Polynesia is a region of the Pacific Ocean and forms, together with Melanesia and Micronesia, one of the three cultural areas of Oceania. Polynesia extends from the Hawaiian Islands in the north to New Zealand in the south, and from Tuvalu in the west to Rapanui (Easter Island) in the east. The region includes Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, and the Cook and Marquesas Islands. The name Polynesia derives from Greek words meaning many islands and refers to the numerous islands of the region.
Human beings began settling in western Polynesia over 3,000 years ago but did not reach its fringes until between 1,000 and 2,000 years ago. Polynesians are excellent sailors and discovered and settled nearly every island in the region. Traditional Polynesian society was based on a hierarchical system of hereditary chiefs with individuals divided into nobility and commoners. Polynesian kings extended their control over entire archipelagoes, forming kingdoms such as those in Tonga and Hawai’i.
The first European to visit Polynesia was the Spaniard Alvaro de Mendana (1541-1595), who reached Tuvalu in 1568. Dutch explorers followed in the 1600s, with the English and French beginning their own expeditions in the 1700s. The English explorer Samuel Wallis (1728-1795) reached Tahiti in 1767 and Captain James Cook (1728-1779) reached the Cook Islands (later named after him) in 1773 and Hawai’i in 1778.
As in other parts of Oceania, European colonialism really began in the nineteenth century. Britain claimed New Zealand in 1840 and later claimed the Cook Islands. France seized Tahiti and neighboring islands in 1842, the United States annexed Hawai’i in 1898, and Germany and the United States divided Samoa in 1899. Only Tonga escaped European colonization, and even then it was under the protection of Britain. Many Polynesians resisted European colonization, as in New Zealand, but were subdued by force or by treaties. Polynesians also formed anticolonial associations, such as the Mau in Samoa. Many Polynesian chiefs were also able to exploit European colonists to their own advantage, using them as a source of weapons and other goods. More recently, Polynesians have united in protest against nuclear testing carried out by the American and French governments in the region.
The impact of European colonialism in Polynesia varied from place to place. The British turned New Zealand into a settler colony. The Hawaiian Islands became increasingly important to the United States for both agricultural and strategic reasons. France used Tahiti as its main Pacific center of activity, and Samoa was an important agricultural colony for Germany. After Germany’s defeat in World War I (1914-1918) its Samoan colony was turned over to New Zealand. Important Pacific products during the colonial era included sandalwood, copra, vanilla, sugar, pearls, and phosphate. Missionaries came to Polynesia in the early nineteenth century and Christianity soon became widespread.
Today Polynesia contains a diversity of political systems. Hawai’i is a part of the United States and American Samoa is an American territory, Tahiti remains a French colony, Rapanui is a Chilean territory, Tonga is an independent kingdom, tiny Pitcairn is still a British colony, and New Zealand, Samoa, and Tuvalu are independent states.
