Oceania
Encyclopedia
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
centered on the island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s of the tropical Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
(ethnologically
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
divided into the subregion
Subregion
A subregion is a conceptual unit which derives from a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south or southern, are commonly used to define a subregion.- United Nations subregions :...
s of Melanesia
Melanesia
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...
, Micronesia
Micronesia
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....
, and Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
)
to the entire insular region between Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, including Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
and the Malay Archipelago
Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago refers to the archipelago between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia. The name was derived from the anachronistic concept of a Malay race....
. The term is sometimes used more specifically to denote a continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
comprising Australia
Australia (continent)
Australia is the world's smallest continent, comprising the mainland of Australia and proximate islands including Tasmania, New Guinea, the Aru Islands and Raja Ampat Islands...
and proximate islands,
or biogeographically as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone (Wallacea
Wallacea
Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and...
and Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
) or the Pacific ecozone (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart either from New Zealand or from mainland New Guinea).
Etymology
The term was coined as Océanie ca. 1812 by geographer Conrad Malte-BrunConrad Malte-Brun
Conrad Malte-Brun , born Malthe Conrad Bruun, was a Danish-French geographer and journalist. His second son, Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun, was also a geographer.-Biography:...
. The word Océanie derives from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
word (ōkeanós), ocean.
Definitions
Physiography
Oceania was originally conceived as the lands of the Pacific Ocean, stretching from the Straits of Malacca to the coast of the Americas. It comprised four regions: PolynesiaPolynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
, Micronesia
Micronesia
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....
, Malaysia (now called the Malay Archipelago
Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago refers to the archipelago between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia. The name was derived from the anachronistic concept of a Malay race....
), and Melanesia
Melanesia
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...
(now called Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
). Included are parts of three geological continents, Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
, Australia
Australia (continent)
Australia is the world's smallest continent, comprising the mainland of Australia and proximate islands including Tasmania, New Guinea, the Aru Islands and Raja Ampat Islands...
, and Zealandia
Zealandia
SS Zealandia, nicknamed Z was a historically significant Australian cargo and passenger ship. It served as a troopship in both World War I and World War II. Zealandia transported the ill-fated Australian 8th Division. Its crew were the last Allied personnel to see HMAS Sydney, which was lost with...
, as well the non-continental volcanic islands of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Wallacea
Wallacea
Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and...
, and the open Pacific. It extends to Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
in the west, the Bonin Islands in the northwest, the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
in the northeast, Rapa Nui and Sala y Gómez Island in the east, and Macquarie Island
Macquarie Island
Macquarie Island lies in the southwest corner of the Pacific Ocean, about half-way between New Zealand and Antarctica, at 54°30S, 158°57E. Politically, it has formed part of the Australian state of Tasmania since 1900 and became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 1978. In 1997 it became a world heritage...
in the south, but excludes Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and the Ryukyu, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese, and Aleutian Islands of the margins of Asia.
The states that occupy Oceania that are not included in geopolitical Oceania are Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Malaysia (through Malaysian Borneo), Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, and East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
. The islands of the geographic extremes are politically integral parts of Japan (Bonin), the United States (Hawaii), and Chile (Easter Island). A smaller geographic definition also exists, which excludes the land on the Sunda Plate
Sunda Plate
The Sunda Plate is the tectonic plate on which the majority of Southeast Asia is located. It was formerly considered a part of the Eurasian Plate, but GPS measurements have confirmed its independent movement at 10 mm/yr eastward relative to Eurasia...
, but includes Indonesian New Guinea as part of the Australian continent
Australia (continent)
Australia is the world's smallest continent, comprising the mainland of Australia and proximate islands including Tasmania, New Guinea, the Aru Islands and Raja Ampat Islands...
.
Biogeography
Biogeographically, Oceania is used as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone (WallaceaWallacea
Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and...
and Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
) or the Pacific ecozone (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart either from New Zealand or from mainland New Guinea).
Ecogeography
Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozoneEcozone
An ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of the Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms.Ecozones delineate large areas of the Earth's surface within which organisms have been evolving in relative isolation over long periods of time, separated from...
s, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet. The Oceania ecozone
Oceania ecozone
Oceania is one of the WWF ecozones, and unique in not including any continental land mass. The ecozone includes the Pacific Ocean islands of Micronesia, the Fijian Islands, and most of Polynesia...
includes all of Micronesia, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand. New Zealand, New Guinea, Melanesia apart from Fiji, and Australia constitute the separate Australasia ecozone
Australasia ecozone
The Australasian zone is an ecological region that is coincident, but not synonymous , with the geographic region of Australasia...
