Melanesia

American  

[mel-uh-nee-zhuh, -shuh] / ˌmɛl əˈni ʒə, -ʃə /

noun

1. one of the three principal divisions of Oceania, comprising the island groups in the South Pacific northeast of Australia.

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Melanesia British  

/ ˌmɛləˈniːzɪə /

noun

1. one of the three divisions of islands in the Pacific (the others being Micronesia and Polynesia); the SW division of Oceania: includes Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Louisiade, Solomon, Santa Cruz, and Loyalty Islands, which all lie northeast of Australia

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Etymology

Origin of Melanesia

C19: from Greek melas black + nēsos island; with reference to the dark skins of the inhabitants; on the model of Polynesia

Example Sentences

Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat said in a post on social media that Cassius was "our beloved mate" and "a cherished member of our family".

From BBC • Nov. 2, 2024

Melanesia, which includes Chamorro people, Indigenous inhabitants of Guam, is one of the recently disaggregated categories in the census.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2024

Denisovan DNA is barely detectable in most parts of the world but makes up 4% to 6% of the DNA of people in Melanesia, which extends from New Guinea to the Fiji Islands.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 24, 2023

It’s been difficult to detect the function of Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA in Melanesians, however, because scientists have analyzed so little genetic data from living humans in Papua New Guinea and other parts of Melanesia.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 7, 2022

Tribes, recently independent and now variously subordinated to national states, still occupy much of New Guinea, Melanesia, and Amazonia.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond