Polynesia

Pol·y·ne·sia

P0426900 (pŏl′ə-nē′zhə) A division of Oceania including scattered islands of the central and southern Pacific Ocean roughly between New Zealand, Hawaii, and Easter Island. The larger islands are volcanic, the smaller ones generally coral formations.

Polynesia

(ˌpɒlɪˈniːʒə; -ʒɪə) n (Placename) one of the three divisions of islands in the Pacific, the others being Melanesia and Micronesia: includes Samoa, Society, Marquesas, Mangareva, Tuamotu, Cook, and Tubuai Islands, and Tonga[C18: via French from poly- + Greek nēsos island]

Pol•y•ne•sia

(ˌpɒl əˈni ʒə, -ʃə)

n. one of the three principal divisions of Oceania, comprising those island groups in the Pacific lying E of Melanesia and Micronesia and extending from the Hawaiian Islands S to New Zealand.

Thesaurus

Noun

Polynesia - the islands in the eastern part of Oceaniataboo, tabu - a prejudice (especially in Polynesia and other South Pacific islands) that prohibits the use or mention of something because of its sacred naturekava, kavakava - an alcoholic drink made from the aromatic roots of the kava shrubOceania, Oceanica - a large group of islands in the south Pacific including Melanesia and Micronesia and Polynesia (and sometimes Australasia and the Malay Archipelago)Austronesia - islands of central and South Pacific (Indonesia and Melanesia and Micronesia and Polynesia)French Oceania, French Polynesia - a French overseas possession in the South PacificSamoan Islands, Samoa - a group of volcanic islands in the South Pacific midway between Hawaii and Australia; its climate and scenery and Polynesian culture make it a popular tourist stopFriendly Islands, Kingdom of Tonga, Tonga - a monarchy on a Polynesian archipelago in the South Pacific; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1970Hawaiian Islands, Sandwich Islands - a group of volcanic and coral islands in the central PacificPolynesian - a native or inhabitant of Polynesia

Translations

伯利尼西亚

Polynesia

→ 伯利尼西亚zhCN

Polynesia

(pŏlĭnē`zhə, –shə) [Gr.,=many islands], one of the three main divisions of OceaniaOceania
or Oceanica
, collective name for the approximately 25,000 islands of the Pacific, usually excluding such nontropical areas as the Ryukyu and Aleutian islands and Japan, as well as Taiwan, Indonesia, and the Philippines, whose populations are more closely
..... Click the link for more information. , in the central and S Pacific Ocean. The larger islands are volcanic; the smaller ones are generally coral formations. The principal groups are the Hawaiian Islands (see HawaiiHawaii
, 50th state of the United States, comprising a group of eight major islands and numerous islets in the central Pacific Ocean, c.2,100 mi (3,380 km) SW of San Francisco. Facts and Figures

Area, 6,450 sq mi (16,706 sq km). Pop.
..... Click the link for more information. ), SamoaSamoa,
chain of volcanic islands in the South Pacific, comprising the independent nation of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa), and E of long. 171° W, the islands of American Samoa, under U.S. control. The Samoan islands extend c.350 mi (560 km), with a total land area of c.
..... Click the link for more information. , TongaTonga
, officially Kingdom of Tonga, island kingdom (2015 est. pop. 106,000), 270 sq mi (699 sq km), South Pacific, c.2000 mi (3,220 km) NE of Sydney, Australia. Tonga is the only surviving independent kingdom in the South Pacific. Nukualofa is the capital.
..... Click the link for more information. , and the islands of French PolynesiaFrench Polynesia,
officially Overseas Lands of French Polynesia, internally self-governing dependency (2015 est. pop. 278,000) of France, consisting of 118 islands in the South Pacific. The capital is Papeete, on Tahiti.
..... Click the link for more information. . Ethnologically though not geographically, Polynesia also embraces New ZealandNew Zealand
, island country (2015 est. pop. 4,615,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland.
..... Click the link for more information. , which along with the Hawaiian Islands and Easter IslandEaster Island,
Span. Isla de Pascua, Polynesian Rapa Nui, remote island (1992 pop. 2,770), 66 sq mi (171 sq km), in the South Pacific, c.2,200 mi (3,540 km) W of Chile, to which it belongs.
..... Click the link for more information. broadly demarcate the extent of Polynesian settlement in the Pacific, known as the Polynesian Triangle. Malayo-Polynesian languagesMalayo-Polynesian languages
, sometimes also called Austronesian languages
, family of languages estimated at from 300 to 500 tongues and understood by approximately 300 million people in Madagascar; the Malay Peninsula; Indonesia and New Guinea; the Philippines;
..... Click the link for more information. are spoken in Polynesia. The Polynesians were skilled navigators and sailors, and the Pacific islands they settled were often separated by enormous expanses of open ocean.