. The Malay Archipelago is part of the Indomalaya ecozone. Related to these concepts are Near Oceania
Near Oceania
Near Oceania or Near Melanesia is the part of Oceania settled 35,000 years ago, comprising western Island Melanesia: the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands archipelago. Some definitions include Australia and New Guinea...
, that part of western Island Melanesia
Island Melanesia
Island Melanesia is the part of Melanesia east of mainland New Guinea, from the Bismarck Archipelago to New Caledonia. Compare Near Oceania....
which has been inhabited for tens of millennia, and Remote Oceania
Remote Oceania
Remote Oceania is the part of Oceania settled within the last 10,000 years, comprising Island Melanesia south and east of the Solomon Islands archipelago, plus the open Pacific: Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Palau, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Compare Near Oceania....
, which is more recently settled.
Geopolitics
In the geopolitical conception used by the United Nations, International Olympic CommitteeInternational Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
, and many atlases, Oceania includes Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the nations of the Pacific from Papua New Guinea east, but not the Malay Archipelago or Indonesian New Guinea.
Other definitions
- The term is sometimes used more specifically than in the geopolitical conception, to denote a continentContinentA continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
comprising AustraliaAustralia (continent)Australia is the world's smallest continent, comprising the mainland of Australia and proximate islands including Tasmania, New Guinea, the Aru Islands and Raja Ampat Islands...
and proximate islands. - New Zealand forms the south-western corner of the Polynesian TrianglePolynesian TriangleThe Polynesian Triangle is a region of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand. It is often used as a simple way to define Polynesia....
. Its indigenous Māori constitute one of the major cultures of Polynesia. It is also, however, considered part of Australasia. - The widest definition of Oceania includes the entire region between continental Asia and the Americas, thereby including islands in the Pacific Rim such as the Japanese Archipelago, Taiwan, and the Aleutian islands.
Demographics
The demographic table below shows the subregions and countries of geopolitical Oceania. The countries and territories in this table are categorized according to the scheme for geographic subregions used by the United Nations. 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 flag Flag A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist... s |
Area (km²) |
Population | Population density (per km²) |
Capital | ISO 3166-1 ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australasia Australasia Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes... |
|||||
 Australia |
7,686,850 | 22,028,000 | 2.7 | Canberra Canberra Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne... |
AU |
 New Zealand |
268,680 | 4,108,037 | 14.5 | Wellington Wellington Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range... |
NZ |
| External territories of Australia: | |||||
| 199 | |||||
 Christmas Island |
135 | 1,493 | 3.5 | Flying Fish Cove Flying Fish Cove Flying Fish Cove is the main settlement of Australia's Christmas Island. Many maps simply label it “The Settlement”. It was the first British settlement on the island, established in 1888. The cove is named after the survey vessel .... |
CX |
 Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
14 | 628 | 45.1 | West Island West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands West Island is the capital of the Cocos Islands. The population is roughly 120. It is the less populous of the two inhabited islands . It was part of the Clunies-Ross plantation and an airstrip was built here during World War II... |
CC |
| 10 | 4 | ||||
| 372 | |||||
 Norfolk Island |
35 | 2,114 | 53.3 | Kingston Kingston, Norfolk Island Kingston is the capital of the Australian South Pacific Territory of Norfolk Island. The vice-regal, legislative, administrative and judicial offices are all located in Kingston... |
NF |
| Melanesia Melanesia Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia... |
|||||
 Fiji |
18,270 | 856,346 | 46.9 | Suva Suva Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,... |
FJ |
 New Caledonia (FranceFrance The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... ) |
19,060 | 240,390 | 12.6 | Nouméa Nouméa Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,... |
NC |
 Papua New Guinea |
462,840 | 5,172,033 | 11.2 | Port Moresby Port Moresby Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43... |
PG |
 Solomon Islands |
28,450 | 494,786 | 17.4 | Honiara Honiara Honiara, population 49,107 , 78,190 , is the capital of the Solomon Islands and of Guadalcanal Province, although it is a separately administered town... |
SB |
 Vanuatu |
12,200 | 240,000 | 19.7 | Port Vila Port Vila Port Vila is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. Situated on the south coast of the island of Efate, in Shefa Province, the city population at last was 29,356, an increase of 55% on the previous census result . This suggests a 2007 population of about 40,000 or around 65% of the province's... |
VU |
| Micronesia Micronesia Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest.... |
|||||
 Federated States of Micronesia |
