Melanesian culture, but it has significant Polynesian influence. It is sometimes mistaken for being a part of Polynesia.

See also

  • Ancient Hawai‘i
    Ancient Hawaii

    Ancient Hawaii refers to the period of Hawaiian history preceding the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great in 1810. Included in this period was the first contact made by Captain James Cook in 1778....


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