Oceania includes Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia Micronesia; from Greek: μικρός mikrós "small" and Greek: νῆσος nêsos "island" is a subregion of Oceania, composed of thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with two other island regions: Polynesia to the east and Island Melanesia to th…Micronesia
| # | Country | Subregion |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fiji | Melanesia |
| 2 | Papua New Guinea | Melanesia |
| 3 | Solomon Islands | Melanesia |
| 4 | Marshall Islands | Micronesia |
What is the least populated country in Oceania?
What is the least populous country in Oceania? Nauru is the least populated country in the Pacific Ocean and the third least-populous country in the world, with less than 11,000 inhabitants. It is also, however, one of the most densely populated countries on Earth.
What are the nations of Oceania?
Oceania is dominated by the nation of Australia. The other two major landmasses are the microcontinent of Zealandia, which includes the country of New Zealand, and the western half of the island of New Guinea, made up of the nation of Papua New Guinea. Oceania also includes three island regions: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia (including ...
Which is the most popular city in Oceania?
Top 10 Cities In Oceania
- | Perth. Talking about solitude, Perth is the city that has it, as it is one of the most remote cities in the world!
- | Port Moresby. Lies remotely in the island nation of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby serves as the current capital of the country.
- | Wellington. ...
- | Hobart. ...
- | Darwin. ...
- | Melbourne. ...
- | Queenstown. ...
- | Cairns. ...
- | Auckland. ...
- | Sydney. ...
What continent is found in Oceania?
Oceania is a world region (not a continent) that encompasses all the small island states in the Pacific Ocean, as well as Papua New Guinea (PNG), New Zealand, and Australia. As mentioned by others, it consists of three major cultural regions: Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia.
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What is the 14 countries in Oceania?
Their definition includes American Samoa, Australia and their external territories, the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, the ...
What countries are in Oceania 2022?
The smallest islands in Oceania are Niue in the South Pacific Ocean, around 2400 km northeast of New Zealand, and Tokelau, a remote group of atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, located between Hawaii and New Zealand, with a tiny population of just 1,319....Countries in Oceania 2022.Rank13CountryTonga2022 Population106,858Growth Rate0.79%22 more columns
What is the difference between Australia and Oceania?
Australia & Oceania. Australia is the largest landmass on the continent of Australia. Oceania is a region made up of thousands of islands throughout the Central and South Pacific Ocean. It includes Australia, the smallest continent in terms of total land area.
What are the countries of Oceania?
New ZealandFijiAustraliaPapua New GuineaTongaFederated States of MicronesiaOceania/Countries and regions
What is the richest country in Oceania?
Australia is the largest economy in Oceania, followed by New Zealand and Papua New Guinea....List of Oceanian countries by GDP.SourceInternational Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook (April-2021)Date07 October 2021
What is the best country in Oceania?
Best Countries to Visit in OceaniaAustralia. In 2019, Australia saw 8.7 million foreign visitors. ... New Zealand. The second most popular tourist destination in Oceania, without a doubt, is New Zealand— with 3.8 million tourists only in 2019. ... Fiji. ... Vanuatu. ... Samoa.
What is Australia and New Zealand called together?
Australasia is a region which comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean.
What are the 7 countries in Australia?
Australia/Oceania#CountryLand Area (Km²)1Fiji18,2702Papua New Guinea452,8603Solomon Islands27,9904Marshall Islands18019 more rows
When did Australia stop being a continent?
The lands were joined with Antarctica as part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana until the plate began to drift north about 96 million years ago. For most of the time since then, Australia–New Guinea remained a continuous landmass.
Why Australia is not an island?
According to Britannica, an island is a mass of land that is both “entirely surrounded by water” and also “smaller than a continent.” By that definition, Australia can't be an island because it's already a continent.
Is Oceania officially a continent?
yesOceania / Is continent?
What is the smallest country in the Pacific Ocean?
NauruNauru is a 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi), oval-shaped island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, 55.95 km (34.77 mi) south of the equator.
