"Peopling of the world" refers to the dispersal of H. sapiens throughout the world, beginning with the emergence of H. sapiens in the Middle Paleolithic and ending with the settlement of the last inhabitable islands (Hawaii, New Zealand, Easter Island, Iceland) about 1000 years before present, arguably with the establishment of permanent settlements in the Arctic and Antarctic in the modern period (Svalbard 1619, McMurdo Station 1956). It does not include migrations to areas which already had H. sapiens presence.