Oceania is a territory, mainly insular, located in the central and
southern parts of the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to the mainland
of Australia, which is usually excluded from the concept of Oceania, and
several large islands, the geographical territory is defined by hundreds
of small islands and archipelagos located on a significant water area.
Oceania is associated with coral and volcanic islands, atolls,
lagoons, the sun, palm trees and snow-white beaches. The ethnographic
features of the region are interesting.
There are 4 large regions
in Oceania with unclear borders: Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and
Polynesia.
Australia
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Palau
Federated States of
Micronesia
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Nauru
Vanuatu
Fiji
Solomon islands
Tonga
Samoa
Tuvalu
Other
territories
American Samoa
Hawaii
Guam
Cook Islands
Niue
New Caledonia
Norfolk Island
Easter Island
Pitcairn Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
Tokelau
Wallis and Futuna
French Polynesia
By plane
Please refer to the country articles for
detailed information on how you enter.
The main countries of
Australia and New Zealand offer connections from all inhabited
continents, including some direct flights from South America and South
Africa. The main air hubs in the region are located in Sydney (SYD
IATA), Melbourne (MEL IATA), Auckland (AKL IATA), Brisbane (BNE IATA)
and Perth (PERIATA). There are other gateways that offer opportunities
to enter and interesting itineraries. Air France connects New Caledonia
directly with Tokyo and Paris and also flies to Tahiti. Further
connections to Sydney and Auckland are possible. Fiji Airways connects
Nadi (NAN IATA) with Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, Hong Kong,
Tokyo and Singapore, with subsequent connections to Australia, New
Zealand and other Pacific island nations. Tahiti is connected to Los
Angeles and you can fly to the Cook Islands directly from there. Air New
Zealand offers a service to Tonga and Samoa from Los Angeles and
Auckland. The Los Angeles service is subsidized by the New Zealand
government as a form of aid to the two countries. Manila, Guam and
Honolulu offer a gateway to many Micronesian countries, mainly through
United Airlines. Air Niugini also operates flights from Port Moresby
(POM IATA) to Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.
Qantas operates the
only non-stop flight between Oceania and Europe, between London Heathrow
and Perth.
Smaller islands with less tourism present additional
challenges to get to. Many are completely deserted and some have access
restrictions.
By boat
Several South Pacific cruises traverse
the vast ocean, but some berths are available to the patient traveler on
bulk freighters or container ships plying the trade routes. The
distances are huge, since the Pacific Ocean is larger than the entire
land mass of the planet.
By plane
Without a yacht, and with a lot of time,
the only way for travelers to move between the main destinations in
Oceania is by plane. Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney have good
connectivity to the region. It is usually possible to fly from the west
coast of the United States to Sydney or Auckland via Hawaii, Tahiti,
Fiji or even the Cook Islands. Nadi (NANIATA) Airport in Fiji serves as
the main air hub for the Pacific islands, so flying to other Pacific
island nations would probably require a change of aircraft there.
However, air routes tend to come and go depending on whether
airlines find them profitable or not. Much of English-speaking Polynesia
receives regular Air New Zealand flights. Melanesia is mainly served by
domestic and Australian airlines. Fiji Airways also has a relatively
good network of flights from its hub in Nadi to the other Pacific island
nations. Do not expect daily flights. Patience is required.
Flying between Micronesia and the other two areas is problematic and may
involve flying as far as Honolulu or a complicated route via Manila,
Sydney and Auckland.
Some flight options within Oceania, among
others, are:
Guam has connections to the United States, Japan and
a generally very expensive connection to Cairns in Far North Queensland.
The Cook Islands have connections to Tahiti.
Tahiti has flights to
Auckland.
Fiji has connections with Tahiti, Solomon Islands, Samoa,
Tuvalu, Kiribati and Vanuatu.
Samoa has good connections with
Auckland and Sydney, as well as weekly connections with Fiji and Hawaii.
Air connections between Samoa and American Samoa are more reliable than
sea transit between these neighbors.
The Solomon Islands has
connections with Fiji and Vanuatu.
Vanuatu has connections with Fiji
and New Caledonia.
New Caledonia has flights to Auckland.
The
Tonga-Samoa-Fiji triangle is quite well connected, although there is
currently only one flight per week each way between Samoa and Tonga.
By boat
There are some options for boats, cruises, private yachts,
adventure cruises and even cargo ships.
Check the guide of the
destination you are visiting.
Many indigenous languages are spoken throughout
Oceania and, with the exception of the Australian aboriginal languages,
most of these languages belong to the Austronesian language family,
which also includes other languages such as Malay, Indonesian and
Tagalog.
Due to a history of British and American colonization,
English is the dominant language in Australia and New Zealand, and a
common second language in much of the Pacific Islands, with the
exceptions of French-ruled New Caledonia and French Polynesia. In some
areas, such as Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, English-based Creoles are
co-official with standard English and can be difficult for foreigners to
understand, although educated locals can almost always switch to
standard English if necessary. French is naturally the main language in
New Caledonia and French Polynesia, while Hindi is also spoken by a
significant minority in Fiji, mainly those of Indian descent.
All the island groups are fascinating and with time and money you can spend months traveling. There are some incredibly beautiful islands (Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia), some fascinating cultures and festivals, wonderful diving and totally deserted beaches.
With histories dominated by colonization, almost all destinations provide travelers with the opportunity to explore the often gloomy, but also interesting stories of the past.
There is a unique wildlife to discover in the region.
Australia and Papua New Guinea are home to marsupials, the mammal
species that include adorable favorites like kangaroos, koalas, wombats
and possums, and also the Tasmanian devil. Here you will also find the
monotremes, in the species of platypus and echidnas, the only mammals in
the world that lay eggs.
