Oceania

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For the oceans of the Earth, see Category:Oceans.

For the fictional superstate in George Orwell's novel, see Oceania (Nineteen Eighty-Four). For other uses, see Oceania (disambiguation).

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Oceania (sometimes Oceanica) is a geographical, often geopolitical, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands and usually including Australia—in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The exact scope of Oceania is defined variously, with interpretations normally including Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and various islands of the Malay Archipelago. The term is also used by many authors and in many languages to define one of the continents. [1], [2], [3].

1 Extent
- 1.1 Territories and regions
- 1.2 Interpretative details and controversies
2 Ecogeography
3 Sport
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Extent

Originally coined by the French explorer Dumont d'Urville in 1831, Oceania has been traditionally divided into Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Australasia. As with any region, however, interpretations vary; increasingly, geographers and scientists divide Oceania into Near Oceania and Remote Oceania.

Most of Oceania consists of small island nations. Australia is the only continental country; by some definitions, Indonesia has land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia.

[edit] Territories and regions

Name of territory, with flag<ref name="region">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. </ref>	Area (km²)	Population (1 July 2002 estimate)	Population density (per km²)	Capital
Australasia<ref name="Australasia">The use and scope of this term varies. The UN designation for this subregion is "Australia and New Zealand."</ref>
Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	7,686,850	20,697,241	2.5	Canberra
Image:Flag of Christmas Island.svg Christmas Island (Australia)<ref name="ccau">Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands are Australian external territories in the Indian Ocean southwest of Indonesiaand are commonly considered also part of South East Asia. </ref>	135	474	3.5	The Settlement
Image:Flag of Australia.svg Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)<ref name="ccau" />	14	632	45.1	West Island
Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand<ref name="nzpol">New Zealand is often considered part of Polynesia rather than Australasia. </ref>	268,680	3,908,037	14.5	Wellington
Image:Flag of Norfolk Island.svg Norfolk Island (Australia)	35	1,866	53.3	Kingston
Melanesia<ref name="Melanesia">Excludes Timor-Leste and parts of Indonesia, island territories in Southeastern Asia (UN region) frequently reckoned in this region. </ref>
Image:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji	18,270	856,346	46.9	Suva
Image:Flag of Indonesia (bordered).svg Indonesia<ref name="indo">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. </ref>	499,852	4,211,532	8.4	Jakarta
Image:Flag of France.svg New Caledonia (France)	19,060	207,858	10.9	Nouméa
Image:Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg Papua New Guinea<ref name="pngaus">Papua New Guinea is often considered part of Australasia as well as Melanesia. </ref>	462,840	5,172,033	11.2	Port Moresby
Image:Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg Solomon Islands	28,450	494,786	17.4	Honiara
Image:Flag of Vanuatu.svg Vanuatu	12,200	196,178	16.1	Port Vila
Micronesia
Image:Flag of Micronesia.svg Federated States of Micronesia	702	135,869	193.5	Palikir
Image:Flag of Guam.svg Guam (USA)	549	160,796	292.9	Hagåtña
Image:Flag of Kiribati.svg Kiribati	811	96,335	118.8	Bairiki
Image:Flag of the Marshall Islands.svg Marshall Islands	181	73,630	406.8	Majuro
Image:Flag of Nauru.svg Nauru	21	12,329	587.1	Yaren
Image:Flag of the Northern Mariana Islands.svg Northern Mariana Islands (USA)	477	77,311	162.1	Saipan
Image:Flag of Palau.svg Palau	458	19,409	42.4	Melekeok<ref name="Palau">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. </ref>
Polynesia<ref name="Polynesia">Excludes the US state of Hawaii, which is distant from the North American landmass in the Pacific Ocean and frequently reckoned in this region. </ref>
Image:Flag of American Samoa.svg American Samoa (USA)	199	68,688	345.2	Fagatogo, Utulei<ref name="ASamoa">Fagatogo is the legislative and judicial seat of American Samoa; Utulei is the executive seat. </ref>
Image:Flag of the Cook Islands.svg Cook Islands (NZ)	240	20,811	86.7	Avarua
Image:Flag of French Polynesia.svg French Polynesia (France)	4,167	257,847	61.9	Papeete
Image:Flag of Niue.svg Niue (NZ)	260	2,134	8.2	Alofi
Image:Flag of the Pitcairn Islands.svg Pitcairn Islands (UK)	5	47	10	Adamstown
Image:Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa	2,944	178,631	60.7	Apia
Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg Tokelau (NZ)	10	1,431	143.1	—<ref name="Tokelau">Tokelau, a domain of New Zealand, has no capital: each atoll has its own administrative centre. </ref>
Image:Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga	748	106,137	141.9	Nuku'alofa
Image:Flag of Tuvalu.svg Tuvalu	26	11,146	428.7	Vaiaku
Image:Flag of France.svg Wallis and Futuna (France)	274	15,585	56.9	Mata-Utu
Total	9,008,458	35,834,670	4.0