702 | 135,869 | 193.5 | Palikir Palikir Palikir is the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia since 1989, when it replaced Kolonia, the other large settlement on the island.It has a population of 4,645 and is located on the island of Pohnpei.-External links:* *... |
FM |
 Guam (USAUnited States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... ) |
549 | 160,796 | 292.9 | Hagåtña Hagåtña, Guam Hagåtña , formerly English Agana and in Spanish Agaña, is the capital of the United States island territory of Guam. It is the island's second smallest village in both area and population. From the 18th through mid 20th century, it was Guam's population center... |
GU |
 Kiribati |
811 | 96,335 | 118.8 | South Tarawa South Tarawa South Tarawa is the official capital of the Republic of Kiribati on Tarawa Atoll. The meaning of Teinainano is "down of the mast", alluding to the sail-shape of the atoll... |
KI |
 Marshall Islands |
181 | 73,630 | 406.8 | Majuro Majuro Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of... |
MH |
 Nauru |
21 | 12,329 | 587.1 | Yaren (de facto) | NR |
 Northern Mariana Islands (USA) |
477 | 77,311 | 162.1 | Saipan Saipan Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392... |
MP |
 Palau |
458 | 19,409 | 42.4 | Melekeok Melekeok Melekeok is a town in the State of Melekeok . It is located on the east coast of Palau's largest island, Babeldaob... |
PW |
 Wake IslandWake Island Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior... (USA) |
2 | 12 | Wake Island Wake Island Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior... |
UM | |
| Polynesia Polynesia Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs... |
|||||
 American Samoa (USA) |
199 | 68,688 | 345.2 | Pago Pago, Fagatogo Fagatogo, American Samoa Fagatogo is village situated on Tutuila Island, Pago Pago Harbour. Population is 3000. Fagatogo is listed in the Constitution of American Samoa as the official seat of government.)-External links:... |
AS |
 Cook Islands (NZNew Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... ) |
240 | 20,811 | 86.7 | Avarua Avarua Avarua is a town and district in the north of Rarotonga Island, the national capital of the Cook Islands... |
CK |
 Easter Island (ChileChile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... ) |
163.6 | 3,791 | 23.1 | Hanga Roa Hanga Roa Hanga Roa is the main town, harbour and capital of the Chilean province of Easter Island. It is located in the southern part of the island's west coast, in the lowlands between the extinct volcanoes of Terevaka and Rano Kau.... |
CL |
 French Polynesia (France) |
4,167 | 257,847 | 61.9 | Papeete Papeete -Sights:* Interactive Google map of Papeete, to discover the 30 major tourist attractions in Papeete downtown.*The waterfront esplanade*Bougainville Park -Sights:* Interactive Google map of Papeete, to discover the 30 major tourist attractions in Papeete downtown.*The waterfront... |
PF |
 Hawaii (USA) |
16,636 | 1,283,388 | 72.8 | Honolulu | US |
 Niue (NZ) |
260 | 2,134 | 8.2 | Alofi Alofi Alofi is the capital city of the Pacific Ocean nation of Niue. With a population of 581 , Alofi has the distinction of being the smallest national capital city in terms of population. It consists of the two villages Alofi North and Alofi South, where the government headquarters are located. Alofi... |
NU |
 Pitcairn Islands (UKUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... ) |
5 | 47 | 10 | Adamstown Adamstown, Pitcairn Island Adamstown is the only settlement on, and as such, the capital of, the Pitcairn Islands.-Geography:The settlement is located on the central-north side of the island of Pitcairn, facing the Pacific Ocean and close to the Bounty Bay, the only seaport of the island.-Overview:Adamstown has a population... |
PN |
 Samoa |
2,944 | 179,000 | 63.2 | Apia | WS |
 Tokelau (NZ) |
10 | 1,431 | 143.1 | Nukunonu Nukunonu Nukunonu is a group of coral islets within Tokelau in the south Pacific Ocean. Covering 5.5 km², it is the largest of the three islands that constitute Tokelau, and is composed of an atoll surrounding a central lagoon, which itself covers some 90 km²... |
TK |
 Tonga |
748 | 106,137 | 141.9 | Nukualofa Nukuʻalofa Nukualofa is the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the southern most island group of Tonga.-Mythological origins:... |
TO |
 Tuvalu |
26 | 11,146 | 428.7 | Funafuti Funafuti Funafuti is an atoll that forms the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 4,492 , making it the most populated atoll in the country. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres wide, encircling a large lagoon 18 km long and 14 km wide, with a surface of... |
TV |
 Wallis and Futuna (France) |
274 | 15,585 | 56.9 | Mata-Utu Mata-Utu Mata-Utu is the capital of the Wallis and Futuna Territory. It is located on the island of Wallis , in the district of Hahake, of which it is also the capital. Its population is 1,191 .... |
WF |
| Total | 8,536,716 | 35,669,267 | 4.2 | ||
| Total minus mainland Australia | 849,866 | 13,641,267 | 16.1 | ||
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Religion
The predominant religion in Oceania is ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Traditional religions are often animist and prevalent among traditional tribes is the belief in evil spirits (masalai in Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin is a creole spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an official language of Papua New Guinea and the most widely used language in that country...
