Austronesian peoples

Area historically regarded as being inhabited by the original Austronesian peoples and later migrations.

Austronesian peoples is a term referring to people that live in Southeast Asia, Oceania and Madagascar, who are speakers of the Austronesian languages. They are thought to have originally come from the indigenous peoples of Taiwan.

Austronesian Peoples Media

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  Taiwanese aborigines

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  Skulls representing Johann Friedrich Blumenbach's "five races" in De Generis Humani Varietate Nativa (1795). The Tahitian skull labelled "O-taheitae" represented what he called the "Malay race".

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  Dancers wearing qatu masks in the initiation rites of Maewo, Vanuatu, from The Melanesians (1891) by Robert Codrington

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  Distribution of the Austronesian languages (Blust, 1999)

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  Paraw sailboats from Boracay, Philippines. Outrigger canoes and crab claw sails are hallmarks of the Austronesian maritime culture.

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  Coconuts on Rangiroa island in the Tuamotus, French Polynesia; a typical island landscape in Austronesia. Coconuts are native to tropical Asia and were spread as canoe plants to the Pacific Islands and Madagascar by Austronesians.

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  Extent of contemporary Austronesia and possible further migrations and contact (Blench, 2009)

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  Map showing the distribution of the Austronesian language family (light rose pink). It roughly corresponds to the distribution of all Austronesian peoples.

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  Samoan man carrying two containers over his shoulder