Austronesian peoples

Austronesian people

Amis people of Taiwan performing a traditional tribal dance
Total population
c. 400 million
Regions with significant populations
Indonesia	c. 270 million (2020)[1][2]
Philippines	c. 109.3 million (2020)[3]
Madagascar	c. 24 million (2016)[4]
Malaysia	c. 21.3 million (2023)[5]
United States	c. 4.7 million[6]
Thailand	c. 1.9 million[7]
Papua New Guinea	c. 1.3 million[citation needed]
East Timor	c. 1.2 million (2015)[8]
Vietnam	c. 1.2 million (2019)[9]
Fiji	c. 936,375 (2023)[10]
New Zealand	c. 855,000 (2006)[11][12]
Singapore	c. 576,300[13]
Taiwan	c. 600,303 (2024)[14]
Solomon Islands	c. 478,000 (2005)[citation needed]
Brunei	c. 450,000 (2006)[15]
Cambodia	c. 302,000 (2019)[16]
Vanuatu	c. 272,000 [17][18]
French Polynesia	c. 230,000 (2017)[19][20]
Samoa	c. 195,000 (2016)[21]
Guam	c. 150,000 (2010)[22]
Hawaii	c. 157,445 (2020)[23]
Kiribati	c. 119,940 (2020)[24]
New Caledonia	c. 106,000 (2019)[25][26]
Federated States of Micronesia	c. 102,000[17][18][27]
Tonga	c. 100,000 (2016)[28]
Suriname	c. 93,000 (2017)[29]
Marshall Islands	c. 72,000 (2015)[30]
American Samoa	c. 55,000 (2010)[31]
Sri Lanka	c. 40,189 (2012)[32]
Australia (Torres Strait Islands)	c. 38,700 (2016)[33]
Myanmar	c. 31,600 (2019)[34][35]
Northern Mariana Islands	c. 19,000[36]
Palau	c. 16,500 (2011)[17][18][37]
Wallis and Futuna	c. 11,600 (2018)[38]
Nauru	c. 11,200 (2011)[39]
Tuvalu	c. 11,200 (2012)[40][41]
Cook Islands	c. 9,300 (2010)[42]
Easter Island (Rapa Nui)	c. 2,290 (2002)[43]
Niue	c. 1,937[17][18]
Languages
Austronesian languages
Religion
Islam Christianity Hinduism Buddhism Indigenous animistic folk religions

The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples,^[44] are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austronesian languages.^[45][46] They also include indigenous ethnic minorities in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Hainan, the Comoros, and the Torres Strait Islands.^[45][47][48] The nations and territories predominantly populated by Austronesian-speaking peoples are sometimes known collectively as Austronesia.^[49]

They originated from a prehistoric seaborne migration, known as the Austronesian expansion, from Taiwan, circa 3000 to 1500 BCE. Austronesians reached the northernmost Philippines, specifically the Batanes Islands, by around 2200 BCE. They used sails some time before 2000 BCE.^[50]: 144 In conjunction with their use of other maritime technologies (notably catamarans, outrigger boats, lashed-lug boats, and the crab claw sail), this enabled phases of rapid dispersal into the islands of the Indo-Pacific, culminating in the settlement of New Zealand c. 1250 CE.^[51] During the initial part of the migrations, they encountered and assimilated (or were assimilated by) the Paleolithic populations that had migrated earlier into Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea. They reached as far as Easter Island to the east, Madagascar to the west,^[52] and New Zealand to the south. At the furthest extent, they might have also reached the Americas.^[53][54][55]

Aside from language, Austronesian peoples widely share cultural characteristics, including such traditions and traditional technologies as tattooing, stilt houses, jade carving, wetland agriculture, and various rock art motifs. They also share domesticated plants and animals that were carried along with the migrations, including rice, bananas, coconuts, breadfruit, Dioscorea yams, taro, paper mulberry, chickens, pigs, and dogs.