How many countries are there in Australia in 2022?
There are 14 independent countries and 12 dependent overseas territories.
Is Oceania officially a continent?
yesOceania / Is continent?
How many islands are there in Oceania?
10,000 islandsOceania then, in its most restricted meaning, includes more than 10,000 islands, with a total land area (excluding Australia, but including Papua New Guinea and New Zealand) of approximately 317,700 square miles (822,800 square km).
Is Australia a continent or is it Oceania?
yesAustralia / Is continent?
What is the country of Vanuatu?
Vanuatu is a country consisting of about 80 islands in the South Pacific subregion of Melanesia , northeast of New Caledonia, southeast of the Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji. The total land area of the country is 12,190 km 2. Because of where it is situated, Vanuatu is a hotspot for various natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. The country is home to approximately 312,000 people. The official languages of Vanuatu are English, French, and Bislama, which is an English-based creole.
What are the countries that depend on Oceania?
In addition to the 14 countries in Oceania, there are also nine dependencies in the region. Three are dependencies of France, three are American dependencies, and three are dependencies of New Zealand. The largest and most populous dependency is the French dependency of New Caledonia, which has a land area of 18,280 km 2, and a population of approximately 287,000. The smallest and least populous dependency in Oceania is the New Zealand-controlled island of Tokelau, which has a land area of just 10 km 2, and a population of just over 1,300.
How many countries are there in Oceania?
There are 14 countries and 9 dependencies in the region of Oceania. Oceania is home to more than 43 million people. The total land area of Oceania is 8,486,460 square kilometers (3,276,639 sq. miles). More than half of Oceania's population live in Australia.
What are the subregions of Oceania?
Oceania includes Australia, New Zealand, and the subregions of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. Oceania is a vast region that encompasses Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Ocean subregions of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia . There are a total of 14 countries and 9 dependencies in Oceania. More than 43 million people live in the ...
How many people live in New Zealand?
New Zealand is the third-largest country in Oceania by land area. Approximately 4.8 million people live in New Zealand. Most are of European descent, but there is still a large population of the country’s indigenous people, the Maori. Indeed, both English and Maori are official languages in New Zealand. New Zealanders are often nicknamed kiwis, after the bird species that is native only to that country. The country has recently gained notoriety for its effective tackling of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it has managed to keep cases of the virus much lower than most other developed countries.
What is the Solomon Islands?
The Solomon Islands is a country based in an archipelago of six major and about 900 smaller islands. The country is located to the east of Papua New Guinea. Like Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands are part of the subregion of Melanesia. The country’s total land area is 27,990 km 2.
What is the population of Papua New Guinea?
Papua New Guinea is Oceania’s second-most populous country, with a population of approximately 9 million. It is also the biggest and most populous country in the subregion of Melanesia. Papua New Guinea encompasses a total land area of 452,860 km 2. Most of its territory is on the island of New Guinea, which it shares with Indonesia.
What is the name of the region in the South Pacific Ocean?
She holds a Certificate of Advanced Study in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from California State University. Oceania is a region of the South Pacific Ocean that consists of many different island groups. It covers an area of more than 3.3 million square miles (8.5 million sq km). The island groups within Oceania are both countries ...
How many Solomon Islands have been submerged?
Five small, low-lying Solomon Islands have already been submerged, and six more have had entire villages swept out to sea or lost habitable land. The largest countries may not see the devastation on such a scale as quickly as the smallest, but all of the Oceania countries have a considerable amount of coastline to consider.
How many islands are there in Micronesia?
Micronesia's archipelago has four main groups among its 607 islands. Most people live in the coastal areas of the high islands; the mountainous interiors are largely uninhabited.
What is the biggest hurricane in Tonga?
Tonga was devastated by Tropical Cyclone Gita, a category 4 hurricane, the biggest storm ever to hit it, in February 2018. The country is home to about 106,000 people on 45 of 171 islands. Early estimates suggested that 75 percent of homes in the capital (population about 25,000) were destroyed.
