Polynesians
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{short description|Austronesian ethnolinguistic group}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Polynesians
| image =
| population = {{circa}} 3,200,000
| region1 = New Zealand
| pop1 = 1,157,478
| region2 = United States
| pop2 = 988,519
| region3 = Australia
| pop3 = 409,805
| ref3 =
| region4 = French Polynesia
| pop4 = {{circa}} 215,000
| region5 = Samoa
| pop5 = 192,342
| ref5 =
| region6 = Tonga
| pop6 = 103,036
| ref6 =
| region7 = Cook Islands
| pop7 = 17,683
| ref7 =
| region8 = Canada
| pop8 = 10,760
| region9 = Tuvalu
| pop9 = 10,645
| region10 = Chile
| ref10 =
| languages = Polynesian languages (Hawaiian, Māori, Rapa Nui, Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, Tuvaluan and others), English, French and
| religions = Christianity (96.1%)[https://web.archive.org/web/20130815184022/http://wwwgordonconwell.com/netcommunity/CSGCResources/ChristianityinitsGlobalContext.pdf Christianity in its Global Context, 1970–2020 Society, Religion, and Mission], Center for the Study of Global Christianity and Polynesian mythology{{cite web|url= http://www.victoria.ac.nz/research/expertise/arts-humanities-social-sciences/christianity-polynesia|title= Arts, humanities and social sciences|first= Victoria University of|last= Wellington|date= 1 December 2017|website= victoria.ac.nz|access-date= 14 April 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160413081215/http://www.victoria.ac.nz/research/expertise/arts-humanities-social-sciences/christianity-polynesia|archive-date= 13 April 2016|url-status= dead}}
| related = other Austronesian peoples, Euronesians
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
}}
Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Southeast Asia and are part of the larger Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, with an Urheimat in Taiwan. They speak the Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic subfamily within the Austronesian language family. The Indigenous Māori people form the largest Polynesian population,{{Cite web |title=Māori population estimates: At 30 June 2022 |url=https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/maori-population-estimates-at-30-june-2022/ |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=www.stats.govt.nz}} followed by Samoans, Native Hawaiians, Tahitians, Tongans, and Cook Islands Māori.{{CN|date=May 2023}}
{{As of | 2012}}, there were an estimated 2 million ethnic Polynesians (both full and part) worldwide. The vast majority either inhabit independent Polynesian nation-states (Samoa, Niue, Cook Islands, Tonga, and Tuvalu) or form minorities in countries such as Australia, Chile (Easter Island), New Zealand, France (French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna), and the United States (Hawaii and American Samoa), as well as in the British Overseas Territory of the Pitcairn Islands. New Zealand had the highest population of Polynesians, estimated at 110,000 in the 18th century.{{cite book|last=King|first=Michael|title=The Penguin History of New Zealand|publisher=Penguin|year=2003|location=London|pages=91}}
Polynesians have acquired a reputation as great navigators, with their canoes reaching the most remote corners of the Pacific and allowing the settlement of islands as far apart as Hawaii, Rapanui (Easter Island), and Aotearoa (New Zealand).{{Cite journal|last1=Wilmshurst|first1=Janet M.|author-link=Janet Wilmshurst|last2=Hunt|first2=Terry L.|last3=Lipo|first3=Carl P.|last4=Anderson|first4=Atholl |author4-link=Atholl Anderson |date=1 February 2011|title=High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent and rapid initial human colonization of East Polynesia|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=108|issue=5|pages=1815–1820|doi=10.1073/pnas.1015876108|issn=0027-8424|pmc=3033267|pmid=21187404|doi-access=free}} The people of Polynesia accomplished this voyaging using ancient navigation skills, including reading stars, currents, clouds, and bird movements—skills that have been passed down through successive generations to the present day.{{cite web |url= https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/01/22/169980441/how-the-sweet-potato-crossed-the-pacific-before-columbus|title= How The Sweet Potato Crossed The Pacific Way Before The Europeans Did|last= DOUCLEFF|first= MICHAELEEN|date= 23 January 2013|website= NPR|access-date= 25 January 2020
}}
Origins
{{Main|Austronesian peoples|Polynesia#History}}
File:Polynesian Migration.svg throughout the so-called Polynesian Triangle.]]