), which are blamed for "poisoning" people, causing calamity and death. In recent Australian and New Zealand censuses, large proportions of the population say they belong to "No religion" (which includes humanism, atheism, agnosticism, and rationalism). In Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
, everyday life is heavily influenced by Polynesian
Polynesian culture
Polynesian culture refers to the indigenous peoples' culture of Polynesia who share common traits in language, customs and society. Chronologically, the development of Polynesian culture can be divided into four different historical eras:...
traditions and especially by the Christian faith. The Bahá'í House of Worship
Bahá'í House of Worship
A Bahá'í House of Worship, sometimes referred to by its Arabic name of Mashriqu'l-Adhkár ,is the designation of a place of worship, or temple, of the Bahá'í Faith...
in Tiapapata, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
is one of seven designations administered in the Baha'i faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
.
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.Rugby League
Rugby leagueRugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
is a popular sport throughout Oceania, and is the national sport of Papua New Guinea (the second most populous country in Oceania after Australia) and is very popular in Australia and attracts significant attention across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
.
Australia and New Zealand
New Zealand national rugby league team
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league football since intercontinental competition began for the sport in 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name...
are two of the most successful sides in the world. Australia has won the Rugby League World Cup
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
a record nine times while New Zealand won their first World Cup in 2008
2008 Rugby League World Cup
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...
. Australia hosted the second tournament in 1957
1957 Rugby League World Cup
The second Rugby League World Cup was held in Australia in 1957. As before a group stage was held first, with matches being held at locations in Sydney and Brisbane....
. Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted it in 1968
1968 Rugby League World Cup
- Final standings :-Final:The final had been billed a 'debacle' following Great Britain's inexplicable loss to France in Auckland, leaving them to contest the final despite being beaten by Australia seven tries to none two days prior....
and 1977
1977 Rugby League World Cup
- Final standings :-Final:Great Britain were the underdogs going to the final, which was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. They managed to dominate the possession, and it took a last minute try from Australia’s John Kolc to secure the Cup in front of 24,457 spectators.Australia: Graham Eadie;...
. New Zealand hosted the final for the first time in 1985 - 1988
1985 - 1988 Rugby League World Cup
The ninth Rugby League World Cup saw yet another change of format. The competition was stretched to cover almost three years , with teams playing each other on a home and away basis...
tournament and Australia hosted the last tournament in 2008
2008 Rugby League World Cup
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...
.
Rugby Union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
is one of the region's most prominent sports, and is the national sport of New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga. Fiji's sevens team
Fiji national rugby union team (sevens)
The Fiji Sevens side is one of the most popular and successful Sevens teams in the world and has won the Hong Kong Sevens a record nine times since its inception in 1976. Fiji has also won the Sevens World Cup twice, winning that event in 1997 and 2005...
is one of the most successful in the world, as is New Zealand's
New Zealand national rugby union team (sevens)
The New Zealand national rugby union sevens team is the New Zealand representative team in rugby union sevens and competes in the IRB Sevens World Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games.-IRB Sevens:...
.
New Zealand and Australia have won the Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....
a record two times (tied with South Africa
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
who have also won it two times). 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 also hosted it in 2011, which they then went on to win.
Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
is a popular summer sport in Australia and New Zealand. Australia had ruled International cricket as the number one team for more than a decade, and have won four Cricket World Cup
Cricket World Cup
The ICC Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of men's One Day International cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council , with preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament which is held every four years...
s and have been runner-up for two times, making them the most successful cricket team. New Zealand is also considered a strong competitor in the sport, with the New Zealand Cricket Team
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
, also called the Black Caps, enjoying success in many competitions. Both Australia and New Zealand are Full members of the ICC
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
. Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea are some of the Associate/Affiliate members of the ICC from Oceania that are governed by ICC East Asia-Pacific. Beach Cricket
Beach cricket
Backyard cricket, street cricket, beach cricket, gully cricket, corridor cricket, deef or garden cricket is an informal ad hoc variant of the game of cricket, played by people of both sexes and all ages in gardens, back yards, on the street, in parks, carparks, beaches or any deef arena not...
, a greatly simplified variant of cricket played on a sand beach, is also a popular recreational sport in Australia.