In New Zealand, you may stumble upon (or
more easily, see in human-made installations) the shy and mostly
nocturnal kiwi, a flightless bird that has given the people of the
country its nickname. Other flightless birds include the takahe, which
was thought extinct until 1949, and the kakapo (night parrot). Other
evolutionary oddities include the ancient tuatara, bats that hunt on the
ground, and frogs that don't croak. A quarter of the world's seabirds
breed in the New Zealand region.
Marine life is abundant and
diverse everywhere and one of the main reasons why travelers explore
this part of the world. Tropical fish and colorful reefs are the perfect
combination for divers and snorkelers, but you can also see a lot from
the deck of a boat. You have the opportunity to see larger animals such
as manta rays, dolphins and even whales.
In South Australia and
New Zealand, seals, sea lions and penguins can be seen in their natural
habitat, with Kangaroo Island, Phillip Island, the Otago Coast and
Stewart Island being the popular sites.
The Pacific scenario of World War II involved land,
sea and air battles between the Axis (mainly Japan) and the Allies
(mainly the United States and Australia), from 1941 to 1945.
The
remains of the war can be seen in many places, such as Kokoda Track in
New Guinea.
Cricket is a popular sport in Australia and New
Zealand, and is usually played during the summer.
Rugby union is
one of the most popular sports in Oceania, with rugby being the dominant
code in New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, and rugby league dominating
in Australia and Papua New Guinea. In international competition, New
Zealand is widely regarded as the undisputed kings of rugby union, while
Australia occupies the same position in rugby league.
The pristine white sandy beaches found throughout the South Pacific are ideal for relaxing and enjoying peace and tranquility.
There are places to dive all over Oceania. In search
of tropical corals and fish, explore the Great Barrier Reef in
Queensland, the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, Fiji has some reefs
around Nadi and spectacular brightly colored virgin corals on the most
remote islands. Samoa is the favorite of divers. The Cook Islands have
accessible reefs right off the beach on the main islands. Vanuatu also
has accessible reefs, but the facilities make it more difficult to
access than Fiji. There are also diving opportunities in the temperate
waters of Tasmania and New Zealand.
There are good opportunities
to dive to the shipwrecks. The Rainbow Warrior from the North Island of
New Zealand is one of the most famous, and the oceans of Micronesia have
many interesting relics from the Second World War. The atolls of the
Marshall and Bikini Islands are known as a ship graveyard, and offer
some of the most interesting shipwrecks in the world, including
submarines and the only aircraft carrier accessible to divers. However,
most shipwreck sites are not for beginners.
Vava'u in Tonga is a popular destination for yachts crossing the Pacific. Yachts can also be rented there.
Being an ocean area, there are countless opportunities for great fishing experiences.
Australia and New Zealand are home to some very important and famous hiking trails, for example, those of the Flinders Ranges, Abel Tasman and Tongariro National Parks. The rugged and volcanic landscapes of many of the Pacific islands also offer good opportunities.
New Zealand has become famous for being a place with a
well-developed infrastructure for almost any type of adventure and
extreme sports. In addition to being the birthplace of commercial
bungy-jumping, you will also find skydiving, paragliding, rafting, motor
boating, rock climbing, cave exploration and a long list of what seem
like self-invented combinations. North Queensland and Tasmania also have
plenty of opportunities. In addition, the Blue Mountains near Sydney are
ideal for climbing, canyoning and hiking.
The volcanoes and many
caves found along the Pacific islands are also suitable for adventurous
exploration, and the many tropical islands are perhaps even prettier
when observed gliding over them.
Although it's not the first thing that comes to mind, there are snow sports in the southern part of Oceania. New Zealand has reliable winter snowfall and between 10 and 12 ski areas, mainly on the South Island. These include Treble Cone and Cardrona (Wanaka), The Remarkables and Coronet Peak (Queenstown), Mt Hutt near Christchurch and Whakapapa and Turoa at Mt Ruapehu in the North Island. Many Olympic and racing teams from the northern Hemisphere train in New Zealand during the northern summer. The Snowy Mountains of New South Wales have the largest ski resorts in the Southern Hemisphere.
Although staples from outside the region, such as rice
and flour, now have a firm foothold, traditional root and tuber staples
are still very important. The cheapest is usually cassava, which also
plays a role in food safety, since it can be left on the ground for a
long time. The sweet potato is a very important crop and is found in
most of Oceania, the main producing area being the highlands of Papua
New Guinea. Taro and yam are also widespread. The latter is the most
valuable of the roots and tubers and there are many customs associated
with its cultivation. In the Sepik area of Papua New Guinea, for
example, sexual relations between married couples are supposed to be
prohibited while yams are growing. On the other hand, in the Trobriand
Islands the yam harvest is a period of sexual freedom.
In
Australia and New Zealand, the food culture is very similar to that of
Europe and North America. However, there are still some unique dishes
and ingredients to be found, some known to the native inhabitants before
the arrival of Europeans, and others invented in more recent times.
Thanks to recent immigration, Asian dishes and restaurants are also
widely available and popular.
Kava is a drink produced from the roots of a plant
related to the pepper plant and found mainly in Polynesia, as well as in
Fiji and Vanuatu. It has a slightly narcotic effect. Other names include
'awa (Hawaii),'ava (Samoa), yaqona (Fiji) and sakau (Pohnpei). It is
traditionally prepared by chewing, crushing or crushing the roots of the
kava plant. In Tonga, traditionally chewing had to be performed by
virgin women. The strike is performed on a large stone with a small
trunk. Then the product is added to cold water and consumed as quickly
as possible, invariably as part of a group of people sitting and sharing
the cup. However, check the rules before taking any out of the country,
as importing kava may be illegal.
If you are interested in wine
tourism, head to Australia or New Zealand. The first is one of the
largest wine producers in the Southern Hemisphere.
