Oceania

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For other uses, see Oceania (disambiguation).
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Oceania

World map exhibiting a common interpretation of Oceania; other interpretations may vary.

Area 9,008,458 km² (3,478,185.1 sq mi)
Population 32,000,000 (6th)
Countries
14
Dependencies
16
Languages
25 Official
Time Zones UTC+10 (Micronesia) to UTC-9 (French Polynesia) (West to East)
Look up Oceania in
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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 New Zealand, parts of Australasia such as Australia and New Guinea, and all or part of the Malay Archipelago as belonging to Oceania.[6][7][8]

Contents

[edit] Extent

Oceania is traditionally understood as being comprised 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 composed of 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.

[edit] Regions

Regions of Oceania.
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
 Christmas Island (Australia)[13] 135 1,493 3.5 Flying Fish Cove
 Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)[13] 14 632 45.1 West Island
 New Zealand[14] 268,680 4,108,037 14.5 Wellington
 Norfolk Island (Australia) 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
 Northern Mariana Islands (USA) 477 77,311 162.1 Saipan
 Palau 458 19,409 42.4 Melekeok[18]
Flag of the United States Wake Island (USA) 2 Wake Island
Polynesia[19]
 American Samoa (USA) 199 68,688 345.2 Pago Pago, Fagatogo[20]
Flag of Austral Islands Austral Islands 148 6,310 48 Rurutu
Flag of New Zealand Chatham Islands (NZ) 966 609 3.2 Waitangi
 Cook Islands (NZ) 240 20,811 86.7 Avarua
Flag of Easter Island Easter Island (Chile) 163.6 3,791 23.1 Hanga Roa
 French Polynesia (France) 3,961 257,847 61.9 Papeete
Flag of Gambier Islands Gambier Islands 31 986 14.1 Rikitea
Flag of Hawaii Hawaii (USA) 10,931 1,283,388 188.6 Honolulu
Flag of Chile Juan Fernández Islands (Chile) 181 598 3.3 San Juan Bautista
Flag of France Loyalty Islands (France) 1,981 22,080 11.14 Wé
Flag of Marquesas Islands Marquesas 1,049 8,632 8 Taiohae
 Niue (NZ) 260 2,134 8.2 Alofi
 Pitcairn Islands (UK) 5 47 10 Adamstown
Flag of Fiji Rotuma 44 2,095 8.2 Rotuma
 Samoa 2,944 214,265 60.7 Apia
Flag of American Samoa Swains Island (American Samoa) 1.5 37 0.3 Taulaga
 Tokelau (NZ) 10 1,431 143.1 —[21]
 Tonga 748 106,137 141.9 Nukuʻalofa
Flag of Tuamotus Tuamotu Islands 800 14,846 18 Rangiroa
 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 1,321,608 14,784,670 11.2

See Also: List of Oceanian countries by population

Political map of Oceania
Political map of Oceania

[edit] 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.
  • 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 Sala 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
  • 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]

[edit] 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, along with New Guinea and nearby islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, constitute the separate Australasia ecozone.

[edit] Sport

 This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

[edit] 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.

[edit] Football

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of six association football confederations 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.

Oceania has only been represented at three World Cup Finals — Australia in 1974 plus 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.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Oceanica" in WordWeb Online dictionary and thesaurus. http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/OCEANICA
  2. ^ The Atlas of Canada - The World - Continents
  3. ^ List of IOC members (122) by continent. International Olympic Committee: 112th session, Moscow 2001
  4. ^ Encarta Mexico "Oceanía"
  5. ^ "Oceania". 2005. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Columbia University Press.
  6. ^ Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary (based on Collegiate vol., 11th ed.) 2006. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.
  7. ^ See, e.g., The Atlas of Canada - The World - Continents
  8. ^ United Nations Statistics Division - Countries of Oceania
  9. ^ Ben Finney, The Other One-Third of the Globe, Journal of World History, Vol. 5, No. 2, Fall, 1994
  10. ^ United Nations Statistics Division - Countries of Oceania
  11. ^ Regions and constituents as per UN categorisations/map except notes 2-3, 6. Depending on definitions, various territories cited below (notes 3, 5-7, 9) may be in one or both of Oceania and Asia or North America.
  12. ^ The use and scope of this term varies. The UN designation for this subregion is "Australia and New Zealand."
  13. ^ a b Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands are Australian external territories in the Indian Ocean southwest of Indonesia.
  14. ^ New Zealand is often considered part of Polynesia rather than Australasia.
  15. ^ Excludes parts of Indonesia, island territories in Southeastern Asia (UN region) frequently reckoned in this region.
  16. ^ Indonesia is generally considered a territory of Southeastern Asia (UN region); wholly or partially, it is also frequently included in Australasia or Melanesia. Figures include Indonesian portion of New Guinea (Irian Jaya) and Maluku Islands.
  17. ^ Papua New Guinea is often considered part of Australasia as well as Melanesia.
  18. ^ On 7 October 2006, government officials moved their offices in the former capital of Koror to Melekeok, located 20 km northeast of Koror on Babelthuap Island.
  19. ^ Excludes the US state of Hawaii, which is distant from the North American landmass in the Pacific Ocean, and Easter Island, a territory of Chile in South America.
  20. ^ Fagatogo is the seat of government of American Samoa.
  21. ^ Tokelau, a domain of New Zealand, has no capital: each atoll has its own administrative centre.

[edit] External links

Oceania portal
v • d • e
Countries and territories of Oceania
 Australasia
 Melanesia
 Micronesia
 Polynesia
1 Often included in Polynesia.  2 Often included in Southeast Asia.  3 Often included in Australasia.
v • d • e
Regions of the world
See also Continents of the world
v • d • e
Continents of the world
See also Regions of the world
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania"
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