The Austronesian people are a population group in Oceania and Southeast Asia who speak or had ancestors who spoke one of the Austronesian languages. They form a diverse group of peoples inhabiting roughly half the globe, ranging from Madagascar to Easter Island. World map showing Oceania (geographically) Oceania (sometimes Oceanica) is a geographical, often geopolitical, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands but usually including Australia—in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific ( with a few members spoken on continental Asia). ... City motto: ( Rapa Nui ) Also called Te Pito O Te Henua (Ombligo del mundo) (Navel of the world) Discovered by Europeans April 5, 1722 by Jakob Roggeveen Capital Hanga Roa Area  - City Proper  163,6 km² Population  - City (2005)  - Density (city proper) 3. ...

Austronesian peoples consist of four primary strains:

• Formosan: consists of the indigenous inhabitants of Taiwan.
• Malay: consists of the inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula, Malay archipelago, Madagascar, and the Cham people.
• Polynesian: consists of the inhabitants of Polynesia. ex. Maori, Hawaiian.
• Micronesian: consists of the inhabitants of Micronesia, such as the Chamorros, Palauans, and Carolinians.

According to a recent Stanford University study, there is wide variety of paternal ancestry among the Austronesian peoples. Aside from few European introgression found in the Malay Archipelago (especially in Borneo and the Philippines) as well as in French Polynesia, the vast majority of Austronesian peoples are of autochthonous descent. A Rukai village Chief visiting the Department of Anthropology in Tokyo Imperial University during Japanese rule of Taiwan. ... Indigenous peoples are: Peoples living in an area prior to colonization by a state Peoples living in an area within a nation-state, prior to the formation of a nation-state, but who do not identify with the dominant nation. ... Malays (Dutch, Malayo, ultimately from Malay: Melayu) are a diverse group of Austronesian peoples inhabiting the Malay archipelago and Malay peninsula in Southeast Asia. ... The Malay Peninsula (Malay: Semenanjung Tanah Melayu) is a major peninsula located in Southeast Asia. ... The Malay Archipelago refers to the vast group of islands located between mainland Southeast Asia (Indochina) and Australia. ... Cham can mean the following: a Jewish variant spelling of Ham a people living in Northern Greece of Albanian descent, also spelled as Çam: see Cham Albanians. ... Polynesia (from Greek, poly = many and nesi = island) is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands in the central and southern Pacific Ocean. ... Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 Look up Polynesia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Te Puni, Māori Chief Māori is the name of the indigenous people of New Zealand, and their language. ... In April of 1990, Daniel K. Akaka became the first native Hawaiian and Chinese American to serve in the United States Congress as a Senator from the State of Hawaii. ... Depiction of latte stone colonnades on the island of Tinian. ... Carolinian is an Austronesian language spoken in the Northern Mariana Islands, where it is an official language along with English and Chamorro. ... Stanford redirects here. ... The Malay Archipelago refers to the vast group of islands located between mainland Southeast Asia (Indochina) and Australia. ... Borneo (left) and Sulawesi. ...

They constitute the dominant ethnic group in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, the southern most part of Thailand and East Timor, which together with Singapore make up what is called the Malay archipelago. Outside this area, Malay people inhabit Palau, Guam and the Northern Marianas, most of Madagascar, the Cham areas of Vietnam and Cambodia (the remnants of the Champa kingdom which covered central and southern Vietnam), and all countries in the Micronesian and Polynesian sphere of influence. The Malay Archipelago refers to the vast group of islands located between mainland Southeast Asia (Indochina) and Australia. ... The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a commonwealth in political union with the United States of America at a strategic location in the West Pacific Ocean. ... The Cham people are descendants of the kingdom of Champa. ... Rough location of Champas core territories. ... Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 Look up Polynesia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

See also

• Austronesian languages
• Nusantara

The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific ( with a few members spoken on continental Asia). ... The Malay Archipelago refers to the vast group of islands located between mainland Southeast Asia (Indochina) and Australia. ...

External links

1. Cristian Capelli et al. (2001). "A Predominantly Indigenous Paternal Heritage for the Austronesian-Speaking Peoples of Insular Southeast Asia and Oceania". American Journal of Human Genetics 68: 432–443.
2. This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.