Gilbert and Ellice Islands the latitude of 5° to 10° south and longitude of 176° to 180°, west of the International Date Line. The Ellice Islands are midway between Hawaii and Australia. The Ellice Islands are recognised as part of the Polynesia subregion of Oceania. In 1606 Pedro Fernandes de Queirós sighted Butaritari and Makin, which he named the Buen Viaje (‘good trip’ in Spanish) Islands. The Gilbert Islands were named in 1820 by a Russian Admiral, Baron Johann von Krusenstern, after a British captain, Thomas Gilbert, who encountered the archipelago in 1788 while exploring an Outer Passage route from Port Jackson to Canton.
History of the Pacific Islands to today's modern interpretation of what their culture might have been. It should also be mentioned that the Chamorros on Guam view their culture & language differently than the Chamorros on the Northern Mariana Islands. Hawaiian history is inextricably tied into a larger Polynesian phenomenon. Hawaii is the apex of the Polynesian Triangle, a region of the Pacific Ocean anchored by three island groups: Hawaii, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and Aotearoa (New Zealand). The many island cultures within the Polynesian Triangle share similar languages derived from a proto-Malayo-Polynesian language used in Southeast Asia 5,000 years ago. Polynesians also share cultural