With the exception of Australia and New Zealand, which are quite secular, all the countries of Oceania are strongly conservative Christian moral societies. As such, expect all businesses to be closed on Sundays, when virtually the entire country would be at church. If you are there on a Sunday, going to church would usually be a good opportunity to mingle with the locals. Hinduism is followed by many ethnic Indians in Fiji.
Almost all of Oceania is safe for visitors, with the exception of Papua New Guinea, which remains a tourist destination only for the most adventurous. In particular, Port Moresby has one of the highest violent crime rates in the world.
Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea have
areas where malaria is a risk. Fiji, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands,
Samoa and the other islands are malaria-free.
Dengue fever,
chikungunya and the Zika virus are increasingly present in tropical
areas. Avoid mosquito bites day and night, especially during an
outbreak.
The islands may be remote, but sexual diseases know no
borders. The usual precautions apply.
The term was coined by the French geographer Conrad Malte-Brun in 1812 as Océanie, coming from océan (ocean in French) which, in turn, derives from the ancient Greek Ōkeanós (κεανός), combined with the Latin suffix -ia, based on its cognate of the ancient Greek -ία, -εια which is used to designate abstract feminine nouns. The meaning of its name is based on the fact that its territory is composed of thousands of small islands scattered in the largest ocean on the planet.
The first human settlers of Oceania came from
Southeast Asia. From them descend the current Papuans and native
Australians, who probably must have reached the Sahul continent using
primitive rafts. The oldest fossil remains could be those of the Mungo
man in New South Wales (Australia), with about 42,000 years old, as well
as the Bobongara archaeological remains on the Huon Peninsula (Papua New
Guinea), with about 40,000 years old. On the other hand, archaeological
evidence of the use of plants in the mountains of New Guinea and
population genetic tests on Australian and Papuan natives agree that the
settlement of Sahul should have taken place about 46,000 years ago.
The island of New Ireland (Melanesia) would have been colonized
33,000 years ago and Buka Island (Northern Solomon Islands) 28,000 years
ago. 18,000 years ago New Guinea and Australia formed a single landmass
populated by humans, later sea level rise isolated the populations into
three groups: New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania (in addition to a few
smaller islands). These populations evolved separately under divergent
ecological conditions and developed independent cultural patterns.
Evidence has been found of the emergence of
agriculture about 10,000 years ago, as well as especially 7,000 years
ago, as observed in the mountains of New Guinea, where the tuber
vegetable taro, pumpkins and bananas would have been cultivated.
The next wave of human migration was that of the Austronesians, also of
Asian origin and coming from Insulindia. This Austronesian presence in
Oceania is archaeologically attested as early as the second millennium
BC, when it occupied basically regions within Melanesia. The Bismarck
Archipelago was colonized between 1300 and 1500 BC by Austronesian
potters (ceramists), fishermen and farmers; there was a progressive
expansion throughout Oceania, so that they would have reached Hawaii and
New Zealand during the first millennium AD.; and the last major island
to be colonized was Easter Island in the second millennium.
In 950 A.D. the Tu'i Tonga Empire dominated most of
the islands of Oceania. In the beginning, the kings managed to get rid
of foreign rule and consolidate the power of the empire in what is now
Tonga. Around the year 1200 began its expansion until about 1500. The
empire conquered what is now known as Fiji, parts of Samoa and other
Polynesian islands such as the Cook Islands and Niue. The great skill to
build canoes and the good system applied to invasions made it easier for
Tu'i Tonga to settle on even more islands.
By the year 1500, many
problems broke out in the royalty of the empire, which weakened its
figure in the colonies, which achieved a lot of autonomy from the royal
crown and the central power. In 1799, Tuku'aho, the king who held the
power at that time, was assassinated, which unleashed a terrible civil
war. Already with the European presence, the civil war ended up
devastating both sides, leaving the empire decimated in the hands of the
British crown.
The Spaniards were the first to cross the Pacific
Ocean and the islands of Oceania. The expedition of Ferdinand Magellan
discovered the Marianas in 1521 and other islands of the Pacific. After
Magellan's death in the Philippines, Juan Sebastián Elcano took command
of the expedition, which would eventually circumnavigate the world. Soon
after, the Portuguese explored the region: in 1525 they discovered the
Carolinas and, the following year, New Guinea. Between 1525 and 1527
several Spanish expeditions discovered the Marshall Islands and the
Admiralty Islands and in 1568 the Tuvalu Islands, the Solomon Islands
and Wake Island. In 1595 another Spanish expedition discovered the
Marquesas and the Cook Islands. In 1606, the Spanish expedition of
Quiros discovered the Pitcairn Islands and the New Hebrides, whose main
island they baptized with the name of the Australia of the Holy Spirit,
believing that they had reached the Terra Australis. Despite being
located in the New Hebrides, the name "Australia" has survived to this
day to refer to that great island. The Dutch toured the coast of
Australia in 1642 and discovered Tasmania, the Tonga Islands, Fiji and
Bismark. Meanwhile, for two and a half centuries, the Spanish route of
the Manila Galleon traveled the Pacific in both directions, linking the
ports of Acapulco and Manila between 1565 and 1815.
In the
eighteenth century, the British and French joined the exploration of
Oceania. Between 1764 and 1770, the British toured Tahiti, Samoa,
Solomon Islands and New Hebrides. Between 1772 and 1774, Spanish sailors
arrived in Tahiti and discovered several islands of the Tuamotu
archipelago. Between 1768 and 1779, English sailors also reached the
Society Islands, New Zealand, the Marquesas, New Hebrides and Hawaii.
The French explored the islands in parallel to the British. All these
trips determined the subsequent division of Oceania between Great
Britain and France, as well as Spain that had been in the Philippines
and the Marianas for several centuries.