Notes:
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[edit] Interpretative details and controversies

Australia is sometimes not included in Oceania, although a term like Pacific islands would normally be used to describe Oceania without Australia. The term "Australasia" invariably includes Australia, and usually includes New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and parts of Oceania, but this term is sometimes controversial outside of Australia, as it may be seen as indicating a link with Asia - a completely separate continent, or too greatly emphasising Australia. "Austral" means "of, relating to, or coming from the south", and is the common root of both Australia and Australasia.
Hawaii is generally included in Oceania, even though it is a part of the United States. Although the Hawaiian Islands are some distance from most of the islands of Oceania, they are still physically as well as culturally much closer to the rest of Oceania than to North America (for example the Hawaiian language is a member of the Oceanic language family) - and they are no further from the rest of Oceania than from United States territories in the North Pacific.
The few U.S. territories in the North Pacific are uninhabited except by itinerant service personnel, and are normally grouped with the mainland United States in North America. They are generally not considered part of Oceania and, unlike Hawaii, they are closer to North America - most of them closer to North America than they are to Hawaii.
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the eastern Pacific Ocean, part of the territory of Chile, and is generally included in Oceania.
New Zealand is within the Polynesian triangle and in this sense is part of Polynesia - the Māori of New Zealand constitute one of the major cultures of Polynesia.
On very rare occasions the term may be stretched even further to include other Pacific island groups such as the Aleutian Islands.

[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

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of six football confederations under the auspices of FIFA, the international governing body of football (soccer). The OFC is the only confederation without an automatic qualification to the World Cup Finals. Currently the winner of the OFC must play-off against a South American confederation side.

Oceania has only been represented at three World Cup Finals - Australia in 1974, New Zealand in 1982 and Australia in 2006. 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] External links

Image:Portal.svg

Oceania Portal

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Jane's Oceania Home Page
Oceania photos and information
Open-Site Oceania - Information about the different countries of Oceania.
Oceania Paper Money - Japanese occupation currency
Anglican history in Oceania - primary texts
Early Societies of Oceania, 3500 BCE- 500 BCE - historical map.

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Countries and territories of Oceania

	Australia	Australia • Christmas Island • Cocos (Keeling) Islands • Norfolk Island
	Melanesia	Fiji • New Caledonia • Papua New Guinea • Solomon Islands • Vanuatu
	Micronesia	Federated States of Micronesia • Guam • Kiribati • Marshall Islands • Nauru • Northern Mariana Islands • Palau
	Polynesia	American Samoa • Cook Islands • French Polynesia • New Zealand • Niue • Pitcairn • Samoa • Tokelau • Tonga • Tuvalu • Wallis and Futuna

Regions of the world

Image:LocationAfrica.png	Africa	Central • Eastern • Northern • Southern • Western
Image:LocationAmericas.png	Americas	Caribbean • Central • Latin • North • Northern • South
	Asia	Central • Eastern • Northern • Southern • Southeastern • Western
Image:LocationEurope.png	Europe	Central • Eastern • Northern • Southern • Western
	Oceania	Australasia • Melanesia • Micronesia • Polynesia

Image:LocationPolarRegions.png	Polar	Arctic • Antarctic
Image:LocationOceans.png	Oceans	Pacific • Atlantic • Indian • Southern • Arctic