Geography of the Pacific

A recent Roper Public Affairs poll painted a dismal picture of the geographic knowledge of the most recent graduates of the American education system. Nine out of ten could not find Afghanistan on a map of the Middle East, and six in ten could not find Iraq. It's not just the outside world apparently, fewer than half could identify the state of New York. I like to think part of this is due to an emphasis on teaching social studies for the purpose of creating an understanding of the concepts behind events, rather than merely the memorization facts. But the fact remains - we suck at geography. Here's a very basic look at the geography of the pacific.

The Pacific islands are generally divided into three distinct geographic groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

Melanesia stretches from Indonesia in the west, through the islands of New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, to Fiji in the east. Melanesia is derived from the French ‘Melanesie’ meaning ‘black islands’ and is in reference to the darker skins of the inhabitants of these islands. The term was first applied to the region by a French scientific voyage in the 1830's.

Micronesia means ‘small islands’, and lies in the central western Pacific. Its most significant groups are the Palau, Carolines, Marshalls, Marianas and Gilbert islands.

Polynesia meaning ‘many islands’, stretches from Samoa and Tonga in the west, across to Easter Island on the far eastern side of the Pacific, and south to New Zealand. It includes, the Hawaiian Islands, Tahiti, the Marquesas, and the Cook Islands.

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Although these groupings are ethnic as well as geographic entities, it is important to note that the division is a Western idea. There is more cultural exchange between these groups, as well as diversity within them, than this simple division might imply.