Pangasinan was founded by Austronesian peoples who called themselves "Anakbanwa" during the Austronesian expansion from Taiwan and Southern China in about 5000–2500 BC or the Austronesian dispersal from Sundaland at least 7,000 years ago after the last Ice Age. "Anakbanwa" means “child of "banwa."” "Banwa" (also spelled "banua" or "vanua") is an Austronesian concept that could mean territory, homeland, habitat, society, civilization or cosmos. The Pangasinan people identified or associated "banwa" with the sun, which was their symbol for their "banwa". The Pangasinan people are closely related to the Ibaloi in the neighboring province of Benguet and other peoples of Luzon. The "Anakbanwa" established their settlements in the banks of the Agno River and the coasts of Lingayen Gulf. The coastal area came to be known as "Pangasinan", and the interior area came to be known as "Kaboloan". Eventually, the whole region, its people and the used language came to be known as Pangasinan. Archaeological evidence and early Chinese and Indian records show that the inhabitants of Pangasinan traded with India, Arabia, China and Japan as early as the 8th century A.D.