Austronesian Navigation - Geographic Distribution

Geographic Distribution

Austronesian peoples consist of the following groupings by name and geographic location.

• Formosan: Taiwan. e.g. Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Paiwan.
• Malayo-Polynesian:
  • Borneo groups: e.g. Kadazan, Iban, Murut, Dayak
  • Central and Southern Luzon lowlanders: e.g. Tagalog, Bicolano
  • Chamic group: Cambodia, Hainan, Cham areas of Vietnam (remnants of the Champa kingdom which covered central and southern Vietnam). e.g. Chams, Jarai, Utsuls.
  • Igorot: Cordilleras. e.g. Balangao, Ibaloi, Isneg, Kankanaey.
  • Lumad: Mindanao. e.g. Kamayo, Manobo, Tasaday, T'boli.
  • Malagasy: Madagascar. e.g. Betsileo, Merina, Sakalava, Tsimihety.
  • Melanesians: Melanesia. Fijians, e.g. Kanak, Ni-Vanuatu, Solomon Islands
  • Micronesians: Micronesia. e.g. Carolinian, Chamorros, Palauan.
  • Moken: Burma, Thailand.
  • Moro: Bangsamoro (Mindanao, Sulu archipelago). e.g. Maguindanao, Maranao, Tausug.
  • Northern Luzon lowlanders: e.g. Ilocano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Ibanag
  • Polynesians: Polynesia. Māori, Native Hawaiians, Samoans.
  • Sunda–Sulawesi language and ethnic groups including Malay, Sundanese, Javanese, Balinese (geographically Includes Malaysia, Brunei, Pattani, Singapore, and much of western and central Indonesia).
  • Visayans: Visayas. e.g. Aklanon, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray.

According to a recent studies by Stanford University in the United States, there is wide variety of paternal ancestry among the Austronesian people. Aside from European introgression found in Maritime Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Madagascar. They constitute the dominant ethnic group in Maritime Southeast Asia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar. An estimated figure of around 380,000,000 people living in these regions are of Austronesian descent.

They constitute the dominant ethnic groups in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, the southernmost part of Thailand and East Timor, which together with Singapore make up what is called the Malay archipelago. Outside this area, they inhabit Palau, Guam and the Northern Marianas, most of Madagascar, the Cham areas of Vietnam and Cambodia (the remnants of the Champa kingdom which covered central and southern Vietnam), and all countries in the Micronesian and Polynesian sphere of influence.