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Do not fill this in! ====Boundaries between subregions==== Depending on the definition, New Zealand could be part of Polynesia, or part of Australasia with Australia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dumas |first1=Michel |last2=Preux |first2=Pierre-Marie |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KUuZDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22new+zealand%22+%22australasia+or+polynesia%22&pg=PA87 |title=Neuroepidemiology in Tropical Health |date=2017 |publisher=Academic Press |page=87 |access-date=6 February 2022 |chapter=Neurologic Diseases in Tropical Oceania |isbn=978-0128046258 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304050555/https://books.google.com/books?id=KUuZDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22new+zealand%22+%22australasia+or+polynesia%22&pg=PA87 |url-status=live }}</ref> New Zealand was originally settled by the Polynesian [[Māori people|Māori]], and has long maintained a political influence over the subregion.<ref name="southsea">{{cite book |last1=Halter |first1=Nicholas |title=Australian Travellers in the South Seas |date=2021 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=978-1760464158 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dAAbEAAAQBAJ |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=6 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206160214/https://books.google.com/books?id=dAAbEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="lowy18">{{cite web |url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/nz-and-australia-big-brothers-or-distant-cousins |title=NZ and Australia: Big Brothers or Distant Cousins? {{pipe}} The Interpreter |publisher=Lowyinstitute.org |date=9 July 2020 |access-date=6 February 2022 |archive-date=6 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206160214/https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/nz-and-australia-big-brothers-or-distant-cousins |url-status=live }}</ref> Through immigration and high Māori birth rates, New Zealand has attained the largest population of Polynesians in the world,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whimp |first1=Graeme |chapter=Working in the Space Between: Pacific Artists in Aotearoa/New Zealand |date=2009 |hdl=10125/146805b24 |editor1-first=A. Marata |editor1-last=Tamaira |title=In The Space Between: Negotiating Culture, Place, and Identity in the Pacific |pages=9–23 }}</ref> while Australia has the third largest Polynesian population (consisting entirely of immigrants). Modern-day Indigenous Australians are loosely related to Melanesians,<ref>{{Cite journal | title = Whole-Genome Genetic Diversity in a Sample of Australians with Deep Aboriginal Ancestry | last1 = McEvoy | first1 = B. P. | last2 = Lind | first2 = J. M. | last3 = Wang | first3 = E. T. | last4 = Moyzis | first4 = R. K. | last5 = Visscher | first5 = P. M. | last6 = Van Holst Pellekaan | first6 = S. M. | last7 = Wilton | first7 = A. N. | journal = The American Journal of Human Genetics | year = 2010 | volume = 87 | issue = 2 | pages = 297–305 | doi = 10.1016/j.ajhg.2010.07.008 | pmc = 2917718 | pmid = 20691402 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Malaspinas |first1=Anna-Sapfo |last2=Westaway |first2=Michael C. |last3=Muller |first3=Craig |last4=Sousa |first4=Vitor C. |last5=Lao |first5=Oscar |last6=Alves |first6=Isabel |last7=Bergström |first7=Anders |last8=Athanasiadis |first8=Georgios |last9=Cheng |first9=Jade Y. |last10=Crawford |first10=Jacob E. |last11=Heupink |first11=Tim H. |last12=Macholdt |first12=Enrico |last13=Peischl |first13=Stephan |last14=Rasmussen |first14=Simon |last15=Schiffels |first15=Stephan |last16=Subramanian |first16=Sankar |last17=Wright |first17=Joanne L. |last18=Albrechtsen |first18=Anders |last19=Barbieri |first19=Chiara |last20=Dupanloup |first20=Isabelle |last21=Eriksson |first21=Anders |last22=Margaryan |first22=Ashot |last23=Moltke |first23=Ida |last24=Pugach |first24=Irina |last25=Korneliussen |first25=Thorfinn S. |last26=Levkivskyi |first26=Ivan P. |last27=Moreno-Mayar |first27=J. Víctor |last28=Ni |first28=Shengyu |last29=Racimo |first29=Fernando |last30=Sikora |first30=Martin |last31=Xue |first31=Yali |last32=Aghakhanian |first32=Farhang A. |last33=Brucato |first33=Nicolas |last34=Brunak |first34=Søren |last35=Campos |first35=Paula F. |last36=Clark |first36=Warren |last37=Ellingvåg |first37=Sturla |last38=Fourmile |first38=Gudjugudju |last39=Gerbault |first39=Pascale |last40=Injie |first40=Darren |last41=Koki |first41=George |last42=Leavesley |first42=Matthew |last43=Logan |first43=Betty |last44=Lynch |first44=Aubrey |last45=Matisoo-Smith |first45=Elizabeth A. |last46=McAllister |first46=Peter J. |last47=Mentzer |first47=Alexander J. |last48=Metspalu |first48=Mait |last49=Migliano |first49=Andrea B. |last50=Murgha |first50=Les |last51=Phipps |first51=Maude E. |last52=Pomat |first52=William |last53=Reynolds |first53=Doc |last54=Ricaut |first54=Francois-Xavier |last55=Siba |first55=Peter |last56=Thomas |first56=Mark G. |last57=Wales |first57=Thomas |last58=Wall |first58=Colleen Ma'run |last59=Oppenheimer |first59=Stephen J. |last60=Tyler-Smith |first60=Chris |last61=Durbin |first61=Richard |last62=Dortch |first62=Joe |last63=Manica |first63=Andrea |last64=Schierup |first64=Mikkel H. |last65=Foley |first65=Robert A. |last66=Lahr |first66=Marta Mirazón |last67=Bowern |first67=Claire |last68=Wall |first68=Jeffrey D. |last69=Mailund |first69=Thomas |last70=Stoneking |first70=Mark |last71=Nielsen |first71=Rasmus |last72=Sandhu |first72=Manjinder S. |last73=Excoffier |first73=Laurent |last74=Lambert |first74=David M. |last75=Willerslev |first75=Eske |title=A genomic history of Aboriginal Australia |journal=Nature |date=13 October 2016 |volume=538 |issue=7624 |pages=207–214 |doi=10.1038/nature18299 |pmid=27654914 |bibcode=2016Natur.538..207M |hdl=10754/622366 |s2cid=4471731 |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1516136/ |hdl-access=free }}</ref> and Australia maintains political influence over Melanesia,<ref name="lowy18"/> which is mostly located on the same tectonic plate.