Melanesia

Melanesia (UK: /ˌmɛləˈniːziə/; US: /ˌmɛləˈniːʒə/) is a subregion of Oceania (and occasionally Australasia) extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji.

The region includes the four countries of Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea. Besides these independent countries, Melanesia also includes:

The name Melanesia (in French "Mélanésie" from the Greek μέλας, black, and νῆσος, islands) was first used by Jules Dumont d'Urville in 1832 to denote an ethnic and geographical grouping of islands whose inhabitants he thought were distinct from those of Micronesia and Polynesia.

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