One of the three major divisions (with Melanesia and Micronesia) of Oceania, encompassing islands in the central and southern Pacific Ocean. Polynesia (Greek for "many islands") consists of American Samoa, the Hawaiian Islands, the Cook Islands, Easter Island, French Polynesia, Tahiti, Niue, the Pitcairn Islands, Fiji, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Wallis andal, Futuna Islands, and Western Samoa. Ethnological descriptions sometimes include New Zealand because of the presence in that country of the Maori, a Polynesian people.