In 1831, Jules Dumont
d'Urville divided the islands of Oceania into Melanesia, Micronesia,
Insulindia and Polynesia, which together with Australia make up the
traditional division of the continent.
At the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the
twentieth century, the desire for independence began in the British
colonies of Australia and New Zealand, which, in 1901 and 1907
respectively, opened the way to the other countries towards
independence.
The weakest and poorest countries were only able to
declare themselves independent during the second half of the twentieth
century. In 1962, Samoa declared its independence from New Zealand,
which had occupied it years earlier; then followed Nauru in 1968, Fiji
and Tonga in 1970, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu in 1978, the Federated
States of Micronesia and Kiribati in 1979 (although recognized in 1990
for Micronesia), Vanuatu in 1980, the Marshall Islands in 1990 and Palau
in 1994 followed them in the process of freedom.
These nations
formed the Pacific Islands Forum to try to help countries that are still
under the mandate of powers, such as Guam, held by the United States,
and New Caledonia and French Polynesia, both held by France.
The term Oceania covers a macro-geographical region
located between Asia and America, with continental Australia as the main
mass of the continent, followed by the much smaller and nearby islands
of New Guinea, Tasmania and New Zealand, to which are added some 25,000
small islands scattered in the Pacific.
The territories of
Oceania extend from Southeast Asia across the Pacific Ocean to America.
With an area of 9,800,458 km2, it is the smallest continent in the
world. It is washed by the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with a total of
25,760 km of coasts and has the second largest island in the world, New
Guinea, with 785,753 km2. The climate is strongly influenced by ocean
currents, including El Niño, which causes periodic droughts, and the
tropical seasonal low pressure system, which produces cyclones in
northern Australia.
The desert or semi-arid region is the
largest: 40% of its territory is covered by sand dunes. Oceania is the
driest, flattest continent, with the oldest and the least fertile soils.
Interestingly, the highest mountain on the continent, Mount Jaya (4884
m), is not located in Australia, but is located on the island of New
Guinea, belonging to Indonesia. Mount Kosciuszko, with 2228 m, is the
main elevation of continental Oceania.
The extreme geographical points of Oceania are as
follows:
Northernmost point: Kure Atoll, Hawaii.
Most easterly
point: Salas y Gómez Island, Chile.
Southernmost point: Macquarie
Island, Australia.
Westernmost point: West Island, Australia.
Oceania is composed of 14 independent nations, 14 dependencies (from countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand and Australia) and 5 territories integrated into other non-oceanic nations such as the United States, Chile and Indonesia. Since the arrival of the European colonizers, Oceania was divided into a series of dependent territories, which began to achieve their autonomy only from the middle of the twentieth century, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand, which did so in 1901 and 1907 respectively.
The states of Oceania are fully integrated into the
UN, with Australia and New Zealand being the founding countries of that
organization. Of the dependencies, six of them (Tokelau, French
Polynesia, American Samoa, Pitcairn, New Caledonia and Guam) are
included in the list of the UN Decolonization Committee.
In
economic matters, eight states are members of the World Trade
Organization (Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa,
Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu) while six others are not part of the
organization (Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of
Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu). Likewise, the entire continent is
included in the International Monetary Fund.
In terms of justice
and security, only 8 oceanic countries are integrated into INTERPOL
(Australia, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Papua New
Guinea, Tonga). In the case of international justice, six countries have
not signed or ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court. While Solomon Islands has signed that it has not yet ratified. In
other countries, it accepts the jurisdiction of the International
Criminal Court to try cases of crimes against humanity.
There are
three oceanic states (Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu) that are
attached to the Non-Aligned Movement.
The weight of international
relations in the area is carried by Australia and New Zealand; that is
why in most transcontinental organizations both nations are members.
Thus, Australia (1971) and New Zealand (1973) are present in the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (1960), in the
Colombo Plan (1950) for local development together with Fiji and Papua
New Guinea. The Indian Ocean Riparian Association for Regional
Cooperation (1995) of cooperation between Asian, African and Australian
countries. And finally, in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum
(1989) together with Papua New Guinea, which entered in 1994.
In
1975, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States were created to,
through several agreements (the most recent Cotonou Agreement of 2000)
fight poverty together with the European Union, which works through the
European Development Fund. All the oceanic states except Australia and
New Zealand are part of this organization, in addition to the free
associated territories of the Cook Islands and Niue.
At the
regional level, the Pacific Islands Forum is the main organization. The
full members are the 14 independent countries, plus two states freely
associated with New Zealand: the Cook Islands and Niue; and 2
dependencies of France: New Caledonia and French Polynesia. One unit as
an associate member, Tokelau, and also admits as observers the countries
in the process of decolonization: American Samoa, Guam, Wallis and
Futuna, Northern Mariana Islands and an Asian country, East Timor.
He created the figure of the "dialogue partners" (Canada, China, the
European Union, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea,
Malaysia, the Philippines, the United States and Thailand) and also
holds separate meetings of his economic affairs ministers.
One of
its main objectives is to promote the integration of the territories of
the region, but also the search for solutions to common problems, such
as security, fisheries or the environment. The Biketawa Declaration,
signed in October 2000 belonging to the PIF, which provided for
mechanisms for its members to intervene in the internal affairs of
others "in times of crisis" was a crucial step in the integration
process, which has served to smooth the sending of the RAMSI and to
legitimize its success.
There are other organizations such as the
Melanesian Spearhead Group (1986) which includes 4 states (Fiji, Papua
New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) in addition to two political
parties for independence of their respective territories, the Free Papua
Movement (West Papua of Indonesia) and the Kanak National Liberation
Socialist Front of New Caledonia (sui generis collective of France).
