The Pacific Realm:
REGION: Polynesia

Polynesia [paregsn] comprises the many ("poly" means "many") islands in the vast Pacific Ocean east of Melanesia and Micronesia. The triangular region stretches from the Hawaiian Islands in the north to New Zealand in the southwest and to Easter Island in the southeast.

Polynesia includes the Hawaiian Islands, Western Samoa, American Samoa, Tuvalu, Tonga, Eastern Kiribati, Cook and other New Zealand administered islands, French Polynesia, and East Island. New Zealand is sometimes also included in this region.

The Polynesians are a lighter skinned people with straighter hair than other Pacific Realm peoples.

High islands (up to 13,800 feet) and low islands (see lecture on: High Island culture/Low island Culture) are found in the vast area called Polynesia, yet there is a remarkable degree of cultural consistency that has resulted from centuries of contact, interaction, and trade done by large outrigger canoes.

The political geography of Polynesia is complex:

• Hawaii is a state of the United States
• Tonga is an independent Kingdom
• Tuvalu and Kiribati are independent States
• Tahiti and the Marquesas islands make up French Polynesia [pafrcou]
• New Zealand controls the Cook islands, Niue, and Tokelau
• the U.S. controls American Samoa
• and Easter Island is a part of Chile