Melanesia - the islands in the southwestern part of Oceaniacargo cult - (Melanesia) one of several millenarian cults that believe salvation will come in the form of wealth (`cargo') brought by Westerners; some ascribe divine attributes to Westerners on first contact (especially to missionaries) Fiji Islands, Fijis - a group of more than 800 islands (100 inhabited) in the southwestern Pacific; larger islands (Viti Levu and Vanua Levu) are of volcanic origin surrounded by coral reefs; smaller islands are coral Oceania, Oceanica - a large group of islands in the south Pacific including Melanesia and Micronesia and Polynesia (and sometimes Australasia and the Malay Archipelago) Austronesia - islands of central and South Pacific (Indonesia and Melanesia and Micronesia and Polynesia) Bismarck Archipelago - a group of islands in the southwestern Pacific northeast of New Guinea; part of Papua New Guinea New Caledonia - an island east of Australia and north of New Zealand Solomons, Solomon Islands - the northernmost islands are part of Papua New Guinea; the remainder form an independent state within the British Commonwealth archipelago - a group of many islands in a large body of water |