<ref name="birds"/><ref name="plates"/> Despite this, Australia is rarely seen as a part of the subregion.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 40387356|last1 = Kirch|first1 = Patrick V.|title = Reviewed work: Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands, Ian Lilley|journal = Archaeology in Oceania|year = 2006|volume = 41|issue = 3|pages = 128–130|doi = 10.1002/j.1834-4453.2006.tb00623.x}}</ref><ref name="Codrington Melanesians Encyc">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Codrington|first=Robert|title=Melanesians|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics|year=1915|publisher=T & T Clark|location=Edinburgh|pages=528–535}}</ref> As with Australia and New Zealand, Melanesia's New Caledonia has a significant non-indigenous European population, numbering around 71,000.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|url=http://www.isee.nc/tec/popsociete/telechargements/4-population.pdf|title=ISEE - Salaires|website=Isee.nc|access-date=20 August 2017|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225164238/http://www.isee.nc/tec/popsociete/telechargements/4-population.pdf%20}}</ref> Conversely, New Caledonia has still had a similar history to the rest of Melanesia, and their [[French language|French]]-speaking Europeans make up only 27% of the total population.<ref name="autogenerated2"/><ref name="devchris">{{Cite journal |last1=Ernst |first1=Manfred |last2=Anisi |first2=Anna |date=1 February 2016 |title=The Historical Development of Christianity in Oceania |url=https://www.academia.edu/33371338 |journal=Sanneh/Wiley |pages=588–604 |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=12 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412012839/https://www.academia.edu/33371338 |url-status=live }}</ref> As such, it is not also culturally considered a part of the predominantly English-speaking Australasia.<ref name="emb">{{cite web|url=https://noumea.embassy.gov.au/nmeafrench/media191.html|title=Australian Consulate-General in|first=corporateName= Department of Foreign Affairs and|last=Trade|website=Noumea.embassy.gov.au|access-date=2022-07-30|archive-date=2022-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411100613/https://noumea.embassy.gov.au/nmeafrench/media191.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Some cultural and political definitions of Australasia include most or all of Melanesia, due to its geographical proximity to Australia and New Zealand, but these are rare.<ref name=NZOD>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Australasia |encyclopedia=New Zealand Oxford Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0195584516 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001|editor1-last=Deverson |editor1-first=Tony |editor2-first=Graeme |editor2-last=Kennedy }}</ref> Australia, New Zealand and the islands of Melanesia are more commonly grouped together as part of the [[Australasian realm|Australasian biogeographical realm]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/australasia-realm|title=Australasia realm|date=7 October 2019|website=Biology Articles, Tutorials & Dictionary Online|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064726/https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/australasia-realm|url-status=live}}</ref> The UN's name for the Australasia subregion is "Australia and New Zealand"; their definition includes New Zealand, but places Papua New Guinea in Melanesia.<ref name="stats"/> Papua New Guinea is geographically the closest country to Australia, and is often geologically associated with Australia as it was once physiologically connected.<ref name="stats"/> The UN's definition of this subregion also includes Australia's Indian Ocean external territories of [[Christmas Island]] and [[Cocos (Keeling) Islands]].<ref name="stats"/> These tropical islands are situated within the bounds of the Australian Plate and have been geographically associated with Southeast Asia, due to their proximity to western Indonesia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/api/records/a05f7892-8f70-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6|title=BMR Cruise 107: Seabed Morphology and Offshore Resources around Christmas Island, Indian Ocean|website=Product catalogue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/pub/scientific-publications/archive/conservation-christmas-cocos.pdf |title=Conservation values in Commonwealth waters of the Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Island remote Australian territories |publisher=CSIRO |date=August 2009 |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401084035/https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/pub/scientific-publications/archive/conservation-christmas-cocos.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=M. Athyal |first1=Jesudas |title=Religion in Southeast Asia: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures |date=2015 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=40 |isbn=978-1610692502 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-RfYBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22christmas+island%22+%22in+southeast+asia%22&pg=PA40 |access-date=10 July 2022 |archive-date=10 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710222449/https://books.google.com/books?id=-RfYBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22christmas+island%22+%22in+southeast+asia%22&pg=PA40 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wildlifetourism.org.au/christmas-island-australias-gem-in-the-indian-ocean/|title=Christmas Island – Australia's Gem In The Indian Ocean|website=Wildlifetourism.org.au|access-date=19 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064649/https://www.wildlifetourism.org.au/christmas-island-australias-gem-in-the-indian-ocean/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://parksaustralia.gov.au/christmas/pub/bird-brochure.pdf|title=Christmas & Cocos Keeling Islands Birding Guide|website=Parksaustralia.gov.au|access-date=19 July 2022|archive-date=6 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406033004/https://parksaustralia.gov.au/christmas/pub/bird-brochure.