Polynesian Triangle

The Polynesian Triangle is a region of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: The US state of Hawaii, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and New Zealand (Aotearoa). This is often used as a simple way to define Polynesia.

Outside the triangle, there are traces of Polynesian settlement as far north as Necker Island (Mokumanamana), as far east as Salas y Gómez Island (Motu Motiro Hiva), and as far south as Enderby Island (Motu Maha). Also, there have once been Polynesian settlements on Norfolk Island and the Kermadec Islands (Rangitahua). By the time the Europeans first arrived, these islands were all uninhabited.

Today, the most numerous Polynesian peoples are the Māori, Hawaiians (Kanaka Maoli), Tongans, Samoans, Niueans and Tahitians. The native languages of this vast triangle are Polynesian languages, which are classified by linguists as part of the Oceanic subgroup of Malayo-Polynesian. They ultimately derive from the proto-Austronesian language spoken in Southeast Asia 5,000 years ago. There are also numerous Polynesian outlier islands outside the triangle in neighboring Melanesia and Micronesia.