Polynesians, including Samoans, Tongans, Niueans, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian Mā'ohi, Hawaiian Māoli, Marquesans, and New Zealand Māori, are a subset of the Austronesian peoples. They share the same origins as the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, and Madagascar.{{cite book | year = 2005 | title= The Austronesians: historical and comparative perspectives | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9uyuHAXBuRkC&q=madagascar+austronesia&pg=PR6| isbn= 9781920942854 | last1= Bellwood | first1= Peter | last2= Fox | first2= James J. | last3= Tryon | first3= Darrell | publisher= ANU E Press }} This is supported by genetic,{{cite journal | year = 2005 | title = Mitochondrial DNA Provides a Link between Polynesians and Indigenous Taiwanese | journal = PLOS Biology | volume = 3 | issue = 8| page = e281 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030281 | pmc = 1166355 | doi-access = free }} linguistic{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090122141146.htm|title=Pacific People Spread From Taiwan, Language Evolution Study Shows|date=27 January 2009|work=ScienceDaily|access-date=29 April 2010}} and archaeological evidence.{{cite book |last1=Pietrusewsky |first1=Michael |editor1-last=Simanjuntak |editor1-first=T. |editor2-last=Pojoh |editor2-first=I.H.E. |editor3-last=Hisyam |editor3-first=M. |title=Austronesian Disapora and the Ethnogenesis of People in Indonesian Archipelago. Proceedings of the International Symposium |date=2006 |publisher=LIPI Press |location=Jakarta |pages=320–347 |chapter=Initial Settlement of remote Oceania: the evidence from physical anthropology}}
File:Chronological dispersal of Austronesian people across the Pacific.svg{{Cite book |doi = 10.1002/9780470015902.a0020808.pub2|chapter = Genetics and the Origins of the Polynesians|title = eLS|year = 2013|last1 = Chambers|first1 = Geoffrey K.|isbn = 978-0470016176}}]]
There are multiple hypotheses regarding the ultimate origin and mode of dispersal of the Austronesian peoples, but the most widely accepted theory is that modern Austronesians originated from migrations out of Taiwan between 3000 and 1000 BC. Using relatively advanced maritime innovations such as the catamaran, outrigger boats, and crab claw sails, they rapidly colonized the islands of both the Indian and Pacific oceans. They were the first humans to cross vast distances of water on ocean-going boats.{{cite web |url=http://www.physorg.com/news130761648.html |title=Climate Change and Postglacial Human Dispersals in Southeast Asia | author=Dr. Martin Richards |publisher=Oxford Journals | access-date=1 January 2010}} Despite the popularity of rejected hypotheses, such as Thor Heyerdahl's belief that Polynesians are descendants of "bearded white men" who sailed on primitive rafts from South America,{{cite journal |last1=Magelssen |first1=Scott |date=March 2016 |title=White-Skinned Gods: Thor Heyerdahl, the Kon-Tiki Museum, and the Racial Theory of Polynesian Origins |journal=TDR/The Drama Review |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=25–49 |doi=10.1162/DRAM_a_00522 |s2cid=57559261}}{{cite journal |last1=Coughlin |first1=Jenna |date=2016 |title=Trouble in Paradise: Revising Identity in Two Texts by Thor Heyerdahl |journal=Scandinavian Studies |volume=88 |issue=3 |pages=246–269 |doi=10.5406/scanstud.88.3.0246 |jstor=10.5406/scanstud.88.3.0246 |s2cid=164373747}} Polynesians are believed to have originated from a branch of the Austronesian migrations in Island Melanesia.