There are also two organizations formed by all independent, dependent
states and their metropolises (United States, United Kingdom and
France). The first concerned with climate change as the Pacific Regional
Environment Program (1993) and the second the Pacific Community (1947)
with scientific and technological objectives.
Finally, we must
mention the most important military organization in the region, the
ANZUS (1951), an agreement signed between Australia, New Zealand and the
United States. The establishment of such an alliance in the South
Pacific responded to a bipolar dynamic in which the United States wanted
to guarantee a zone of influence beyond the territory in which it is
able to influence, and whose presence, close to that of the Soviet
Union, acted as a deterrent to a possible nuclear attack.
They are territories dependent on other powers in matters such as foreign policy, defense or trade relations. Some of these territories are included in the UN Decolonization Committee, such as American Samoa, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, Pitcairn Islands and Tokelau. The dependent territories of France are not part of the European Union, but are considered associated territories under the Treaty of Lisbon. The Pitcairn Islands had the same status until the United Kingdom's exit from the Union. The Cocos Islands, Christmas Island and the Heard and McDonald Islands are external territories of Australia that are located in Asia, specifically in the Indian Ocean, so they are not included in this list.
The exact definition of which territories belong to the continent is very varied:
Oceania is culturally and traditionally divided into four regions: Australia, which has continental dimensions, and the archipelagos of the Pacific Islands, located in the regions of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, which are always included in Oceania. This division dates back to the early nineteenth century and was postulated by French explorers based on cultural, ethnic and linguistic aspects. Initially, D'Urville included Australia in Melanesia.
Oceania is politically divided according to national borders. In this sense, the border between Oceania and Asia would coincide with the border between the countries of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. According to the United Nations Geoskeleton for Oceania, the countries of Oceania are grouped into the regions Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, in addition to the region of Australia and New Zealand, the latter sometimes called Australasia.
Oceania extends mainly over two large tectonic plates:
the territory located within the Australian plate that, in addition to
Australia, includes the island of Tasmania, the north of New Zealand and
the south of the island of New Guinea; and the great Pacific plate,
which extends over much of the rest of Oceania.
The territory of
Eastern Indonesia located within the Australian Plate and consisting of
southern Western New Guinea and other smaller islands, geologically are
part of Oceania. Other minor plates that make up Oceania are: Kermadec
Plate, Tonga Plate, Conway Reef Plate, Timor Plate, Woodlark Plate,
Banda Sea Plate, Carolinas Plate, Moluccas Sea Plate, Maoke Plate,
Bird's Head Plate, among others.
The biogeographic boundary between Asia and Oceania
has been variously defined. The most coherent delimitation would
probably be Weber's line, postulated by Max Weber, which sought the
intermediate point of balance between the fauna and flora coming from
the regions of Sahul (Oceania) and Sunda (Asia), especially with regard
to vertebrates. Under this point of view, several islands of Eastern
Indonesia are considered part of Oceania, such as New Guinea, Halmahera,
Raja Ampat, Obi, Seram, Buru, Aru and others.
Other lines of
biogeographical importance that are used as the border between Asia and
Oceania are the Wallace line and the Lydekker line, which define the
intermediate region of Wallacea. A sector of geographers and especially
biogeographers who consider that the boundary between Asia and Oceania
is the Wallace line, thus include in Oceania the islands of Celebes,
Sumba, Flores, Timor, the Maluku Islands and Sunda Minors.
Oceania is
divided biogeographically into two regions: Nearby Oceania, formed by
the islands of Western Melanesia and finally also by Australia,
depending on the authors; and Distant Oceania, formed by Eastern
Melanesia and other Pacific islands. Nearby Oceania is in relation to
the ancient continent Sahul and the nearby islands, not separated from
Sahul by more than 350 km, where often from the mountains of one island
the next island can be seen in the distance. The distance makes a
substantial difference in terms of the expansion of fauna, flora and
human migrations, since the colonization of Nearby Oceania took place in
the Pleistocene, more than 40,000 years ago, while the Distant
colonization of Oceania was carried out only in the Neolithic Period by
the boats of Austronesian peoples who left from the Solomon Islands
during the second millennium BC.
A sector of the experts includes Insulindia (which
politically includes Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, East Timor,
Sabah and Sarawak) as part of Oceania, which has been reflected in some
atlases and in the popular board game Risk. The field of linguistics
proves this limit, since the languages spoken in Melanesia, Polynesia,
Micronesia and Insulindia are so closely related that they make up the
Malayo-Polynesian linguistic subfamily. Genetic research also
corroborates this limit by demonstrating the close ethnic bond between
these areas of Oceania.
The Polynesian archipelago of Hawaii is an
American state. The Hawaiian Islands, although they are relatively far
from most of the islands of Oceania, culturally they are much closer to
the rest of Oceania than to America.
The few U.S. territories in the
North Pacific (collectively referred to as the overseas Islands) are
uninhabited except for itinerant service personnel. They are often
grouped together next to the continental part of the United States,
within the American continent.
Easter Island is a Polynesian island
located in the Eastern Pacific, belonging to Chile, and is generally
included in Oceania as its easternmost point, due in part to the fact
that its ancient inhabitants came from Polynesia. Because it belongs to
Chile, it is the only place in Oceania where Spanish is the official
language. In Chile, the nearby Salas y Gómez Island is also considered
to belong geographically to Oceania.
New Zealand is within the
so-called Polynesian triangle and in this sense is part of Polynesia.
New Zealand is one of the largest cultures in Polynesia.
The
Democratic Republic of East Timor is a country that is usually
considered part of the Australian continent, so it is sometimes included
in Oceania.
The term Oceania, in its broadest sense, covers the
entire insular region between Asia and America, together with the
continental section of Australia, excluding the Ryukyu Islands, Kuriles,
the Aleutian Islands, the Galapagos, the Desventuradas Islands, the Juan
Fernández archipelago and the archipelago of Japan.
