Oceanic languages
From Open Encyclopedia
{{Infobox Language family |name=Oceanic |region=Micronesia, Polynesia and most of Melanesia |familycolor=Austronesian |fam2=Malayo-Polynesian |fam3=Central Eastern Malayo-Polynesian |fam4=Eastern Malayo-Polynesian |child1=Admiralty Islands |child2=Central-Eastern Oceanic |child3=St Matthias |child4=Western Oceanic |child5=Yapese (possibly an Admiralty Islands language)}}
The Oceanic languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, containing approximately 450 languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Micronesia, Polynesia and most of Melanesia.
Despite covering such a vast area, Oceanic languages are spoken by less than two million people. The largest individual Oceanic language is probably Fijian, with some 300,000 speakers. Samoan, Tolai, Kiribati and Tongan all have over 100,000 speakers.
