Melanesia, a subregion of Oceania, whose name means "black islands", have several islands that are inhabited by people with dark skin pigmentation. The islands of Melanesia are located immediately north and northeast of Australia as well as east coast of Papua New Guinea.[91] The western end of melanesia, from New Guinea through the Solomon Islands were first colonized by humans about 40,000 to 29,000 years ago.[92][93]