The term
Australasia invariably includes Australia and usually New Zealand, Papua
New Guinea and other nearby parts of Oceania. The name alludes to the
region "south (austro) of Asia" and in this sense was coined by Charles
de Brosses in 1756. Due to different interpretative controversies,
sometimes Australia is not included in Oceania, although there are terms
such as "Pacific Islands" that are normally used to describe Oceania
without Australia. At the beginning of the twentieth century,
Australasia was used as the name of the Australian and New Zealand
sports combined, today there are numerous joint organizations of
Australia and New Zealand that carry this denomination. But the most
widespread acceptance of the term Australasia is the one given by the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) by establishing that Australasia covers
Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Guinea, Melanesia and the islands
of Wallacea (the east of Indonesia).
There are few countries in Oceania that enjoy freedom
of expression and universal suffrage. Only Australia and New Zealand
have democratic governments that can be maintained over the years,
although in Samoa, Vanuatu and Tonga the governments are also quite
consolidated.
In the other independent countries or those wishing
to become independent, there are moments of political irregularity, Fiji
suffered a coup d'état in 2006 and for that reason was expelled from the
Commonwealth of Nations, in New Caledonia and, to a lesser extent, in
French Polynesia there are tensions due to the wishes of the native
population to declare independence from France, Papua New Guinea has a
very weak national government, constantly threatened. Something similar
is happening in Solomon Islands.
Other countries have had no
choice but to "submit" to a more powerful country, because they cannot
support themselves economically autonomously. Niue, Cook Islands and
Tokelau signed a free association agreement with New Zealand. French
Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna and New Caledonia are dependent states of
France. The situation of States in Micronesia is very bad. They all have
weak economies and are therefore heavily influenced by the United
States, which dominates most of the countries in the region. Because
although he does not dominate them politically, he has a lot of power
over the economy of these developing countries.
Oceania's weight in the world economy is very small,
it contributes only 1% of total production.
Australia and New
Zealand have a diversified and highly developed economy. Although today
most of the population works in services, the primary sector is still
key and provides a good part of exports.
Both countries account
for 40% of the world's sheep, are the main wool producers and contribute
more than a third of the world's production.
In Australia,
industrial activity has experienced strong growth in recent decades,
mainly heavy industry and the chemical industry; for the most part,
thanks to the important mining deposits. For its part, New Zealand has
numerous lakes, used for the production of hydropower, which has favored
the development of various basic industries.
Two thirds of the
production of Australia and New Zealand is inserted in the Asian
markets.
In the other countries of the Pacific, it consists of a
rudimentary and self-sufficient economy. Agriculture is practiced on
volcanic islands. Different tropical species are found on these islands.
The most important product that is exported is the coconut palm
tree, there are also pineapples, rice, bananas, sugar cane and the
so-called "breadfruit".
Another important activity is mining,
there are gold reserves in Papua New Guinea and nickel and iron in New
Caledonia. Polymetallic nodules are found in the Pacific Ocean, which in
some areas are worked to obtain metals.
An important source of
income is tourism. Tahiti and Fiji are some countries that subsist
mainly on the tourism industry. It is exploited by large industries that
build very exotic hotels and get cruises and airplanes to attract world
tourism.
Fishing is also an important activity, especially in
small countries, such as Wallis and Futuna, Nauru, Niue and the Marshall
Islands.
This region is the least populated in the world (with
the exception of Antarctica) with approximately 34,300,000 inhabitants
in 2010, this figure has increased considerably due to the high birth
rate and low mortality of Oceania. The oceanic birth rate is 21% and the
mortality rate is 9%. The average life expectancy is 70 years.
The population density increased from 2.8/km2 to 3.4/km2.
The
majority of the population is concentrated in Australia, New Zealand and
Papua New Guinea, being 92.1% of the population of Oceania. The rest of
the population is divided into the other island countries of the
continent of Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia.
The population is heterogeneous, much of the
population is concentrated in ethnic groups native to Polynesia,
Micronesia and Melanesia. Another large part of the people living on the
continent are descendants of the first European colonizers, mainly of
British, Irish, German, Dutch, French ancestry and a small part descends
from Spaniards. Another ethnic group is the Asian, which despite
representing a low percentage of the total, is the third most common
ethnic group in Oceania. This could be explained by the large number of
Asian immigrants, especially from Indochina, that the continent has been
receiving for many years.
In New Zealand, the 2018 census
determined that 71.8% of the New Zealand population is ethnically
European, while only 16.5% was Maori (a native group of Oceania, the
main one in New Zealand) and that 15.3% was Asian. In Australia, people
of European descent make up 78% of the population, while those of native
descent represent only 2.8% of the total Australian population, the
lowest percentage of oceanic natives of the countries of the continent.
In other countries such as Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Solomon
Islands, Palau, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, the majority of the population is
descended from native tribes of Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia,
while Asian and European descendants represent a small part of the total
population of these small countries. Although the number of people
related to the Asian ethnicity continues to grow, the European ethnicity
is still the second most present in the smaller countries of Oceania.
By number of people the four languages with the
largest number of native speakers in Oceania are English, tok pisin,
French and Fijian Hindi, all four are languages with allochthonous
origin (indigenous to the region). The native languages with the largest
number of speakers are Samoan, Fijian (Austronesian) and Enga (Papuan).
The most widely used language is English, followed by tok pisin (Creole)
and French.
On some islands, mainly on Easter Island (Rapa Nui),
under Chilean sovereignty, Spanish is spoken. It is also spoken in a
minority on the American islands of Guam and the Northern Mariana
Islands, and has significantly influenced the Chamorro language, spoken
by the indigenous people of both countries. There are also other local
Creole languages of Spanish influence, which are spoken in Micronesia
and Palau, both countries that are part of the Carolinas archipelago.
