Oceania

For the Superstate in George Orwell's novel, see Nations of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Oceania (sometimes Oceanica^[1]) is a geographical, often geopolitical, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Dumont d'Urville. The term is used today in many languages to define one of the continents^[2][3][4] and is one of eight terrestrial ecozones.

Ethnologically, the islands that are included in Oceania are divided into the subregions of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.^[5]

The boundaries of Oceania are defined in a number of ways. Most definitions recognize parts of Australasia such as Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea, and all or part of the Malay Archipelago as belonging to Oceania.^[6][7][8]

Extent

Oceania is traditionally understood as being composed of three regions: Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. As with any region, however, interpretations vary; increasingly, geographers and scientists divide Oceania into Near Oceania and Remote Oceania.^[9]

Most of Oceania consists of island nations comprising thousands of coral atolls and volcanic islands, with small human populations. Australia is the only continental country but Indonesia has land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. If the Australia-New Guinea continent is included then the highest point is Puncak Jaya in Papua at 4,884 m (16,024 ft) and the lowest point is Lake Eyre, Australia at 16 m (52 ft) below sea level.

Regions

Regions of Oceania.

Descriptions of the regions and constituents of Oceania vary according to source. The table below shows the subregions and countries of Oceania as broadly categorised according to the scheme for geographic subregions used by the United Nations.^[10] The information shown follows sources in cross-referenced articles; where sources differ, provisos have been clearly indicated. These territories and regions are subject to various additional categorisations, of course, depending on the source and purpose of each description.

Name of region, followed by countries and their flags[11]	Area (km²)	Population (1 July 2002 estimate)	Population density (per km²)	Capital
Australasia[12]
Australia	7,686,850	21,050,000	2.7	Canberra
New Zealand[13]	268,680	4,108,037	14.5	Wellington
Dependencies territories of Australia:
Christmas Island[14]	135	1,493	3.5	Flying Fish Cove
Cocos (Keeling) Islands[14]	14	632	45.1	West Island
Norfolk Island	35	1,866	53.3	Kingston
Melanesia[15]
Fiji	18,270	856,346	46.9	Suva
Indonesia (Oceanian part only)[16]	499,852	4,211,532	8.4	Jakarta
New Caledonia (France)	19,060	207,858	10.9	Nouméa
Papua New Guinea[17]	462,840	5,172,033	11.2	Port Moresby
Solomon Islands	28,450	494,786	17.4	Honiara
Vanuatu	12,200	196,178	16.1	Port Vila
Micronesia
Federated States of Micronesia	702	135,869	193.5	Palikir
Guam (USA)	549	160,796	292.9	Hagåtña
Kiribati	811	96,335	118.8	South Tarawa
Marshall Islands	181	73,630	406.8	Majuro
Nauru	21	12,329	587.1	Yaren (de facto)
Northern Mariana Islands (USA)	477	77,311	162.1	Saipan
Palau	458	19,409	42.4	Melekeok[18]
Wake Island (USA)	2			Wake Island
Polynesia[19]
American Samoa (USA)	199	68,688	345.2	Pago Pago, Fagatogo[20]
Chatham Islands (NZ)	966	609	3.2	Waitangi
Cook Islands (NZ)	240	20,811	86.7	Avarua
Easter Island (Chile)	163.6	3,791	23.1	Hanga Roa
French Polynesia (France)	3,961	257,847	61.9	Papeete
Hawaii (USA)	28,311	1,283,388	188.6	Honolulu
Loyalty Islands (France)	1,981	22,080	11.14	Wé
Niue (NZ)	260	2,134	8.2	Alofi
Pitcairn Islands (UK)	5	47	10	Adamstown
Samoa	2,944	214,265	60.7	Apia
Tokelau (NZ)	10	1,431	143.1	—[21]
Tonga	748	106,137	141.9	Nukuʻalofa
Tuvalu	26	11,146	428.7	Funafuti
Wallis and Futuna (France)	274	15,585	56.9	Mata-Utu
Total	9,008,458	35,834,670	4.0
Total minus mainland Australia	1,338,988	14,784,670	11.2

