The people of Oceania were an extremely adventurous group. As a distinct population with common origins, the Polynesians were the most widely spread people on Earth before 1500 C.E. Few other groups in history have traveled so much while talking so few material possesions with them. The Polynesians settled the islands of the vast triangle formed by the Hawaiian Islands, Easter Island, and New Zealand. With sides approximately 6,500 kilometers in length, this triangle covers almost twice the area of the United States. The Polynesians began their expansion through the South Pacific around 2000 B.C.E., and by the time of Marco Polo's visit to China, they had settled all of its major islands.