In addition, Portuguese is also spoken in that region, mainly due to
the number of speakers in East Timor.
There are more than 1500 languages spoken in Oceania,
the classification of which still presents many doubts (especially
regarding the languages of pre-Austronesian origin). Broadly speaking,
three groups can be distinguished:
The oceanic languages that
constitute a group of the Austronesian languages and form the stratum of
more recent indigenous languages.
The Papuan languages encompass
both non-Austronesian languages of Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya and the
Solomon Islands.
The aboriginal languages of Australia, which are
sometimes classified together with the Tasmanian languages (although
they are not necessarily related).
The first populations of Australia
and New Guinea come from the first migrations of humanity (a process
that had begun in Africa). When the first humans populated these
territories, both were part of a single landmass, called Sahul, which
also included Tasmania. These facts led Joseph Greenberg to speculate on
a common origin of the languages of these territories, which is called
the Indo-Pacific hypothesis, which would also include Tasmanian (now
extinct) and the Andamanese languages. However, the enormous diversity
of these languages and the scarce evidence available for such hypotheses
mean that the last two groups are only considered useful geographical
groupings, but not genuine phylogenetic language groups.
The
Austronesian languages of Oceania were initially divided according to a
geographical criterion: Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia and New
Zealand, however, these divisions do not represent adequate linguistic
groupings (see Oceanic languages). The Polynesian, Fijian and
Micronesian languages seem to form a phylogenetic group within the
east-central oceanic languages, while the languages of Melanesia and
other areas are part of different oceanic families and therefore do not
form any valid phylogenetic group. Among the Polynesian languages are
the languages of Easter Island (rapanui) or Hawaii (Hawaiian) to New
Zealand (Maori). The kinship of these Polynesian languages was already
detected in Captain Cook's first voyages.
The non-Austronesian
languages of New Guinea, called Papuan languages, were only reasonably
known from the twentieth century. Its classification was highly
controversial until the works of Stephen Wurm (1975) and Malcolm Ross
(2005). These works suggest that the Papuan languages do not form one
language family, but several highly diverse families. The largest of
these families is formed by the trans-New Guinea languages which
includes hundreds of languages. Kate belongs to this group, which was
the lingua franca of several groups before the expansion of tok pisin
and dani, a language known for being one of the few in the world with
only two terms to designate colors.
As for the languages of
Australia, of the approximately 750 that were spoken on the island
before the arrival of Europeans, about 200 remain today, many of them
with the last speakers.
In many regions of Oceania, the
indigenous languages have not resisted the pressure of colonization and
it is currently the area of the world where the most indigenous
languages disappear. Samoan, the official language of Samoa spoken by
more than 300,000 people, is one of the few exceptions. A curious case
is the language called beach-la-mar, Creole with an English, French,
Spanish and indigenous lexical base. This language is used as a
non-francophone Pacific bridge language and even has a dictionary and
literature.
Some words from the languages of Oceania have had a
great diffusion through English. Among these we can mention ukulele
(from Hawaiian), taboo and tattoo (from Tongic) and kiwi (from Maori).
From the Australian languages the word boomerang has come to us, which
is originally the name of a local ethnic group, as well as some animal
names such as dingo, koala and kangaroo.
In Oceania the population varies depending on the
different regions and countries. In Australia and New Zealand, the
majority of the population is adults, far surpassing the young
population. On the other hand, in Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea,
Vanuatu and the colonies belonging to France, the United Kingdom and the
United States, the majority of the population is composed of young
people.
On the other hand, there is a higher proportion of adult
population in Papua New Guinea, but with much lower aging than in the
other countries of the continent.
42.7% of the population is Protestant, 24.7% is
Catholic, only 2.2% belong to the Orthodox Church and 14.8% profess
other Christian denominations (In total, 86.6% of the continent is
Christian). There are low percentages of native Hindus (1.10%), despite
the fact that in Fiji it is the second most popular religion after
Christianity, Buddhists (0.8%), Muslims (0.8%) and traditional religions
(0.8%). The remaining 13.1% profess other religions.
In summary,
24,451,000 Oceanians are Christians, 345,000 Hindus, 266,000 Buddhists,
248,000 Muslims, 259,000 of traditional religions and 3,891,000 natives
belong to other religions.
The traditional art of Oceania has a magical-symbolic sense, originated by religious concern and manifested in idols, masks, weapons, tattoos and ornaments. The Polynesians make striking body tattoos; the art of the Maori of New Zealand is more evolved, with its wooden architecture, of a very rich decoration, and large carved masks; their jade figurines (tikis) also attract attention. On Easter Island, the gigantic half-length statues of volcanic stone are famous, some up to 15m high. The Melanesians decorate the bows of their canoes with human and animal figures and perform dance masks; in New Guinea, the macabre statues of ancestors and the carving and adornment of skulls of the deceased stand out. In the art of the Micronesians, the elaboration of mats stands out.
The two most popular sports are rugby and football, although cricket, bodybuilding, baseball, basketball, squash, surfing, swimming and some local sports, played by natives, are also sports practiced by the inhabitants of Oceania.
Rugby is the most popular sport in Fiji, New Zealand,
Samoa, and Tonga, and also enjoys good popularity in Australia (where it
is the third most popular sport, behind cricket and Australian football
respectively) and Papua New Guinea (where the most popular sport is
13-a-side rugby, a variety of traditional rugby).
The continental
oceanic rugby tournament is the Pacific Cup, which has been played since
1975 and includes all the Oceania national teams and alternative New
Zealand and Australian teams. The first 4 editions (1974, 1977, 1986 and
1988) were won by the New Zealand Maori national team, the next two
championships (1990 and 1992) were for Samoa. The 1994 and 2006 editions
were won by the Tongan combined. New Zealand XIII in 1997, the Cook
Islands in 2004 and Papua New Guinea in 2009 hold only one title.