See Also: List of Oceanian countries by population

Political map of Oceania

Interpretative details and controversies

• New Zealand is the western corner of the Polynesian Triangle. Its indigenous Māori constitute one of the major cultures of Polynesia. It is also, however, considered part of Australasia.^[8]
• Hawaii is the northern corner of the Polynesian Triangle and is generally included in Oceania, though politically it is part of the United States. The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian member of the Oceanic language family, and Hawaiian culture is one of the major cultures of Polynesia.
• The U.S. territories in the North Pacific are generally considered part of Oceania.
• Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, is the eastern corner of the Polynesian triangle. A Polynesian island in the eastern Pacific Ocean and part of the territory of Chile, it is generally included in Oceania, in which case the most easterly place in Polynesia and Oceania is its dependency Isla Salas y Gómez 415 km to the East.
• The line in Indonesia dividing Oceania from Asia varies in location and is sometimes considered to be the Wallace Line. See the transcontinental country article.
• East Timor is often reckoned as a part of Oceania due to its location to the east of the Wallace Line and its cultural ties to Pacific peoples. See transcontinental country; [1] Biogeographically, East Timor lies within Wallacea, an ecological transition zone between Asia and Australasia. This transition is less known and less favoured these days as a continental boundary.
• Australia is sometimes not included in Oceania. Terms such as Pacific Islands or South Sea Islands might be used to describe Oceania without Australia (and New Zealand). The term "Australasia" invariably includes Australia, and usually includes New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and some other parts of Oceania. This term is sometimes controversial, though, as it may may be interpreted as implying an association with Asia — a separate continent — or too great an association with Australia. The term is actually derived from the word "Austral", meaning "of, relating to, or coming from the south". This word represents the common root of both names: Australia and Australasia.
• Although Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands belong to the Commonwealth of Australia, they are west of Sumatra and are commonly associated with Asia, and not with Oceania.
• In its widest sense, the term may embrace the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, thereby including other islands in the Pacific Rim such as the Ryukyu, Kuril and Aleutian islands, the Japanese Archipelago and Taiwan.[2]

Ecogeography

Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozones, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet. The Oceania ecozone includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand. New Zealand, New Guinea and nearby islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia constitute the separate Australasia ecozone.

Sport

Pacific Games

The Pacific Games (formerly known as the South Pacific Games) is a multi-sport event, much like the Olympics, (albeit on a much smaller scale), with participation exclusively from countries around the Pacific. It is held every four years and began in 1963.

Football

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of six association football confederations^[22] under the auspices of FIFA, the international governing body of the sport. The OFC is the only confederation without an automatic qualification to the World Cup Finals. Currently the winner of the OFC qualification tournament must play off against an Asian confederation side to qualify for the World Cup^[23],[24].

Oceania has only been represented at three World Cup Finals — Australia in 1974 and 2006 and New Zealand in 1982. However, Australia is now no longer a member of the Oceania Football Confederation, having joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006.

See also

• Art of Oceania
• Economy of Oceania
• Europeans in Oceania
• Festival of Pacific Arts
• Flags of Oceania
• Geography of Oceania
• History of Oceania
• Military history of Oceania
• Oceania (journal)
• Pacific Games
• Pacific Islands Forum
• Secretariat of the Pacific Community
• United Nations geoscheme for Oceania

Notes

External links

• Oceania at the Open Directory Project

Countries and territories of Oceania  Australasia Australia · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · New Zealand1 · Norfolk Island  Melanesia East Timor2 · Fiji · Maluku Islands2 (Indonesia) · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea3 · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu  Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia · Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Nauru · Northern Mariana Islands · Palau  Polynesia American Samoa · Cook Islands · Easter Island · French Polynesia · Niue · Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna 1 Often included in Polynesia.  2 Often included in Southeast Asia.  3 Often included in Australasia.

Regions of the world Africa North (Maghreb) · Central · South · West · East   Middle East Arabian Peninsula · Caucasus · Levant · Mesopotamia · Persian Plateau Americas North (Northern • Middle • Central • Caribbean) · South (Southern Cone) · Anglo · Latin Oceania Australasia · Melanesia · Micronesia · Polynesia Asia East (Far East • Asia-Pacific)  · Southeast (Indochina • Malay Archipelago)  · South  · Southwest  · Central · North (Siberia) Polar Arctic · Antarctica Europe Western · Central · Eastern · Northern · Southern Oceans World · Arctic · Atlantic · Indian · Pacific · Southern See also Continents of the world