Bibliography

See T. Barrow, Art and Life in Polynesia (1972); B. Finney, Voyage of Rediscovery: A Cultural Odyssey through Polynesia (1994).

Polynesia

islands of Oceania located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean, between 23° 30’ N lat. and 28” S lat. and between 176” E long, and 109° 20’ W long. Polynesia includes the Tonga Islands (an independent state since 1970), the Hawaiian Islands (a US state), the Tuvalu Islands and the Phoenix Islands (British possessions), the Tokelaus and the Cook Archipelago (possessions of New Zealand), Western Samoa (an independent state since 1962), Eastern Samoa (US possession), the Line Islands, or the Central Polynesian Sporades (possession of Great Britain and the USA), the Tubuais, the Marquesas, the Societies, and the Tuamotus (French possessions), and Easter Island (Chilean possession). New Zealand is also considered part of Polynesia. The area, without New Zealand, is about 26,000 sq km. Population, about 1.2 million (1969).

The islands are mostly of volcanic or coral origin. The volcanic islands are mountainous with elevations of more than 4,000 m (Hawaiian Islands 4,202 m); the coral islands are flat and low-lying. The Hawaiian and Samoan islands have active volcanoes. Most of the islands are surrounded by coral reefs. The climate is equatorial and tropical, with tradewinds; mean annual temperatures vary from 22° to 26°C, with minor monthly fluctuations. Precipitation averages 1,500 to 3,500 mm per year. Tahiti, Samoa, and Tonga are subject to violent hurricanes. The mountainous islands are covered with dense, evergreen subequatorial and tropical forests, especially on the windward slopes; the leeward slopes are covered mostly with savanna. Along the coasts are coconut palms, breadfruits, and pan-danuses. There are no large mammals but many birds.

The population of Polynesia consists of two basic groups: aboriginal Oceanians and immigrants from Europe, America, and Asia or their descendants. The former, represented by various Polynesian peoples, are heavily predominant on the islands of Tonga, Samoa, Wallis, Horn, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Line, Cook (together with Niue), Society, Tubuai, Tuamotu, Gambier, Marquesas, and Easter Island. In New Zealand the majority of the population are Anglo-New Zealanders (descendants of immigrants from Great Britain and Ireland), and on Hawaii US Americans and Japanese predominate, although there are large numbers of Filipinos and Chinese. The island of Tahiti also has a group of Chinese. Micronesians—natives of the Gilbert Islands —live on some of the Line Islands. The Phoenix Islands are uninhabited. The main crop on the islands is coconut palms. Also grown are bananas, sugarcane, pineapples, coffee, cacao, rubber plants, rice, yams, taro, and manioc. There is pearl diving, and sea turtles are caught.

The islands of Polynesia became known to the Europeans at the end of the 16th century, when the Spanish explorer A. de Mendaña de Neyra discovered the Solomon Islands in 1568 and sighted the Santa Cruz and Marquesas islands in 1595. Portuguese, Dutch, French, English, and Russian navigators took part in the discovery of the islands of Polynesia up to the 19th century. The islands of Polynesia are on routes linking America with Southeast Asia and Australia. The largest cities and ports of Polynesia are Honolulu (Hawaii), Papeete (Tahiti), Apia (Western Samoa), and Pago Pago (Eastern Samoa).

Polynesia

wise old parrot who teaches Dr. Dolittle the languages of birds and animals. [Children’s Lit.: Hugh Lofting Dr. Dolittle]See: Birds

Polynesia

one of the three divisions of islands in the Pacific, the others being Melanesia and Micronesia: includes Samoa, Society, Marquesas, Mangareva, Tuamotu, Cook, and Tubuai Islands, and Tonga

Polynesia

Pol·y·ne·sia

Polynesia

Pol•y•ne•sia

Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia

Bibliography

Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia

Words related to Polynesia

noun the islands in the eastern part of Oceania

Related Words