New Zealand and Australia are the most important national teams in
Oceania, they compete internationally in all editions of the Rugby World
Cup and the Tri-Nations Tournament. New Zealand won the world title
three times (1987, 2011 and 2015) and the Tri-Nations Tournament 9
times, while Australia won the world championship 2 times (1991 and
1999), and the Tri-Nations Tournament twice. These two countries send
alternative teams to participate in the continental tournaments to be
able to keep the main players for the two most important tournaments
worldwide of rugby.
Fiji, Tonga and Samoa are also important
international teams, as they frequently compete in the Rugby World Cup
and other rugby union tournaments. These three selected teams face each
year in the Pacific Nations Cup, the tournament underwent continuous
changes of participants, the junior team of New Zealand, the cast of New
Zealand Maori and the alternative team of Australia came to participate,
despite this, since 2010 it achieved its current form, the three
selected from the Pacific plus Japan. Only once one of the three oceanic
teams could conquer the title, Samoa did it in 2010, as New Zealand
Junior won the 2006, 2007 and 2009 editions, New Zealand Maori stayed
with the tournament held in 2008 and Japan won the 2011 championship.
In the hierarchy rank, behind Fiji, Samoa and Tonga appear the
combined of Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands that have the great
achievement of having achieved a title in the Pacific Cup. They play in
practically all editions of that cup, although neither of the two
selected players has ever played in a World Cup or another rugby union
tournament.
American Samoa is another Oceania team of good level,
despite this, it never got to play in a World Cup, although it did play
in three editions of the Pacific Cup (1988, 1992 and 1994) without ever
being able to achieve a title. Niue represents another national team
that has never been able to win titles but does have some recognition at
the continental level.
Football is not as practiced by the inhabitants of
Oceania as rugby, but it is the most popular sport in Kiribati, Solomon
Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. As happens in rugby, the Australia and New
Zealand national teams are the highest level, while other important
oceanic national teams are Fiji, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia,
Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Tahiti. The Oceania Football Confederation
(commonly abbreviated as OFC) is the highest football body in Oceania,
it has 11 members, the teams already named (except for Australia, which
joined the AFC in 2006) and the Cook Islands, Samoa, American Samoa and
Tonga. In addition to 2 associate teams (members of the OFC, but not
FIFA), Tuvalu and Kiribati (Niue ceased to be in 2021). Palau and the
Northern Mariana Islands were former associate members, but today the
former are not affiliated to any confederation or FIFA while the latter
are in the AFC, as is Guam.
The highest continental tournament at
the national team level is the OFC Nations Cup, which has been played
since 1973, an edition won by New Zealand. The New Zealand team repeated
this feat four more times, in 1998, 2002, 2008 and 2016. Australia won
the tournaments played in 1980, 1996, 2000 and 2004. These two are the
only teams that have been able to win more than two titles in the
championship. If we except Australia and New Zealand, only Tahiti was
able to achieve a championship (2012).
On the other hand, in
women's football, as in men's football, Australia and New Zealand are
the best teams on the continent, scoring goals to all the teams in all
the tournaments (except for the matches between each other). The OFC
Women's Championship is the highest competition at the continental level
in which the New Zealand national team is the most successful of the
competition with 6 titles, followed by Australia, Taiwan and Papua New
Guinea. Now, without Australia or Taiwan, New Zealand has practically no
rival in the OFC, since it achieves incredible goals (14-0, 10-0, 11-0
to Vanuatu, Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea, respectively in 2010),
although in the world Cups, New Zealand does not do good roles. Another
important team in the OFC is Papua New Guinea that wins with superiority
to the rest of the countries, although it is beaten by New Zealand,
until they got the championship in 2022, due to the absence of the New
Zealanders.
At the international level the OFC is the weakest
confederation of the six FIFA member associations. Australia has played
in 5 World Cups (in the last three it was already a member of the AFC).
He qualified as a member of the OFC to the two world Cups that were
played in Germany, 1974 and 2006. In 1974 he lost all three matches of
the group stage and could not score goals; while in 2006 he got 4 points
(one win and one draw, losing the third match) and scored 5 goals. New
Zealand, on the other hand, played the World Cups in Spain 1982 and
South Africa 2010, in 1982 it was scored in its three matches, but in
2010 it was the only team that did not lose any match, drawing in its
three matches in the group stage. In both matches he scored two goals (4
in total). Only once has an Oceanic team surpassed the group stage,
Australia did it in 2006 although it was eliminated in the round of 16
at the hands of the Italian national team, which days later would obtain
the world title.
At the club level, all countries have
semi-professional leagues, in addition to their respective cups.
Australia and New Zealand, in addition to the official league, have
multiple regional championships. The level of the Australian A-League is
growing year by year, while the New Zealand ASB Premiership is trying to
gain global relevance. The Fiji National Football League, the New
Caledonian Super League, the Vanuatu First Division, the Solomon Islands
S-League, the Papua New Guinea National Football League and the Tahiti
Division Federale are leagues that are advancing in football level. The
club championship at continental level is the OFC Champions League in
which only twice a team outside Australia and New Zealand achieved a
title, Hekari United of Papua New Guinea and Hienghène Sport of New
Caledonia. The champion of the tournament qualifies for the FIFA Club
World Cup. The best place achieved by an Oceania team in this tournament
was the third place achieved by Auckland City FC in the 2014 edition. In
addition to the New Zealand teams, three other oceanic clubs have
participated in this competition: Papua New Guinea's Hekari United (2010
edition), New Caledonian Hienghène Sport (2019 edition) and Polynesian
Pirae (2021 edition).