Island Information

Moon Handbooks
South Pacific (8th Ed.)

South Pacific Culture

The eastern parts of the South Pacific, such as French Polynesia and Cook Islands, are distinctly Polynesian. Samoa and Tonga are both also predominantly Polynesian. Fiji is predominantly Melanesian, though it does have a Polynesian community, especially on the island of Kioa. To the west of Fiji, the Melanesian culture persists. All of the nations have percentages of people of European, Chinese, Indian heritage.

When early European explorers travelled through the South Pacific a few hundred years ago, the islands conveyed an exotic paradise of romance and intrigue. That ambience exists today and still lures travellers especially those looking for exotic and romantic destinations.

An outline of the people of the South Pacific

• French Polynesia Approximately 78% of the population are Polynesian, with 12% Chinese, 16% of local French people and metropolitan French people. French and Polynesian is spoken, the latter being the official language.
• Cook Islands - Around 88% Cook Island Maori (Polynesian). Maori and English (the official language) is spoken.
• Samoa (formerly Western Samoa) has a high (approx 93%) Samoan population, with Euronesians and Europeans making up the remainder. Samoan (Polynesian) and English are the two main languages.
• Tonga's main ethnic groups are Polynesians and Europeans. Tongan and English are the main languages spoken here.
• Fiji has a multicultural society, with about 54-55% native Fijian (primarily Melanesian but with some Polynesian admixture), 37-38% Indian, and the remainder comprises a mixture of European, Chinese, and Other Pacific Islanders. English as well as Fijian are the official languages, and Hindustani is widely used by the Indian population.
• Vanuatu's indigenous people are known as the Ni-Vanuatu who make up 98.5% of the population. There are many local dialects, plus pidgin (also called Bislama or Bichelama), English, French etc.
• New Caledonia has a mixture of indigenous Melanesian population (42.5%) along with 37% European, and a mixture of Wallisian, Polynesian, Vietnamese and others. French is the official language but there are over 30 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects.