Melanesia Wall Map

The Melanesian Islands are made up of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia along with the Fiji Islands in the east (although much of Fiji was later colonised by the Polynesians venturing from the north and east). The islands of Melanesia are typified as being high volcanic islands with dense tropical rainforest. The Melanesian people are intensely triba and there are believed to be over 1,300 languages. With the excpetion of Fiji and New Caledonia, the unifying language of the islands is the modern day "pidgin" a very simplistic version of English unified with local words. Melanesian people tend to be shorter, stouter and darker than their Polynesian neighbours, generally with tight curly hair and have a common ancestry with Papuans and Austronesians.

1000 X 900MM