Polynesia (from Greek, poly = many and nesos = island) is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The term "Polynesia" was first coined by Charles de Brosses in 1756, and originally applied to all the islands of the Pacific. Jules Dumont d'Urville in an 1831 lecture to the Geographical Society of Paris proposed a restriction on its use, and also introduced the terms Micronesia and Melanesia, this three-way regional division remaining in widespread use today.

Geographically, Polynesia may be conceived as a triangle with its three corners at Hawai'i, New Zealand, and Easter Island. The other main island groups located within the Polynesian triangle are Samoa, Tonga, and the various island chains that form French Polynesia.

Melanesia
Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and  Vanuatu
 

Micronesia
Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Kiribati, Northern Mariana Islands,  Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau

Polynesia
American Samoa, Easter Island, French Polynesia, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, The Cook Islands, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Wallis & Futuna