The direct ancestors of the Polynesians are believed to be the Neolithic Lapita culture. This group emerged in Island Melanesia and Micronesia around 1500 BC from a convergence of Austronesian migration waves, originating from both Island Southeast Asia to the west and an earlier Austronesian migration to Micronesia to the north. The culture was distinguished by dentate-stamped pottery. However, their eastward expansion halted when they reached the western Polynesian islands of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga by around 900 BC. This remained the furthest extent of the Austronesian expansion in the Pacific for approximately 1,500 years, during which the Lapita culture in these islands abruptly lost the technology of pottery-making for unknown reasons. They resumed their eastward migrations around 700 AD, spreading to the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and the Marquesas. From here, they expanded further to Hawaii by 900 AD, Easter Island by 1000 AD, and finally New Zealand by 1200 AD.{{cite book|first1=Helen |last1=Heath|first2=Glenn R.|last2= Summerhayes|first3=Hsiao-chun |last3=Hung|editor1-first=Philip J.|editor1-last=Piper|editor2-first=Hirofumi|editor2-last=Matsumara|editor3-first=David|editor3-last=Bulbeck|title =New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory|chapter =Enter the Ceramic Matrix: Identifying the Nature of the Early Austronesian Settlement in the Cagayan Valley, Philippines|publisher = ANU Press|series =terra australis|volume=45|year =2017|isbn =9781760460952 |chapter-url =http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n2320/html/ch12.xhtml?referer=&page=19}}{{cite journal |last1=Carson |first1=Mike T. |last2=Hung |first2=Hsiao-chun |last3=Summerhayes |first3=Glenn |last4=Bellwood |first4=Peter |title=The Pottery Trail From Southeast Asia to Remote Oceania |journal=The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology |date=January 2013 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=17–36 |doi=10.1080/15564894.2012.726941|hdl=1885/72437 |s2cid=128641903 |hdl-access=free }}
=Genetic studies=
File:Tahitian warrior dugouts, Le Costume Ancien et Moderne by Giulio Ferrario, 1827.jpg double-hulled war canoes]]
Analysis by Kayser et al. (2008) found that only 21% of the Polynesian autosomal gene pool is of Australo-Melanesian origin, with the remaining 79% being of Austronesian origin.{{cite journal | last1 = Kayser | first1 = Manfred | last2 = Lao | first2 = Oscar | last3 = Saar | first3 = Kathrin | last4 = Brauer | first4 = Silke | last5 = Wang | first5 = Xingyu | last6 = Nürnberg | first6 = Peter | last7 = Trent | first7 = Ronald J. | last8 = Stoneking | first8 = Mark | year = 2008 | title = Genome-wide analysis indicates more Asian than Melanesian ancestry of Polynesians | journal = The American Journal of Human Genetics | volume = 82 | issue = 1| pages = 194–198 | doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.09.010 | pmid=18179899 | pmc=2253960}} Another study by Friedlaender et al. (2008) also confirmed that some Polynesians are genetically closer to Micronesians, Taiwanese Aborigines, and Islander Southeast Asians. The study concluded that Polynesians moved through Melanesia fairly rapidly, allowing only limited admixture between Austronesians and Papuans.{{cite journal | last1 = Friedlaender | first1 = Jonathan S. | last2 = Friedlaender | first2 = Françoise R. | last3 = Reed | first3 = Floyd A. | last4 = Kidd | first4 = Kenneth K. | last5 = Kidd | first5 = Judith R. | last6 = Chambers | first6 = Geoffrey K. | last7 = Lea | first7 = Rodney A. |display-authors=etal | year = 2008 | title = The genetic structure of Pacific Islanders | journal = PLOS Genetics | volume = 4 | issue = 1| page = e19 | doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.0040019| pmid = 18208337 | pmc = 2211537 | doi-access = free }} Polynesians predominantly belong to Haplogroup B (mtDNA), particularly to mtDNA B4a1a1 (the Polynesian motif). The high frequencies of mtDNA B4 in Polynesians are the result of genetic drift and represent the descendants of a few Austronesian females who mixed with Papuan males.Assessing Y-chromosome Variation in the South Pacific Using Newly Detected, By Krista Erin Latham The Polynesian population experienced a founder effect and genetic drift due to the small number of ancestors.{{cite journal |last1=Ioannidis |title=Paths and timings of the peopling of Polynesia inferred from genomic networks |journal=Nature |date=2021 |volume=597 |issue=7877 |pages=522–526 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03902-8 |pmid=34552258 |pmc=9710236 |bibcode=2021Natur.597..522I }}{{cite journal |last1=Murray-McIntosh |first1=Rosalind P. |last2=Scrimshaw |first2=Brian J. |last3=Hatfield |first3=Peter J. |last4=Penny |first4=David |title=Testing migration patterns and estimating founding population size in Polynesia by using human mtDNA sequences |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=21 July 1998 |volume=95 |issue=15 |pages=9047–9052 |doi=10.1073/pnas.95.15.9047 |pmid=9671802 |pmc=21200 |bibcode=1998PNAS...95.9047M |doi-access=free }} As a result of the founder effect, Polynesians are distinctively different both genotypically and phenotypically from the parent population, due to the establishment of a new population by a very small number of individuals from a larger population, which also causes a loss of genetic variation.{{cite journal |pmid=15280221 |pmc=1470966 |url=http://www.genetics.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=15280221 |year=2004 |last1=Provine |first1=W. B. |author-link=Will Provine |title=Ernst Mayr: Genetics and speciation |journal=Genetics |volume=167 |issue=3 |pages=1041–6 |doi=10.1093/genetics/167.3.1041 }}{{cite journal |pmid=6777243 |pmc=1214177 |url=http://www.genetics.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=6777243 |year=1980 |last1=Templeton |first1=A. R. |title=The theory of speciation via the founder principle |journal=Genetics |volume=94 |issue=4 |pages=1011–38 |doi=10.1093/genetics/94.4.1011 }}
Soares et al. (2008) argued for an older pre-Holocene Sundaland origin in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) based on mitochondrial DNA.{{cite web |url=http://www.physorg.com/news130761648.html |title=Climate Change and Postglacial Human Dispersals in Southeast Asia | author= Martin Richards |publisher=Oxford Journals | access-date=28 March 2017}} The "out of Taiwan" model was challenged by a study from Leeds University published in Molecular Biology and Evolution. Examination of mitochondrial DNA lineages indicates that they have been evolving in ISEA for longer than previously believed. Ancestors of the Polynesians arrived in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea at least 6,000 to 8,000 years ago.[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/science/08obpolynesia.html?_r=0 DNA Sheds New Light on Polynesian Migration, by Sindya N. Bhanoo, Feb. 7, 2011, The New York Times]
A 2014 study by Lipson et al., using whole genome data, supports the findings of Kayser et al. Modern Polynesians were shown to have lower levels of admixture with Australo-Melanesians than Austronesians in Island Melanesia. Nonetheless, both groups show admixture, along with other Austronesian populations outside of Taiwan, indicating varying degrees of intermarriage between the incoming Neolithic Austronesian settlers and the preexisting Paleolithic Australo-Melanesian populations of Island Southeast Asia and Melanesia.{{cite journal |last1=Lipson |first1=Mark |last2=Loh |first2=Po-Ru |last3=Patterson |first3=Nick |last4=Moorjani |first4=Priya |last5=Ko |first5=Ying-Chin |last6=Stoneking |first6=Mark |last7=Berger |first7=Bonnie |last8=Reich |first8=David |title=Reconstructing Austronesian population history in Island Southeast Asia |journal=Nature Communications |date=2014 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=4689 |doi=10.1038/ncomms5689 |pmid=25137359 |pmc=4143916 |bibcode=2014NatCo...5.4689L }}{{cite journal |last1=Lipson |first1=Mark |last2=Loh |first2=Po-Ru |last3=Patterson |first3=Nick |last4=Moorjani |first4=Priya |last5=Ko |first5=Ying-Chin |last6=Stoneking |first6=Mark |last7=Berger |first7=Bonnie |last8=Reich |first8=David |title=Reconstructing Austronesian population history in Island Southeast Asia |journal=Nature Communications |date=19 August 2014 |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=4689 |doi=10.1038/ncomms5689|pmid=25137359 |pmc=4143916 |bibcode=2014NatCo...5.4689L }}{{cite journal |last1=Kayser |first1=Manfred |last2=Brauer |first2=Silke |last3=Cordaux |first3=Richard |last4=Casto |first4=Amanda |last5=Lao |first5=Oscar |last6=Zhivotovsky |first6=Lev A. |last7=Moyse-Faurie |first7=Claire |last8=Rutledge |first8=Robb B. |last9=Schiefenhoevel |first9=Wulf |last10=Gil |first10=David |last11=Lin |first11=Alice A. |last12=Underhill |first12=Peter A. |last13=Oefner |first13=Peter J. |last14=Trent |first14=Ronald J. |last15=Stoneking |first15=Mark |title=Melanesian and Asian Origins of Polynesians: mtDNA and Y Chromosome Gradients Across the Pacific |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |date=November 2006 |volume=23 |issue=11 |pages=2234–2244 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msl093 |pmid=16923821 |doi-access=free |hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0010-0145-0 |hdl-access=free }}
Studies from 2016 and 2017 also support the idea that the earliest Lapita settlers mostly bypassed New Guinea, coming directly from Taiwan or the northern Philippines. The intermarriage and admixture with Australo-Melanesian Papuans evident in the genetics of modern Polynesians (as well as Islander Melanesians) occurred after the settlement of Tonga and Vanuatu.{{cite journal|last= Pontus Skoglund|display-authors=etal|title= Genomic insights into the peopling of the Southwest Pacific|journal= Nature|date=27 October 2016|volume=538|issue=7626|pages=510–513 |doi=10.1038/nature19844|pmid=27698418|pmc=5515717|bibcode=2016Natur.538..510S}}{{cite journal |last1=Skoglund |first1=Pontus |last2=Posth |first2=Cosimo |last3=Sirak |first3=Kendra |last4=Spriggs |first4=Matthew |last5=Valentin |first5=Frederique |last6=Bedford |first6=Stuart |last7=Clark |first7=Geoffrey R. |last8=Reepmeyer |first8=Christian |last9=Petchey |first9=Fiona |last10=Fernandes |first10=Daniel |last11=Fu |first11=Qiaomei |last12=Harney |first12=Eadaoin |last13=Lipson |first13=Mark |last14=Mallick |first14=Swapan |last15=Novak |first15=Mario |last16=Rohland |first16=Nadin |last17=Stewardson |first17=Kristin |last18=Abdullah |first18=Syafiq |last19=Cox |first19=Murray P. |last20=Friedlaender |first20=Françoise R. |last21=Friedlaender |first21=Jonathan S. |last22=Kivisild |first22=Toomas |last23=Koki |first23=George |last24=Kusuma |first24=Pradiptajati |last25=Merriwether |first25=D. Andrew |last26=Ricaut |first26=Francois-X. |last27=Wee |first27=Joseph T. S. |last28=Patterson |first28=Nick |last29=Krause |first29=Johannes |last30=Pinhasi |first30=Ron |last31=Reich |first31=David |title=Genomic insights into the peopling of the Southwest Pacific |journal=Nature |date=3 October 2016 |volume=538 |issue=7626 |pages=510–513 |doi=10.1038/nature19844 |pmid=27698418 |pmc=5515717 |bibcode=2016Natur.538..510S }}{{cite web |title= First ancestry of Ni-Vanuatu is Asian: New DNA Discoveries recently published |date= December 2016 |publisher= Island Business |url= https://islandsbusiness.com/component/k2/item/1685-first-ancestry-of-ni-vanuatu-is-asian-new-dna-discoveries-recently-published |access-date= 11 January 2017 |archive-date= 30 July 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180730171015/https://islandsbusiness.com/component/k2/item/1685-first-ancestry-of-ni-vanuatu-is-asian-new-dna-discoveries-recently-published |url-status= dead }}
A 2020 study found that Polynesians and the Indigenous peoples of South America came in contact around 1200, centuries before Europeans interacted with either group.{{Cite web|url=https://api.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/amp/history/2020/07/dna-pre-columbian-contact-polynesians-native-americans|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710014903/https://api.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/amp/history/2020/07/dna-pre-columbian-contact-polynesians-native-americans|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 July 2020|title=DNA reveals Native American presence in Polynesia centuries before Europeans arrived}}{{cite journal |last1=Ioannidis |title=Native American gene flow into Polynesia predating Easter Island settlement |journal=Nature |date=2020 |volume=583 |issue=7817 |pages=572–577 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2487-2 |pmid=32641827 |pmc=8939867 |bibcode=2020Natur.583..572I }}
People
File:Danse des femmes dans les iles Sandwich (National Library of New Zealand).jpg, c. 1816]]
File:Paratene Te Manu, by Gottfried Lindauer.jpg man, by Gottfried Lindauer.]]
