Melanesians, groups of people who inhabit Melanesia, the crescent-shaped group of islands to the north and northeast of Australia, including New Guinea, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and the Fiji Islands. In the 1830s French explorer Jules Sébastien César Dumont d’Urville named the region Melanesia, based on the prefix Melan—meaning dark or black, because of the dark skin he noted among natives of the region. In truth, Melanesians have a wide variety of complexions.

The region has a rich diversity of cultures and languages. More than 700 languages are spoken in the region. Most Melanesian languages are Austronesian languages. Papuan languages, today spoken mostly in the interior of New Guinea, are unrelated to the Austronesian languages.

Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests that the ancestors of Melanesians migrated to Melanesia from Southeast Asia in two distinct waves. The first wave of Papuan-speaking settlers arrived in the region between 45,000 and 30,000 years ago. Much later, between 3000 bc and 1000 bc, speakers of Austronesian languages settled the coastal areas, only later colonizing the interior regions of the islands.

Traditionally, Melanesians relied on slash-and-burn agriculture, in which forested areas are burned or cut down every few years to clear fresh ground for gardens. The staples of most Melanesian diets are root crops, such as taro, yams, cassava, and sweet potatoes. Many Melanesians also breed pigs. They usually kill the pigs on ceremonial occasions and distribute the meat to everyone participating in the ceremony. Coastal peoples supplement their diet with fish. Most Melanesians live in small villages in rural areas. Traditionally Melanesian political life has been confined to local communities. People often rally behind “big-men,” competitive individuals accomplished at public speaking and other valued social skills.

In the 19th century, European traders and Christian missionaries developed extended contacts with Melanesians. During this period, many Melanesians joined cargo cults. These cults conducted special ceremonies designed to attract Western goods to their shores while driving Western colonizers away. In the 20th century, a number of important anthropologists studied Melanesian societies, including Bronislaw Malinowski and Margaret Mead. Today, all of Melanesia is independent except for New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France. In many regions, Melanesians are now reviving many aspects of their traditional cultures. Villagers make money by producing copra (the dried flesh of coconuts), coffee, and cocoa.