How many islands are there in Vanuatu?
Sixty-five of Vanuatu's 80 islands are inhabited, and about 75 percent of the population lives in rural areas.
What is the average temperature in Fiji?
Fiji has an ocean tropical climate; average high temperatures there range from 80 to 89 F, and lows span 65 to 75 F.
How many islands are there in Solomon Islands?
Area: 11,157 square miles (28,896 sq km) Population: 647,581. Capital: Honiara. The Solomon Islands contain more than 1,000 islands in the archipelago, and some of the nastiest fighting of World War II occurred there.
What is the smallest continent in the world?
List of countries in Australia / Oceania. The smallest continent in the world, called Australia and Oceania, is surrounded by the Indian, Southern and Pacific Oceans. It includes the entire Australian mainland, such big islands as New Zealand, Tasmania, New Guinea (only its eastern half), and many thousands of tiny, tropical islands of Melanesia, ...
Which country is the smallest?
The largest sovereign state is Australia, occupying about 86% of the region's total area. The smallest independent country is Nauru, which is so tiny that you need less than an hour to drive around it. The always up-to-date list of countries of Australia and Oceania in alphabetical order. A.
Where Is Oceania?
Where can you find a place in this world that includes an island as big as a continent and some islands only as big as a house? It's Oceania, a region of the planet consisting of well over 10,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean, one that is located south of Asia, east of Africa, and West of South America.
The Primary Countries
The biggest sovereign nations, by continuous land mass, located in Oceania are Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. As mentioned before, Australia is a country, a continent, and one really big island all at the same time.
The Other Countries
While the three we just went over are the largest Oceanic states, there are plenty other sovereign nations located here, some of which are composed of many islands spread out over vast distances.
How many countries are there in Oceania?
In summary, there are a total of 25 independent countries and dependent territories in Oceania. See the following for full list of countries and dependencies of Australia in alphabetical order: American Samoa ( United States) Australia. Cook Islands ( New Zealand)
What are the major cities in Oceania?
Oceania’s largest cities are located in Australia and they are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Other major cities are Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand, and Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Below is a list of all the Oceania countries, in order of land area size.
What is the smallest continent in the world?
Facts about Oceania. Oceania is the smallest continent in the world and also the youngest. Despite being made up of over 10,000 islands and 14 countries, Australia alone occupies 90% of its territory. Australia is not bordered by any other country.
What was the last continent to be found by Europeans?
Called the New World, Oceania was the last continent to be found by Europeans. The term Oceania is used in several languages to denote a continent that spans Australia and adjoining Pacific Islands. The word is formed by the junction of “ocean” plus the suffix “ia”, such as toponyms such as Germania and Transylvania.
What are the animals that live in Oceania?
Other typical Oceanian animals are: koala, dingo, cockatoo, Tasmanian devil, platypus, kiwi, black swan, sea elephant, kaluta and kowari.
How many territories are there in the world?
The list of all 11 territories is shown in the table below, with latest total population and dependencies.
What is the most spoken language in Oceania?
In Oceania, English is the most widely spoken language, but this is not the only language on the continent. There is also room for French language and for native dialects.
What are the islands of Oceania?
Definitions of Oceania vary; however, the islands at the geographic extremes of Oceania are generally considered to be the Bonin Islands, a politically integral part of Japan; Hawaii, a state of the United States; Clipperton Island, a possession of France; the Juan Fernández Islands, belonging to Chile; and Macquarie Island, belonging to Australia. (The United Nations has its own geopolitical definition of Oceania, but this consists of discrete political entities, and so excludes the Bonin Islands, Hawaii, Clipperton Island, and the Juan Fernández Islands, along with Easter Island.)
What are the four continents of Oceania?
It comprised four regions: Polynesia, Micronesia, Malaysia (now called the Malay Archipelago ), and Melanesia. Today, parts of three geological continents are included in the term "Oceania": Eurasia, Australia, and Zealandia, as well the non-continental volcanic islands of the Philippines, Wallacea, and the open Pacific.
