Oceania

For other uses, see Oceania (disambiguation).

"South West Pacific" redirects here. For the World War II theatre, see South West Pacific theatre of World War II.

Oceania

Area	9,008,458 km² (3,478,185.1 sq mi)
Population	32,000,000 (6th)
Countries	14 Australia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Dependencies	15 American Samoa Ashmore and Cartier Islands Cook Islands Coral Sea Islands Easter Islands French Polynesia Guam Hawaii New Caledonia Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Pitcairn Islands Tokelau Wallis and Futuna
Languages	English, French, and many others
Time Zones	UTC-11 (Samoa) to UTC+14 (Kiribati)

Look up Oceania in
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Oceania (sometimes Oceanica"Oceanica" in WordWeb Online dictionary and thesaurus. http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/OCEANICA) is a geographical, often geopolitical, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term is often used in many languages to define one of the continentsThe Atlas of Canada - The World - ContinentsList of IOC members (122) by continent. International Olympic Committee: 112th session, Moscow 2001Encarta Mexico "Oceanía" 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."Oceania". 2005. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Columbia University Press.

The exact scope of Oceania is variably defined: it generally includes New Zealand, is often taken to include parts of Australasia such as Australia and New Guinea, and sometimes all or part of the Malay Archipelago.Merriam Webster\'s Online Dictionary (based on Collegiate vol., 11th ed.) 2006. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.See, e.g., The Atlas of Canada - The World - ContinentsUnited Nations Statistics Division - Countries of Oceania

Contents 1 Extent 2 Regions 2.1 Interpretative details and controversies 3 Ecogeography 4 History 5 Sport 5.1 Pacific Games 5.2 Rugby codes 5.3 Australian rules football 5.4 Football (soccer) 6 See also 7 Notes 8 External links

Extent

Originally coined by the French explorer Dumont d\'Urville in 1831, Oceania has been traditionally divided into Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. As with any region, however, interpretations vary; increasingly, geographers and scientists divide Oceania into Near Oceania and Remote Oceania.Ben Finney, The Other One-Third of the Globe, Journal of World History, Vol. 5, No. 2, Fall, 1994

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.

Regions

Regions of Oceania.

The regions and constituents of Oceania may vary according to source. In the table below, the subregions and countries of Oceania are broadly categorised according to the scheme for geographic subregions used by the United Nations,United Nations Statistics Division - Countries of Oceania and data included are per sources in cross-referenced articles. Where they differ, provisos are clearly indicated. Apropos, according to different definitions, the following territories and regions may be subject to various other categorisations.

Name of region, followed by countries and their flagsRegions 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.	Area (km²)	Population (1 July 2002 estimate)	Population density (per km²)	Capital
AustralasiaThe use and scope of this term varies. The UN designation for this subregion is "Australia and New Zealand."
Australia	7,686,850	21,050,000	2.5	Canberra
Christmas Island (Australia)Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands are Australian external territories in the Indian Ocean southwest of Indonesia.	135	1493	3.5	Flying Fish Cove
Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)	14	632	45.1	West Island
New ZealandNew Zealand is often considered part of Polynesia rather than Australasia.	268,680	4,108,037	14.5	Wellington
Norfolk Island (Australia)	35	1,866	53.3	Kingston
MelanesiaExcludes Timor-Leste and parts of Indonesia, island territories in Southeastern Asia (UN region) frequently reckoned in this region.
Fiji	18,270	856,346	46.9	Suva
Indonesia (Oceanian part only)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.	499,852	4,211,532	8.4	Jakarta
New Caledonia (France)	19,060	207,858	10.9	Nouméa
Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea is often considered part of Australasia as well as Melanesia.	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	MelekeokOn 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.
PolynesiaExcludes 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.
American Samoa (USA)	199	68,688	345.2	Pago Pago, FagatogoFagatogo is the seat of government of American Samoa.
Cook Islands (NZ)	240	20,811	86.7	Avarua
French Polynesia (France)	4,167	257,847	61.9	Papeete
Niue (NZ)	260	2,134	8.2	Alofi
Pitcairn Islands (UK)	5	47	10	Adamstown
Samoa	2,944	178,631	60.7	Apia
Tokelau (NZ)	10	1,431	143.1	—Tokelau, a domain of New Zealand, has no capital: each atoll has its own administrative centre.
Tonga	748	106,137	141.9	Nuku\'alofa
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

