linguistic:voice_change, structural:summarization
Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Southeast Asia and are part of the larger Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, with an Urheimat in Taiwan. They speak the Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic subfamily within the Austronesian language family. The Indigenous Māori people form the largest Polynesian population, followed by Samoans, Native Hawaiians, Tahitians, Tongans, and Cook Islands Māori. As of 2012, there were an estimated 2 million ethnic Polynesians worldwide. The vast majority either inhabit independent Polynesian nation-states or form minorities in countries such as Australia, Chile, New Zealand, France, and the United States, as well as in the British Overseas Territory of the Pitcairn Islands. New Zealand had the highest population of Polynesians, estimated at 110,000 in the 18th century. Polynesians have acquired a reputation as great navigators, with their canoes reaching the most remote corners of the Pacific and allowing the settlement of islands as far apart as Hawaii, Rapanui, and Aotearoa. The people of Polynesia accomplished this voyaging using ancient navigation skills, including reading stars, currents, clouds, and bird movements—skills that have been passed down through successive generations to the present day.