An orthographic projection of the Pacific Ocean showing much of Oceania.

Map of Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean.^[1] Opinions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific (ethnologically divided into the subregions of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia^[2]) to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago.^[3] The term is sometimes used more specifically to denote a continent comprising Australia and proximate islands,^{[3][4][5][6][7]} or biogeographically as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone (Wallacea and Australasia) or the Pacific ecozone (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart either from New Zealand^[8] or from mainland New Guinea^[9]).

Etymology[link]

The term was coined as Océanie ca. 1812 by geographer Conrad Malte-Brun.^[3] The word Océanie derives from the Greek word ὠκεανός (ōkeanós), ocean.

Definitions[link]

Aoraki / Mount Cook, located on the Southern Island of New Zealand

Physiography[link]

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: Polynesia, Micronesia, Malaysia (now called the Malay Archipelago), and Melanesia (now called Australasia).^[10] Included are parts of three geological continents, Eurasia, Australia, and Zealandia, as well the non-continental volcanic islands of the Philippines, Wallacea, and the open Pacific. It extends to Sumatra in the west, the Bonin Islands in the northwest, the Hawaiian Islands in the northeast, Rapa Nui and Sala y Gómez Island in the east, and Macquarie Island in the south, but excludes Taiwan, the Japanese Archipelago (including the Ryukyu Islands), and Aleutian Islands of the margins of Asia.^[11][12]

The states that occupy Oceania that are not included in geopolitical Oceania are Indonesia, Malaysia (through Malaysian Borneo), Brunei, the Philippines, and East 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, but includes Indonesian New Guinea as part of the Australian continent.

Biogeography[link]

Biogeographically, Oceania is used as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone (Wallacea and Australasia) or the Pacific ecozone (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart either from New Zealand^[8] or from mainland New Guinea^[9]).

Ecogeography[link]

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, Melanesia apart from Fiji, and Australia constitute the separate Australasia ecozone. The Malay Archipelago is part of the Indomalaya ecozone. Related to these concepts are Near Oceania, that part of western Island Melanesia which has been inhabited for tens of millennia, and Remote Oceania, which is more recently settled.^[13]

Geopolitics[link]

Economic zones of the Pacific, outlining Oceania

In the geopolitical conception used by the United Nations, International Olympic Committee, and many atlases, Oceania includes Australia and the nations of the Pacific from Papua New Guinea east, but not the Malay Archipelago or Indonesian New Guinea.^[14][15][16]

Other definitions[link]

• The term is often used more specifically than in the geopolitical conception, to denote a continent comprising Australia and proximate islands.^[6][7]
• New Zealand forms the south-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.^[14]
• 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.^[17]

Satellite image of Oceania

Ethno-cultural definition of Oceania

Demographics[link]

Geographic map of islands of Oceania

The demographic table below shows the subregions and countries of geopolitical Oceania.^[14] 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 flags[18]	Area (km²)	Population	Population density (per km²)	Capital	ISO 3166-1
Australasia[19]
Australia	7,686,850	22,028,000	2.7	Canberra	AU
New Zealand[20]	268,680	4,108,037	14.5	Wellington	NZ
External territories of Australia:
Ashmore and Cartier Islands	199
Christmas Island[21]	135	1,493	3.5	Flying Fish Cove	CX
Cocos (Keeling) Islands[21]	14	628	45.1	West Island	CC
Coral Sea Islands	10	4
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	372				HM
Norfolk Island	35	2,114	53.3	Kingston	NF
Melanesia[22]
Fiji	18,270	856,346	46.9	Suva	FJ
New Caledonia (France)	19,060	240,390	12.6	Nouméa	NC
Papua New Guinea[23]	462,840	5,172,033	11.2	Port Moresby	PG
Solomon Islands	28,450	494,786	17.4	Honiara	SB
Vanuatu	12,200	240,000	19.7	Port Vila	VU
Micronesia
Federated States of Micronesia	702	135,869	193.5	Palikir	FM
Guam (USA)	549	160,796	292.9	Hagåtña	GU
Kiribati	811	96,335	118.8	South Tarawa	KI
Marshall Islands	181	73,630	406.8	Majuro	MH
Nauru	21	12,329	587.1	Yaren (de facto)	NR
Northern Mariana Islands (USA)	477	77,311	162.1	Saipan	MP
Palau	458	19,409	42.4	Melekeok[24]	PW
Wake Island (USA)	2	12		Wake Island	UM
Polynesia
American Samoa (USA)	199	68,688	345.2	Pago Pago, Fagatogo[25]	AS
Cook Islands (NZ)	240	20,811	86.7	Avarua	CK
Easter Island (Chile)	163.6	3,791	23.1	Hanga Roa	CL
French Polynesia (France)	4,167	257,847	61.9	Papeete	PF
Hawaii (USA)	16,636	1,360,301	81.8	Honolulu	US
Niue (NZ)	260	2,134	8.2	Alofi	NU
Pitcairn Islands (UK)	5	47	10	Adamstown	PN
Samoa	2,944	179,000	63.2	Apia	WS
Tokelau (NZ)	10	1,431	143.1	Nukunonu	TK
Tonga	748	106,137	141.9	Nukuʻalofa	TO
Tuvalu	26	11,146	428.7	Funafuti	TV
Wallis and Futuna (France)	274	15,585	56.9	Mata-Utu	WF
Total	8,536,716	35,669,267	4.2
Total minus mainland Australia	849,866	13,641,267	16.1

North Pacific Ocean South Pacific Ocean Australia New Zealand NZ Hawaii WK Micronesia Palau Papua New Guinea Indonesia Easter Island French Polynesia Cook Islands New Caledonia Fiji Tuvalu Kiribati Solomon Islands Tokelau Marshall Islands Nauru Galápagos Islands Vanuatu Tonga PN Guam NF Northern Mariana WS AS WF Niue CC CX

Map of Nations and territories of Oceania including Australia and New Zealand

Religion[link]

The predominant religion in Oceania is Christianity.^{[citation needed]} Traditional religions are often animist and prevalent among traditional tribes is the belief in evil spirits (masalai in Tok Pisin), 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, everyday life is heavily influenced by Polynesian traditions and especially by the Christian faith. The Bahá'í House of Worship in Tiapapata, Samoa is one of seven designations administered in the Baha'i faith.