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Both were uninhabited when discovered by Europeans during the 17th century. Approximately half of the population on these islands are [[European Australians|European Australian]] mainlanders (with smaller numbers being [[European New Zealanders]]), while the other half are immigrants from China or the nearby Malay Archipelago.<ref name=Census2016>{{cite web |publisher=Australian Government |department=[[Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development]] |title=2016 Census: Christmas Island |url=http://regional.gov.au/territories/Christmas/files/CI_2016_Census_Data_Fact_Sheet_Final.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111164850/http://regional.gov.au/territories/Christmas/files/CI_2016_Census_Data_Fact_Sheet_Final.pdf |archive-date=11 January 2018|access-date=3 May 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Egan |first1=Colleen |title=Bad tidings on Christmas |url=http://sievx.com/articles/psdp/19991211ColleenEgan.html |publisher=The Weekend Australian |access-date=7 March 2022 |date=11 December 1999 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608164850/http://sievx.com/articles/psdp/19991211ColleenEgan.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The UN further define the subregion as including Australia's Indian Ocean external territory Heard Island and McDonald Islands. These islands lie on the [[Antarctic Plate]] and are also thought of as being in Antarctica or no region at all, due to their extreme geographical isolation.<ref name="geo">{{cite book |doi=10.1130/2007.2425(18) |chapter=The seismicity of the Antarctic plate |title=Continental Intraplate Earthquakes: Science, Hazard, and Policy Issues |year=2007 |last1=Reading |first1=Anya M. |isbn=978-0-8137-2425-6 }}</ref><ref name="stats"/> The World Factbook define Heard Island and McDonald Islands as part of Antarctica, while placing Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands as the westernmost extent of Oceania.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cocos-keeling-islands/ |title=Cocos (Keeling) Islands - The World Factbook |website=Cia.gov |date=24 June 2022 |access-date=10 July 2022 |archive-date=10 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710181719/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cocos-keeling-islands/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/christmas-island/|title=Christmas Island|date=24 June 2022|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|website=Cia.gov|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126032949/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/christmas-island/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Norfolk Island]], an external territory of Australia, was inhabited in prehistoric times by either Melanesians or Polynesians, and is geographically adjacent to the islands of Melanesia. The current inhabitants are mostly European Australians, and the UN categorize it as being in the Australasia subregion.<ref name="stats"/> The 1982 edition of the ''South Pacific Handbook'', by David Stanley, groups Australia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and Hawai{{okina}}i together under an "Anglonesia" category. This is in spite of the geographical distance separating these areas from Hawai{{okina}}i, which technically lies in the North Pacific.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stanley |first=David |url={{Google books|lRV1FozOqQAC|page=502|plainurl=yes}} |title=South Pacific Handbook |date=1982 |publisher=Moon Publications |page=502 |isbn=978-0-9603322-3-6 }}</ref> The 1985 edition of the ''South Pacific Handbook'' also groups the Galápagos Islands as being in Polynesia, while noting that they are not culturally a part of the subregion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stanley |first=David |url={{Google books|unz2v_HT5q0C|page=43||plainurl=yes}} |title=South Pacific Handbook |date=1985 |publisher=Moon Publications |page=43 |isbn=978-0-918373-29-8 }}</ref> The islands are typically grouped with others in the southeastern Pacific that were never inhabited by Polynesians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hinz |first1=Earl R. |title=Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands |date=1999 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=978-0-8248-2115-9 |edition=4th |url={{Google books|uK5-YO9J_GcC|page=337|plainurl=yes}} |page=337 }}</ref><ref name="veg"/> The Bonin Islands are in the same biogeographical realm as the geographically adjacent Micronesia, and are often grouped in with the subregion because of this.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bluejapan.org/fr/geography/climate-and-season/|title=Climate And Seasons – Blue Japan en français|website=Bluejapan.org|access-date=19 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064648/https://bluejapan.org/fr/geography/climate-and-season/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="veg">{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-8686-3 |title=Vegetation of the Tropical Pacific Islands |series=Ecological Studies |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-387-98313-4 |s2cid=46366808 }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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