File:Samoan 'ava ceremony, c. 1900-1930 unknown photographer.jpg ('ava) makers (aumaga) of Samoa. A woman seated between two men with the round tanoa (or laulau) wooden bowl in front. Standing is a third man, distributor of the 'ava, holding the coconut shell cup (tauau) used for distributing the beverage.]]
There are an estimated 2 million ethnic Polynesians and many of partial Polynesian descent worldwide, the majority of whom live in Polynesia, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.{{cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/pacific-islands-and-new-zealand|title=The Pacific Islands & New Zealand}} The Polynesian peoples are listed below in their distinctive ethnic and cultural groupings, with estimates of the larger groups provided:
- Māori: New Zealand ({{lang|mi|Aotearoa}}) – {{circa}} 892,200,{{Cite web |title=Māori population estimates: At 30 June 2022 {{!}} Stats NZ |url=https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/maori-population-estimates-at-30-june-2022/#:~:text=At%2030%20June%202022:,447,800%20females%20identifying%20as%20M%C4%81ori |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=www.stats.govt.nz}}(not including 170,057 residing in Australia,{{Cite web |title=Ancestry {{!}} Australia {{!}} Community profile |url=https://profile.id.com.au/australia/ancestry?WebID=10 |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=profile.id.com.au}} worldwide: c. 1,062,257){{Cite web |date=2022-01-12 |title=Cultural diversity: Census, 2021 {{!}} Australian Bureau of Statistics |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/latest-release |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=www.abs.gov.au |language=en}}
- Samoans: Samoa, American Samoa – {{circa}} 249,000 (worldwide: {{circa}} 500,000–600,000, including the 109,000 residing in the US and 145,000 in New Zealand)
- Tahitians (Māohi): Tahiti – {{circa}} 178,000 (including multiracial: 250,000+)
- Hawaiians (Māoli): Hawaii – {{circa}} 140,000 (including multiracial: 400,000)
- Tongans: Tonga – {{circa}} 104,000 (worldwide: {{circa}} 300,000, including 43,465 residing in Australia, 67,221 in U.S.A, & 82,839 in New Zealand)
- Cook Islands Māori: Cook Islands – 98,000+ (including 62,000 in New Zealand and 16,000 residing in Australia)
- Niueans: Niue – {{circa}} 20,000–25,000 (95% of whom live in New Zealand)
- Rotumans: Rotuma – {{circa}} 15,000–20,000 (5% reside on Rotuma Island, 75% live on mainland Fiji and 20% live elsewhere (specifically in Australia and New Zealand)
- Tuvaluans: Tuvalu – {{circa}} 10,000 (+ 3,500 in New Zealand)
- Tokelauans: Tokelau – {{circa}} 1,500 (+ 6,500 in New Zealand)
- Tuamotu: Tuamotu Archipelago – {{circa}} 16,000
- Marquesas Islanders: Marquesas Islands – {{circa}} 11,000
- Rapanui: Easter Island – {{circa}} 5,000 (including mixtures and those living in Chile)
- Austral Islanders: Austral Islands – ~7,000
- Mangareva: Gambier Islands – {{circa}} 1,600
- Moriori: Chatham Islands (Rēkohu) – {{circa}} 738 (2013 New Zealand Census)
- Uvea and Futuna: Wallis and Futuna
- Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro: Federated States of Micronesia
- Nuguria, Nukumanu and Takuu: Papua New Guinea
- Anuta, Bellona, Ontong Java, Rennel, Sikaiana, Tikopia and Vaeakau-Taumako: Solomon Islands
- Emae, Makata, Mele (Erakoro, Eratapu), Aniwa, and Futuna: Vanuatu
- Fagauvea: Ouvéa (New Caledonia)
- Kioa (Fiji Islands)
See also
References
External links
- {{commons category-inline|People of Polynesia}}
{{French Polynesia topics}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Ethnic groups in Oceania
Category:Indigenous peoples of Polynesia
Category:Ethnic groups in New Zealand
Category:Ethnic groups in the United States
Category:Ethnic groups in Australia
Category:Polynesian diaspora in Australia