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.
• 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 few 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, but this term is sometimes controversial outside of Australia, as it may be seen as indicating a link with Asia — a separate continent — or as too greatly emphasising Australia.^{[citation needed]} "Austral" means "of, relating to, or coming from the south", and is the common root of both 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]}
• The Philippines, an archipelago in the Western Pacific Ocean, is sometimes included in Oceania, due to its Austronesian people, its role as the centre of the former Spanish East Indies, and as a former naval power in the Pacific when it was a territory of the United States from (1898–1946). Except for Palawan all of its larger islands lie to the East of the Wallace line.
• In its widest sense, the term may embrace the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, thereby including other Pacific island groups such as the Ryukyu, Kuril and Aleutian islands, and the Japanese Archipelago.[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, along with New Guinea and nearby islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, constitute the separate Australasia ecozone.

History

Further information: History of Oceania

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 South Pacific. It is held every four years and began in 1963.

Rugby codes

Rugby League and Rugby Union are two of the region\'s most popular sports. Rugby union is the national sport of New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga. Rugby League is the national sport in Papua New Guinea (the second most populous country in Oceania after Australia) and is very popular in Australia and has a significant following in New Zealand.

Australia has won the Rugby World Cup twice, New Zealand won the inaugural World Cup in 1987. Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted the World Cup in 1987; Australia hosted it in 2003 and New Zealand is to host it in 2011.

Australian rules football

Australian rules football is the national sport in Nauru and is most popular in Australia. It is also very popular in Papua New Guinea.

Football (soccer)

Currently Vanuatu is the only country in Oceania to call football its national sport.

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

See also

• Portal:Oceania
• Art of Oceania
• Australia (continent)
• Australasia
• Economy of Oceania
• Europeans in Oceania
• Flags of Oceania
• History of Oceania
• Military history of Oceania
• New Zealand
• Pacific Islands
• Pacific Islands Forum
• Pacific Games
• Oceania (journal)

Notes

External links

Oceania Portal

• Oceania at the Open Directory Project

v • d • e Countries and territories of Oceania
Australasia	Australia · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · New Zealand1[›] · Norfolk Island
Melanesia	East Timor2[›] · Fiji · Indonesia (Maluku Islands) · 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 · French Polynesia · Niue · Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna
	^ 1: New Zealand is often included in Polynesia. ^ 2: East Timor is often included in Asia. ^ 3: New Guinea is often included in Australasia.

v • d • e Regions of the world
Africa Maghreb · Northern · Central · Southern · Western · Eastern Americas North · Northern · Anglo · Middle · Central · Latin · Caribbean · South · Southern Cone Asia Central · Eastern (Far East · Asia-Pacific) · Northern · Southern (Indian subcontinent) · Southeastern · Southwestern/Western Europe Western · Central · Eastern · Northern · Southern	Middle East Caucasus Oceania Australasia · Melanesia · Micronesia · Polynesia Polar Arctic · Antarctica Oceans World · Arctic · Atlantic · Indian · Pacific · Southern See also Continents of the world

v • d • e Continents of the world
Afro-Eurasia Americas Eurasia Oceania Africa Antarctica Asia Australia Europe N. America S. America Geological supercontinents Gondwana · Laurasia · Pangaea · Pannotia · Proto-Gondwana · Proto-Laurasia · Rodinia · Columbia · Kenorland · Ur · Vaalbara Historical continents Arctica · Asiamerica · Atlantica · Avalonia · Baltica · Cimmeria · Congo craton · Euramerica · Kalahari Desert · Kazakhstania · Laurentia · Siberia · South China · Ur Submerged continents Kerguelen Plateau · Zealandia Possible future supercontinents Pangaea Ultima · Amasia Mythical and theorized continents Atlantis · Lemuria · Mu · Terra Australis
See also Regions of the world

bcl:Osyanyacrh:Avstraliya ve Okeaniya

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