Cricket is culturally a significant sport for summer in Oceania. The Boxing Day Test
Boxing Day Test
The Boxing Day Test match is a cricket Test match hosted in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia involving the Australian cricket team and an opposing national team which is touring Australia that summer. It begins annually on Boxing Day and is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground...
is very popular in Australia, conducted every year on 26 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, Melbourne.
Australian rules football
Australian rules footballAustralian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
is the national sport in Nauru and is the most popular football code in Australia. It is also popular in Papua New Guinea.
Association football (soccer)
The Oceania Football ConfederationOceania Football Confederation
The Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six continental confederations of international association football, consisting of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and island nations such as Tonga, Fiji and other Pacific Island countries...
(OFC) is one of six association football confederations under the auspices of FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
, the international governing body of the sport. The OFC is the only confederation without an automatic qualification to the World Cup Finals
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
. Currently the winner of the OFC qualification tournament must play off against an Asian confederation
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...
side to qualify for the World Cup.
Currently, Vanuatu is the only country in Oceania to call football (soccer) its national sport.
Oceania has been represented at four World Cup finals tournaments — Australia in 1974
1974 FIFA World Cup
The 1974 FIFA World Cup, the tenth staging of the World Cup, was held in West Germany from 13 June to 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, was awarded...
, 2006
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
and 2010
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
, and New Zealand in 1982
1982 FIFA World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final.-Host selection:...
and 2010
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
. In 2006, Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation and qualified for the 2010 World cup as an Asian entrant. New Zealand qualified through the Oceania Confederation, winning its playoff against Bahrain. 2010 was the first time two countries from Oceania had qualified at the same time, albeit through different conferences.
See also
- Art of OceaniaArt of OceaniaOceanic art refers to the creative works made by the native peoples of the Pacific Islands and Australia, including areas as far apart as Hawaii and Easter Island. Specifically it refers to the works of the two groups of people that settled the area, though during two different periods. They...
- Economy of OceaniaEconomy of OceaniaThe economy of Oceania comprises more than 14 separate countries and their associated economies.On a total scale the region has approximately 34,700,201 inhabitants who are spread among 30,000 islands in the South Pacific bordered between Asia and the Americas...
- Europeans in OceaniaEuropeans in OceaniaEuropean exploration and settlement of Oceania began in the 16th century, starting with Spanish landings and shipwrecks in the Marianas Islands, east of the Philippines. Subsequent rivalry between European colonial powers, trade opportunities and Christian missions drove further European...
- Festival of Pacific ArtsFestival of Pacific ArtsThe Festival of Pacific Arts, or Pacific Arts Festival, is a traveling festival hosted every four years by a different country in Oceania . It was conceived by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community as a means to stem erosion of traditional cultural practices by sharing and exchanging culture...
- Flags of OceaniaFlags of Oceania-United States Minor Outlying Islands of the Pacific:...
- Geography of OceaniaGeography of OceaniaAs an ecozone, Oceania 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 of OceaniaHistory of OceaniaThe History of Oceania is the history of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and other Pacific island nations.-First settlement:Australia was settled by the Indigenous Australians between 40,000 and 125,000 years ago...
- List of cities in Oceania
- Military history of OceaniaMilitary history of OceaniaAlthough the military history of Oceania probably goes back thousands of years to the first human settlement in the region, little is known about war in Oceania until the arrival of Europeans. The introduction of firearms transformed conflict in the region; in some cases helping to unify regions...
- Oceania (journal)Oceania (journal)The Australian academic journal Oceania was founded in 1930. It publishes contributions in the field of social and cultural anthropology, and its primary regional orientation is to the peoples of Oceania, primarily comprising Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia and southeast Asia...
- Pacific Islands ForumPacific Islands ForumThe Pacific Islands Forum is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean. It was founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum...
- Pacific UnionPacific UnionThe Pacific Union is a proposed development of the Pacific Islands Forum, suggested in 2003 by a committee of the Australian Senate, into a political and economic intergovernmental community. The union, if formed, will have a common charter, institutions and currency...
- Secretariat of the Pacific CommunitySecretariat of the Pacific CommunityThe Secretariat of the Pacific Community, or SPC , is a regional intergovernmental organisation whose membership includes both nations and territories...
- United Nations geoscheme for OceaniaUnited Nations geoscheme for Oceania-Australia and New Zealand:* Australia* New Zealand* Norfolk Island-Melanesia:* Fiji* New Caledonia* Papua New Guinea* Solomon Islands* Vanuatu-Micronesia:* Guam* Kiribati* Marshall Islands* Micronesia * Nauru...