What are the birds that live in Australia?
The passerines of Australia, also known as songbirds or perching birds, include wrens, the magpie group, thornbills, corvids, pardalotes, lyrebirds. Predominant bird species in the country include the Australian magpie, Australian raven, the pied currawong, crested pigeons and the laughing kookaburra.
What are the major export markets for Oceania?
Oceania's largest export markets include Japan, China, the United States and South Korea. The smallest Pacific nations rely on trade with Australia, New Zealand and the United States for exporting goods and for accessing other products. Australia and New Zealand's trading arrangements are known as Closer Economic Relations. Australia and New Zealand, along with other countries, are members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the East Asia Summit (EAS), which may become trade blocs in the future particularly EAS.
What is the most diverse country in Oceania?
The most diverse country of Oceania when it comes to the environment is Australia, with tropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges in the south-east, south-west and east, and dry desert in the centre. Desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land. The coastal uplands and a belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland. The northernmost point of the east coast is the tropical-rainforested Cape York Peninsula.
What is the largest tectonic plate in the world?
The Pacific Plate, which makes up most of Oceania, is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres (40,000,000 sq mi), it is the largest tectonic plate. The plate contains an interior hot spot forming the Hawaiian Islands. It is almost entirely oceanic crust.
How long ago did the first wave of migration occur in Oceania?
Archaeology, linguistics, and existing genetic studies indicate that Oceania was settled by two major waves of migration. The first migration of Australo-Melanesians took place approximately 40 to 80 thousand years ago, and these migrants, Papuans, colonised much of Near Oceania. Approximately 3.5 thousand years ago, a second expansion of Austronesian speakers arrived in Near Oceania, and the descendants of these people spread to the far corners of the Pacific, colonising Remote Oceania.
What continent is Oceania?
You might have heard the name before, but just what is Oceania exactly? Most consider Oceania to be a continent that includes the following countries: Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Want to learn more?
Which country is the biggest in Oceania?
Australia is the biggest nation in Oceania. The other two dominant landmasses in the region include New Zealand and Papua New Guinea (on the island of New Guinea). The region is made up of thousands of islands. The islands are separated into three island groups: continental islands, low islands, and high islands.
What is the name of the region between the Americas and Asia?
In a broad definition, Oceania refers to the region between the Americas and Asia.
Why are there high islands in the Pacific Ocean?
They are created by volcanic eruptions that build up over time. The Melanesia area contains a lot of high islands because it is part of the “ Ring of Fire ,” an area where there are a lot of volcanoes around the boundary of the Pacific Ocean.
What are low islands called?
The low islands are also referred to as coral islands . In some cases, coral islands barely reach above sea level, which is why they are referred to as “low islands.”. They are often irregularly ring-shaped and very small. They form an atoll, which often surrounds a lagoon.
When was the term "Oceania" coined?
The term “Oceania” was first coined in 1812 by Conrad Malte-Brun. Originally, it was used to describe the territory that stretched from the Strait of Malacca near Indonesia to the American coast.
Is Australia the same as Oceania?
That said, many people still use the term “Australia” in place of “Oceania”.
What are the countries of Oceania?
Most of the countries of Oceania consist of many tiny islands. Nearly three quarters of Oceania's people live in the countries of Australia and New Zealand. Oceania is a region of the South Pacific Ocean. It is also regarded as a continent in some parts of the world. It consists of 4 subregions, Australia and New Zealand, Polynesia, Melanesia, ...
Which country has the largest economy in Oceania?
Both countries also have developed economies, which is unique in Oceania, as the rest of the region’s countries host developing economies. In fact, the Australian economy, valued at over a trillion US dollars, is bigger than all the other economies in Oceania combined.
What is the easternmost subregion of Oceania?
Polynesia is the easternmost subregion of Oceania. The name Polynesia is a Greek word literally meaning “many islands”. Indeed, the subregion of Oceania contains more than 10,000 islands. The islands of Polynesia belong to 3 independent countries and 6 dependencies.
