Pacific Islands
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The Pacific Islands is a term broadly referring to the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Depending on the context, it may refer to countries and islands with common Austronesian origins, islands once or currently colonized, or Oceania.
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Name ambiguity[edit]
In English, the umbrella term Pacific Islands may take on several meanings. Sometimes it refers to only those islands covered by the continent of Oceania.[1][2] In some common uses, the term "Pacific Islands" refers to the islands of the Pacific Ocean once colonized by the British, French, Dutch, United States, and Japanese, such as the Pitcairn Islands, Taiwan, and Borneo.[3] In other uses it may refer to islands with Austronesian heritage like Taiwan, Indonesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, Myanmar islands, which found their genesis in the Neolithic cultures of the island of Taiwan.[4] There are many other islands located within the boundaries of the Pacific Ocean that are not considered part of Oceania. These islands include the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador; the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, United States; Vancouver Island in Canada; the Russian islands of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands; the island nation of Taiwan and other islands of the Republic of China; the Philippines; islands in the South China Sea, which includes the disputed South China Sea Islands; most of the islands of Indonesia; and the island nation of Japan, which comprises the Japanese Archipelago.
Pacific islands by area (over 10,000 square kilometers)[edit]
This list includes all islands found in the geographic Pacific Ocean, with an area larger than 10,000 square kilometers.
Name | Area (km2) | Country or Countries | Population | Population Density | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Guinea | 785,753 | Indonesia & Papua New Guinea | 7,500,000 | 9.544 | |
Honshu | 227,960 | Japan | 103,000,000 | 451.8 | |
Sulawesi | 174,600 | Indonesia | 18,455,000 | 105.7 | |
South Island | 145,836 | New Zealand | 1,038,600 | 7.122 | |
North Island | 111,583 | New Zealand | 3,393,900 | 30.42 | |
Luzon | 109,965 | Philippines | 48,520,000 | 441.2 | |
Mindanao | 104,530 | Philippines | 25,281,000 | 241.9 | |
Tasmania | 90,758 | Australia | 514,700 | 5.671 | |
Hokkaido | 77,981 | Japan | 5,474,000 | 70.2 | |
Sakhalin | 72,493 | Russia | 580,000 | 8.001 | |
Taiwan | 35,883 | Taiwan | 23,000,000 | 641 | |
Kyushu | 35,640 | Japan | 13,231,000 | 371.2 | |
Hainan | 35,400 | People's Republic of China | 8,900,000 | 251.4 | |
New Britain | 35,145 | Papua New Guinea | 513,926 | 14.62 | |
Vancouver Island | 31,285 | Canada | 759,366 | 24.27 | |
Shikoku | 18,800 | Japan | 4,141,955 | 220.3 | |
New Caledonia | 16,648 | France | 208,709 | 12.54 | |
Palawan | 12,189 | Philippines | 430,000 | 35.28 | |
Viti Levu | 10,531 | Fiji | 600,000 | 56.97 | |
Hawaii | 10,434 | United States of America | 185,079 | 17.74 |
List of islands[edit]
Pacific islands by continent[edit]
Antarctica[edit]
Asia[edit]
North America[edit]
- List of islands of North America
- List of islands of Central America
- List of islands of Canada, section British Columbia
- List of islands of Mexico
- List of islands of the United States
Oceania[edit]
- List of islands of Australia
- List of islands of Kiribati
- List of islands of New Zealand
- List of islands of the Marshall Islands
- List of islands of the Solomon Islands
- List of islands of Tonga
- List of islands of Tuvalu
- List of islands of Vanuatu
- List of islands of France, section Pacific Islands
- List of islands of the Pitcairn Islands
- List of islands of Hawaii
- List of islands of the United States, section Insular areas
South America[edit]
- List of islands of South America
- List of islands of Chile
- List of islands of Colombia
- List of islands of Ecuador
- List of islands of Peru
See also[edit]
- List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
- List of islands in the Arctic Ocean
- List of islands in the Atlantic Ocean
- List of islands in the Indian Ocean
- List of islands (islands around the world)
- List of island countries
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ D'Arcy, Paul (March 2006). The People of the Sea: Environment, Identity, and History in Oceania. University Of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3297-1. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ Rapaport, Moshe (April 2013). The Pacific Islands: Environment and Society, Revised Edition. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-6584-9. JSTOR j.ctt6wqh08.
This is the only contemporary text on the Pacific Islands that covers both environment and sociocultural issues and will thus be indispensable for any serious student of the region. Unlike other reviews, it treats the entirety of Oceania (with the exception of Australia) and is well illustrated with numerous photos and maps, including a regional atlas.
– via JSTOR (subscription required) - ^ Wright, John K. (July 1942). "Pacific Islands". Geographical Review. 32 (3): 481–486. doi:10.2307/210391. JSTOR 210391. – via JSTOR (subscription required)
- ^ Blundell, David (January 2011). "Taiwan Austronesian Language Heritage Connecting Pacific Island Peoples: Diplomacy and Values" (PDF). IJAPS. 7 (1): 75–91. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
References[edit]
- William Collins Sons & Co Ltd (1983), Collins Atlas of the World (revised 1995 ed.), London W6 8JB: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-448227-1