The pacific Islands from New Guinea south east-wards to the Fiji Islands’ group is called

The Pacific island region extending from New Guinea southeast-wards to the Fiji Islands is known as Melanesia. This sub-region of Oceania is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and includes independent nations such as Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, as well as New Caledonia [t1][t6][t7]. The name Melanesia, meaning 'black islands,' distinguishes it from Micronesia ('small islands') to the north and Polynesia ('many islands') to the east [t4]. While Australasia typically refers to Australia and New Zealand (and sometimes New Guinea), the specific cluster of islands from New Guinea through the Solomon Islands to Fiji is geographically and culturally classified as Melanesia [t1][t5]. This region is characterized by a mixture of continental and oceanic islands primarily situated in the Southern Hemisphere [t1].

Sources

1. [1] https://runway.airforce.gov.au/resource-page-oceania-melanesia-polynesia-and-micronesia
2. [2] https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/oceania-human-geography/