OCEANIA AND THE PACIFIC

ISLANDS FIJI

If you're prone to think geographically, Melanesia consists of a group of about 2,000 islands that covers about 400,000 square miles, stretching from the easternmost points of Indonesia halfway across the Pacific to Fiji. (Look at this geographic map of the Pacific from Jane's Oceania page to get a sense of where Melanesia fits. Then, just look at Jane's Melanesia page.) In this definition, cultural, linguistic and other non-physical distinctions aren't particularly important. If you look at Melanesia culturally or ethnographically you might focus on the fact that "Melanesia" comes from Greek, meaning, "black islands," with "black" referring most likely to the relatively dark skin color of the people who live there. In this view, Melanesia is a group of islands inhabited by "Melanesians"--people who share similar ancestral origins (having traveled a similar path from their origins in East Africa, and likely sharing similar genetics with each other, though not with Polynesians) and now speak related languages and share a similar "Melanesian" culture.

In any definition, Melanesia includes a number of our very favorite island nations, or at least island nations that will become our favorite once we learn about them. For example, Fiji!

There is disagreement among historians and archaeologists as to exactly when humans came to Fiji, though the general consensus is that people had arrived in the islands by about 1,500 B.C.

There is agreement that two distinct groups settled Fiji; Melanesians, dark-skinned settlers who arrived in Fiji by way of Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands, and lighter-skinned Lapita people, skilled navigators and fishers from New Caledonia who had originated in Southeast Asia's Malay Peninsula.

Later, the Lapita people left Fiji for islands further east, seeding the Polynesian islands like Tonga and Samoa. The modern nation we call Fiji is an archipelago that consists of more than 330 islands, of which only about a third are inhabited. Most Fijians live on the two main islands, Vanua Levu and Viti Levu; because Viti Levu's interior is rugged most Fijians who call the island home live in the surprisingly urban Suva.

LEARN ABOUT FIJIAN MEKE: INTERACTIVE LESSONS FOR KIDS