Modern Times/after World War II (1945 To Present)
Following World War II, political change came more slowly to the islands of Polynesia than to the other parts of overseas colonies of European powers. Although sovereignty was granted by royal proclamation to New Zealand as early as 1907, this did not go into full effect until 1947.
Following in independence were the nations (and the sovereign powers from which they obtained complete political independence) of:
- Samoa, as "Western Samoa" (from New Zealand) in 1962
- Tuvalu (from the United Kingdom) in 1978
- the Phoenix Islands and most of the Line Islands as part of the republic of Kiribati (from the United Kingdom) in 1979
- Niue (from New Zealand) in 1974
- Tonga was never actually a colony, but a limited protectorate of the United Kingdom. Tonga never reliquished internal self-government, but when external foreign affairs were again decided by Tongans without reference to the United Kingdom in 1970, Tonga was said to have rejoined the Comity of Nations. Tonga is the only island group in the South Pacific that was never colonised by a European power.
The remaining islands are still under official sovereignty of the following nations:
- American Samoa (United States)
- Cook Islands (New Zealand)
- French Polynesia (France)
- Pitcairn (United Kingdom)
- Tokelau (New Zealand)
- Wallis and Futuna (France)
- Easter Island (Chile)
- Howland, Baker, Jarvis, and Palmyra Islands (United States)
The various outliers lie in the sovereign territory of the nations of Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the French territory of New Caledonia. Hawaii became a state of the United States, giving it equal political status to the other 49 states.
Independence and/or increasing autonomy is not the only influence affecting modern Polynesian society. The primary driving forces are, in fact, the ever-increasing accessibility of the islands to outside influences, through improved air communications as well as through vastly improved telecommunications capabilities. The economic importance of tourism has also had a tremendous impact on the direction of the development of the various island societies. Accessibility of outside sources, as well as the tourism viability of individual islands, has played an important role to which the modern culture has adapted itself to accommodate the interests of outsiders, as opposed to the influences of those intent upon promoting the retention of native traditions. Because of this, Polynesia is today an area in varying degrees of extreme cultural flux.
In the genetics of Polynesians today, the gene pool is mixed with many different peoples. Hawaii being the main example, had a high influx of Asians such as Filipinos, Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese during the late 19th century and into the 20th century for plantation work. It has thus led to pure Hawaiian-Polynesians being few and far between.
Read more about this topic: Polynesian Culture
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