Sport[link]

Pacific Games[link]

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[link]

Rugby league is a popular sport throughout Oceania, and is the national sport of Papua New Guinea^[26] (the second most populous country in Oceania after Australia) and is very popular in Australia^[27] and attracts significant attention across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.^[28]

Australia and New Zealand are two of the most successful sides in the world.^[29] Australia has won the Rugby League World Cup a record nine times while New Zealand won their first World Cup in 2008. Australia hosted the second tournament in 1957. Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted it in 1968 and 1977. New Zealand hosted the final for the first time in 1985 - 1988 tournament and Australia hosted the last tournament in 2008.

Rugby Union[link]

Fiji playing the Cook Islands at seven-a-side rugby

Rugby union is one of the region's most prominent sports,^[30] and is the national sport of New Zealand,^[31] Samoa,^[31] Fiji and Tonga.^[31] Fiji's sevens team is one of the most successful in the world, as is New Zealand's.

New Zealand and Australia have won the Rugby World Cup a record two times (tied with South Africa 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[link]

Fans' welcome to the Australian team after winning 2007 Cricket World Cup

Cricket 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 Cups 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, also called the Black Caps, enjoying success in many competitions. Both Australia and New Zealand are Full members of the ICC. 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, 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 is very popular in Australia, conducted every year on 26 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne.

Australian rules football[link]

Australian rules football is the national sport in Nauru^[32] and is the most popular football code in Australia.^[33] It is also popular in Papua New Guinea.^[34]

Association football (soccer)[link]

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of six association football confederations^[35] 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.^[36][37]

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, 2006 and 2010, and New Zealand in 1982 and 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 confederations.

See also[link]

	Geography portal
	Oceania portal

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Oceania on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Oceania at the Open Directory Project
• "Australia and Oceania" from National Geographic

Articles related to Oceania v t e Countries and territories of Oceania Sovereign states Australia Chile Easter Island Juan Fernández Islands East Timor (Timor-Leste) Fiji Indonesia Kiribati Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Japan Bonin Islands Nauru New Zealand Cook Islands Niue Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu United States Hawaii Palmyra Atoll Vanuatu Dependencies and other territories Australia Ashmore and Cartier Islands Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Coral Sea Islands Territory Norfolk Island France Clipperton Island French Polynesia New Caledonia Wallis and Futuna New Zealand Cook Islands Niue Tokelau United Kingdom Pitcairn Islands United States American Samoa Baker Island Guam Howland Island Jarvis Island Johnston Atoll Kingman Reef Midway Atoll Northern Mariana Islands Wake Island v t e Capitals of Oceania Capitals of non-sovereign territories shown in SmallCaps Australasia Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia Canberra, Australia Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island1,3 Kingston, Norfolk Island1,2 Wellington, New Zealand2 West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands1,3 Dili, East Timor3 Honiara, Solomon Islands Nouméa, New Caledonia4 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea5 Port Vila, Vanuatu Suva, Fiji Hagåtña, Guam6 Majuro, Marshall Islands Ngerulmud, Palau Palikir, FS Micronesia Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands6 South Tarawa, Kiribati Yaren, Nauru (de facto) Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands7 Alofi, Niue8 Apia, Samoa Avarua, Cook Islands8 Funafuti, Tuvalu Hanga Roa, Easter Island9 Honolulu, Hawaii10 Mata-Utu, Wallis and Futuna4 Nukuʻalofa, Tonga Fakaofo, Tokelau11 Pago Pago, American Samoa6 Papeete, French Polynesia4 1 Territory of Australia.  2 Often included in Polynesia.  3 Often included in Southeast Asia.  4 Overseas collectivity of France.  5 Often included in Australasia.  6 Insular area of the United States.  7 Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.8 In free association with New Zealand.  9 Territory of Chile.  10 U.S. state.11 New Zealand dependent territory. v t e Regions of the World Africa Northern Middle East Sub-Saharan Central Southern Western Eastern Oceania Australasia Australia Zealandia Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia America North Northern Middle Central Caribbean South Southern Northern Western Guianan States Anglo Latin (Hispanic) Polar regions Arctic Antarctic Asia Central Eastern Northeastern Northern Southeastern Mainland Maritime Southern Indian subcontinent Western Middle East Oceans World Arctic Atlantic Indian Pacific Southern Europe Central Eastern Northern Southeastern Middle East Southern Western Seas List of seas Related Continents of the world List of seas Physical Earth v t e Continents     Africa Antarctica Asia Australia Europe North America South America     Afro-Eurasia Americas Eurasia Oceania Geological supercontinents Historical continents Afro-Eurasia-America Gondwana Laurasia Pangaea Pannotia Rodinia Columbia Kenorland Nena Ur Vaalbara Arctica Asiamerica Atlantica Avalonia Baltica Cimmeria Congo craton Euramerica Kalaharia Kazakhstania Laurentia North China Siberia South China East Antarctica India Submerged continents Possible future supercontinents Mythical and theorized continents Kerguelen Plateau Zealandia Pangaea Ultima Amasia Novopangaea Atlantis Kumari Kandam Lemuria Meropis Mu Terra Australis See also Regions of the world

lez:Океанияvep:Okeanii