Portal:Oceania

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The Oceania Portal

An orthographic projection of Oceania

Oceania (UK: /ˌoʊsiˈɑːniə, ˌoʊʃi-, -ˈeɪn-/ OH-s(h)ee-AH-nee-ə, -⁠AY-, US: /ˌoʊʃiˈæniə, -ˈɑːn-/ ^ⓘ OH-shee-A(H)N-ee-ə) is a geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Australia is regarded as an island or a continental landmass contained inside of the larger continent of Oceania. Spanning the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, at the centre of the water hemisphere, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of about 9,000,000 square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi) and a population of around 44.4 million as of 2022. When compared to the continents (which it is often compared to, not including Australia), Oceania is the smallest in land area and the second-least populated after Antarctica.

Oceania has a diverse mix of economies from the highly developed and globally competitive financial markets of Australia, French Polynesia, Hawaii, New Caledonia, and New Zealand, which rank high in quality of life and Human Development Index, to the much less developed economies of Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Western New Guinea, while also including medium-sized economies of Pacific islands such as Fiji, Palau, and Tonga. The largest and most populous country in Oceania is Australia, and the largest city is Sydney. Puncak Jaya in Highland Papua, Indonesia, is the highest peak in Oceania at 4,884 m (16,024 ft).

The arrival of European settlers in subsequent centuries resulted in a significant alteration in the social and political landscape of Oceania. The Pacific theatre saw major action during the First World War with the Japanese occupying many German territories. During the Second World War, Allied powers the United States, Philippines (a U.S. Commonwealth at the time) and Australia fought against Axis power Japan across various locations in Oceania. (Full article...)

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The Phoenix Islands, or Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. They are part of the Republic of Kiribati. Their combined land area is 28 square kilometres (11 sq mi). The only island of any commercial importance is Canton Island (also called Abariringa). The other islands are Enderbury, Rawaki (formerly Phoenix), Manra (formerly Sydney), Birnie, McKean, Nikumaroro (formerly Gardner), and Orona (formerly Hull).

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area, established in 2008, is one of the world's largest protected areas and is home to about 120 species of coral and more than 500 species of fish. All of the Phoenix Islands are uninhabited, except for a few families who live on Canton Island. (Full article...)

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Māori performing a haka (2012)

Māori (Māori: [ˈmaːɔɾi] ^ⓘ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (Aotearoa). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori.

Early contact between Māori and Europeans, starting in the 18th century, ranged from beneficial trade to lethal violence; Māori actively adopted many technologies from the newcomers. With the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted for a generation. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s, and subsequent land confiscations, which Māori resisted fiercely. After the Treaty was declared a legal nullity in 1877, Māori were forced to assimilate into many aspects of Western culture. Social upheaval and epidemics of introduced disease took a devastating toll on the Māori population, which fell dramatically, but began to recover by the beginning of the 20th century. The March 2023 New Zealand census gives the number of people of Māori descent as 978,246 (19.6% of the total population), an increase of 12.5% since 2018. (Full article...)

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... that Michaela Foster, a New Zealand footballer playing in the 2023 World Cup, is known for her mana?

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The following are images from various Oceania-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A Melanesian child from Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 2A pan flute from Solomon Islands, 19th century (from Melanesia)
Image 3A depiction of a royal heiau (Hawaiian temple) at Kealakekua Bay, c. 1816 (from Polynesia)
Image 4Polynesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Micronesia. (from Polynesia)
Image 5Tarawa Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 6Kili Island is one of the smallest islands in the Marshall Islands. (from Micronesia)
Image 7Languages of Micronesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 8Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021, who initiated the Polynesian Leaders Group in late 2011. (from Polynesia)
Image 9Micronesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Polynesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 10An illustration of the Cross Spikes Club of the US Navy on Bikini Atoll, one of several Marshall Islands used for atomic bomb tests. (from Micronesia)
Image 11Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Polynesia)
Image 12Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Melanesia (from Melanesia)
Image 13The Polynesian spread of colonization in the Pacific (from Polynesia)
Image 14A common fishing canoe va'a with outrigger in Savaiʻi island, Samoa, 2009 (from Polynesia)
Image 15Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian Triangle. (from Polynesia)
Image 16Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 (from Polynesia)
Image 17Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Melanesia)
Image 18German New Guinea before and after the German-Spanish treaty of 1899 (from Micronesia)
Image 19Canoe carving on Nanumea atoll, Tuvalu (from Polynesia)
Image 20Painting of Tahitian Women on the Beach by Paul Gauguin—Musée d'Orsay (from Polynesia)
Image 21Moai at Ahu Tongariki on Rapa Nui (from Polynesia)
Image 22King Kamehameha I receiving the Russian naval expedition of Otto von Kotzebue. Drawing by Louis Choris in 1816. (from Polynesia)
Image 23New Caledonia (from Melanesia)
Image 24Cinder plain of Mount Yasur in Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 25Spinner dolphins (from Micronesia)
Image 26Polynesian (Hawaiian) navigators sailing multi-hulled canoe, c. 1781 (from Polynesia)
Image 27Map of Melanesia, showing its location within Oceania (from Melanesia)
Image 28Mokoliʻi Isle near Oahu, Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 29Chamorro people in 1915 (from Micronesia)
Image 30Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Micronesia)
Image 31Aerial view of Solomon Islands (from Melanesia)
Image 32Image of the Castle Bravo nuclear test, detonated on 1 March 1954, at Bikini Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 33Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Micronesia)
Image 34Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Melanesia)
Image 35Mount Marpi in Saipan. (from Micronesia)
Image 36Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Micronesia)
Image 37Map showing the migration and expansion of the Austronesians which began at about 3000 BC from Taiwan. The Polynesian branch is shown in green. (from Polynesia)
Image 38Cook's Bay on Moorea, French Polynesia (from Polynesia)
Image 39Polynesians with outrigger canoes at Waikiki Beach, Oahu Island, early 20th century (from Polynesia)
Image 40Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Polynesia)
Image 41Grinding stones discovered from archaeology in Samoa (from Polynesia)
Image 42Māori war canoe drawn after James Cook's voyage to New Zealand. (from Polynesia)
Image 43Beach scenery at Laura, Majuro, Marshall Islands (from Micronesia)
Image 44German trading station at Jaluit Atoll with a Marshallese korkor outrigger canoe in the foreground (from Micronesia)
Image 45Mount Tavurvur in Papua New Guinea (from Melanesia)
Image 46Map from 1961 of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, formerly Japan's South Seas Mandate. (from Micronesia)
Image 47On February 14, 1779, Capt. James Cook was killed on the island of Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 48Manila Galleon in the Marianas and Carolinas, c. 1590 Boxer Codex (from Micronesia)
Image 49Sailors of Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean, 1846 (from Melanesia)
Image 50The arrival of Abel Tasman in Tongatapu, 1643; drawing by Isaack Gilsemans (from Polynesia)
Image 51Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, Melanesia (from Australasia)
Image 52Melanesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Micronesia and Polynesia. (from Melanesia)