Geography of Kava

The Pacific Islands of Oceania is a far more vast region than most know. It is a large chain of islands that covers thousands upon thousands of miles of ocean, stretching from the upper right of Australia, all the way to the Hawaiian Islands.

The Map of Oceania includes the three distinct cultural regions of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia. The Marshall and Solomon islands, New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Tahiti are all found within Oceania; the  diverse island people found in this locale are a pan-cultural, multi-ethnic mélange, with deeply-rooted cultural traditions and mythologies, many which have kava at the root of them (pun intended.)

Oceania offers some of the most exotic island life on Earth. The swaying palm trees, volcanic landscapes, glistening sandy beaches, vast coral reefs, and indigenous native cultures of Oceania represent a notion of paradise widely held among peoples of other parts of the world.

We offer this list of the three main regions of Oceania:

Melanesia

Fiji
New Caledonia
New Guinea

Solomon Islands
Vanuatu

Micronesia

Federated States of Micronesia
Kiribati
Mariana Islands
Marshall Islands
Nauru
Palau

Polynesia

French Polynesia
Hawaii
Samoa
Tonga
Tuamotu Archipelago

Tubuai Islands

It is here where kava is most prevalent, and where one needs to look for the origins of this plant steeped in myth, legend, and folklore.  Some places have known Kava since the dawn of time, and others, like Kiribati have embraced it and integrated it deeply into their culture.  With so many people using Kava safely for so many thousands of years, it makes it even more difficult to believe the negative press it has received in the recent past, possibly fueled by major pharmaceutical companies threatened by such a safe and effective remedy for everything from insomnia to anxiety to depression.