How many people live in Polynesia?
About 687 thousand people live in Polynesia. The first humans settled Polynesia between 1300 and 900 BCE. The first European contact with Polynesia occurred in the late 16 th century. By the early 1900s, the entire subregion was colonized by European powers. Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu became independent states in 1962, 1970, and 1978 respectively. Samoa and Tuvalu are democratic republics, while Tonga is a constitutional monarchy. The dependencies of Polynesia are French Polynesia, American Samoa, the Cook Islands, the Wallis and Futuna Islands, Niue, and Tokelau.
How many islands are there in Melanesia?
Melanesia map. Melanesia consists of 2,000 islands stretching east to west from the Arafura Sea in Indonesian waters to the eastern side of the western Pacific Ocean, and from north to south from the island of New Guinea to the waters south of New Caledonia. About 11.2 million people live in Melanesia.
What are the two islands of New Zealand?
The country’s two large islands are known simply as the North Island and South Island .
How many people live in Australia and New Zealand?
Australia itself has a population of approximately 25.7 million, while New Zealand’s population is close to 4.85 million .
Contents
Australia
- The Commonwealth of Australia, as it is known officially, is the largest and most populous country in Oceania. More than 25 million people call Australia home, which means that the country is home to more than half of Oceania’s entire population. Australia has the unique distinction of being both a country and a continent. It is the world’s smallest continent, but is also the largest c…
Papua New Guinea
- Papua New Guinea is Oceania’s second-most populous country, with a population of approximately 9 million. It is also the biggest and most populous country in the subregion of Melanesia. Papua New Guinea encompasses a total land area of 452,860 km2. Most of its territory is on the island of New Guinea, which it shares with Indonesia. Papua New Guine...
New Zealand
- New Zealand is the third-largest country in Oceania by land area. Approximately 4.8 million people live in New Zealand. Most are of European descent, but there is still a large population of the country’s indigenous people, the Maori. Indeed, both English and Maori are official languages in New Zealand. New Zealanders are often nicknamed kiwis, after the bird species that is native on…
Fiji
- Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands, though just 100 of them are inhabited. The country’s two main islands are Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, the latter of which is where the country’s capital, Suva, is located. The country comprises a land area of 18,270 km2. About 900,000 people live in Fiji. Most of them are of either Indian origin or members of the country’s I…
Solomon Islands
- The Solomon Islands is a country based in an archipelago of six major and about 900 smaller islands. The country is located to the east of Papua New Guinea. Like Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands are part of the subregion of Melanesia. The country’s total land area is 27,990 km2. Approximately 700 thousand people live in the Solomon Islands. Most of them live in smal…
Federated States of Micronesia
- Officially known as the Federated States of Micronesia, and consisting of around 600 small islands, Micronesia is north of the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Not to be confused with the subregion of Micronesia, in which there are four other countries, the country of Micronesia has a land area of 3,170 km2and a population of about 553,000 people. As its officia…
Vanuatu
- Vanuatu is a country consisting of about 80 islands in the South Pacific subregion of Melanesia, northeast of New Caledonia, southeast of the Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji. The total land area of the country is 12,190 km2. Because of where it is situated, Vanuatu is a hotspot for various natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. The country i…
Samoa
- Formerly known as Western Samoa, Samoa is located in the subregion of Polynesia, about halfway between New Zealand and the US State of Hawaii. It has a land area of 2,830 km2, and consists of two main islands, Upolu and Savai’i, as well as seven smaller islets. About three-quarters of Samoa’s population lives on the island of Upolu, on which the country’s capital city, A…
Kiribati
- Straddling the equator, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is the island country of Kiribati. Kiribati encompasses three island groups, the Gilbert Islands, the Line Islands, and the Phoenix Islands. The country’s total land area is 810 km2, and its population is about 120,000 people. The people of Kiribati call themselves I-Kiribati, and are mostly of Micronesian descent.