T he remote Pacific Ocean . Although often sidelined to the margins of the map , this body of water is anything but marginal . The same can be said of the islands within it . Spanning 10 million square miles , Polynesia encompasses the widest geographic range of any archipelago — over 1,000 islands scattered like stars in the vast expanse of space .
For the communities that have called these islands home for the past 3,000 years , this space between — the sheer remoteness of our planet ’ s largest ocean — is the common thread between their cultures . Within the Polynesian Triangle — the geographic area between Hawaii , New Zealand and Easter Island — are many unique customs and traditions that , although distinct to each island , all reflect an enduring connection to the sea .
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Local Tahitian , French Polynesia