What is "austronesia"

Austronesia \Austronesia\ n. 1. the area comprising the islands of central and S Pacific (Indonesia and Melanesia and Micronesia and Polynesia).

Austronesia, in historical terms, refers to the homeland of the peoples who speak Austronesian languages, including Indonesian, Malay, Filipino, Maori, Malagasy, Hawaiian, Fijian, Taiwan's Austronesian languages and around a thousand other languages. The Austronesian homeland is thought by linguists to have been prehistoric Taiwan.

The name Austronesia comes from the Latin austrālis "southern" plus the Greek νήσος (nêsos) "island".

However, in contemporary terminology, the word Austronesia pertains to the regions where Austronesian languages are spoken. Austronesia then covers almost half of the globe, although mostly ocean and oceanic islands, starting from Madagascar to the west until Easter Island, to the east. Austronesia as a region has three traditional divisions: Taiwan (Formosa), the Maritime Southeast Asia, and Austronesian Oceania ( Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia).