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The ''', Micronesia , and Polynesia . Inhabitants are sometimes referred to as Pacific Islanders .

Pacific islands are also sometimes collectively called '' Oceania '' Collins Atlas of the World, Page 83 (although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago ),

Melanesia means ''black islands''. These include New Guinea (the largest Pacific island, which is divided into the Sovereign nation of Papua New Guinea and the Indonesia n provinces of Papua and West Irian Jaya ), New Caledonia , Vanuatu , Fiji , and the Solomon Islands .

Micronesia means ''small islands''. These include the Marianas , Guam , Wake Island , Palau , the Marshall Islands , Kiribati , Nauru , and the Federated States Of Micronesia . Most of these lie north of the Equator .

Polynesia means ''many islands''. These include New Zealand , the Hawaiian Islands , Rotuma , the Midway Islands , Samoa , American Samoa , Tonga , Tuvalu , the Cook Islands , French Polynesia , and Easter Island . It is the largest of the three zones.

The region's islands are classified into two groups, High Island s and Low Island s. Volcano es form high islands, which generally can support more people and have a more fertile soil. Low islands are Reef s or Atoll s, and are relatively small and infertile. Melanesia, the most populated of the three regions, contains mainly high islands, while most of Micronesia and Polynesia are low islands.

There are also many other islands located within the boundaries of the Pacific Ocean, but these are not considered part of Oceania . These islands include the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador ; the Aleutian Islands in Alaska ; the Russia n islands of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands ; Taiwan ; the Philippines ; the South China Sea Islands ; most of the islands of Indonesia ; and the island nation of Japan , which includes the Ryukyu Islands . The inhabitants of these islands are not considered to be Pacific Islanders and are usually identified with their nearest continent.


LIST OF ISLANDS

This is a list of many of the major Pacific Islands, organized by Archipelago or political unit. In order to keep this list of moderate size, links are given to more complete lists for countries with large numbers of small or uninhabited islands.

Note: many Polynesian Languages have a Glottal Stop , which in most of them is seldomly written, however. If a name with a < > cannot be found, try to rewrite it without it. See 'okina for more info.






















  • Niue (Savage Island)















  • Western Samoa (see Samoa)







SEE ALSO



FOOTNOTES






REFERENCES

  Last William Collins Sons & Co Ltd
  Year 1983
  Title Collins Atlas of the World
  Place London W6 8JB
  Publisher HarperCollins
  Edition revised 1995
  Isbn 0 00 448227 1