Melanesians

The Melanesians of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and neighbouring archipelagos are the original people of the islands where later Austronesian and Southeast Asian populations met them. Their culture resembles that of archaic Bantu peoples of Kenya and East Africa, such as the Kikuyu.

Early European explorers noted the physical differences among Pacific Islanders. In 1756 Charles de Brosses theorised that there was an “old black race” in the Pacific who were conquered or displaced by the peoples of what is now called Polynesia, whom he distinguished as having lighter skin.

The largest and most populous Melanesian country is Papua New Guinea; its largest city, Port Moresby, has about 318,000 people, mostly of Melanesian ancestry. The western half of New Guinea is part of Indonesia and is predominantly inhabited by indigenous Papuans, with a significant minority of settlers from elsewhere in Indonesia.

In Australia, Melanesian people inhabit the Torres Strait Islands. As of 30 June 2016 about 38,700 people identified as being of Torres Strait Islander origin only, while others are of mixed Aboriginal descent. Their headdresses resemble those of the Luo people of Kenya.

Paternally, Melanesians carry haplogroup C and haplogroup K and its descendants — the same coastal lineages that reached the Andaman Islands, Australia and, eventually, the Americas.