[1][2] The languages are spoken in the Lesser Sunda and Maluku Islands of the Banda Sea, in an area corresponding closely to the Indonesian provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku and the nation of East Timor (excepting the Papuan languages of Timor and nearby islands), but with the Bima language extending to the eastern half of Sumbawa Island in the province of West Nusa Tenggara and the Sula languages of the Sula archipelago in the southwest corner of the province of North Maluku.

The principal islands in this region are Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, Timor, Buru, and Seram.

[3] Based on the Glottolog, CMP can be provisionally divided into the following subgroups: Edwards & Grimes (2021) find that the similarities between the demonstrable groups of CMP languages are due to Papuan substrates and contact.

They propose the following groups of languages in the area as primary branches of Austronesian.

Edwards & Grimes (2021) further propose that the Taliabo languages, generally held to be part of Central Maluku, are actually Celebic (specifically, Saluan–Banggai).