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 comprising Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. 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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Vanuatu (English: /ˌvɑːnuˈɑːtuː/ ^ⓘ VAH-noo-AH-too or /vænˈwɑːtuː/ van-WAH-too; Bislama and French pronunciation [vanuatu]), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (French: République de Vanuatu; Bislama: Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country in Melanesia, located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is 1,750 km (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 540 km (340 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, east of New Guinea, southeast of Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji.

Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queirós, who arrived on the largest island, Espíritu Santo, in 1606. Queirós claimed the archipelago for Spain, as part of the colonial Spanish East Indies and named it La Austrialia del Espíritu Santo. (Full article...)

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Oceania University of Medicine (OUM) is an Independent Samoa-based medical school established in 2002 and operated through a public-private partnership between the Government of Samoa and e-Medical Education, LLC, a Florida-based medical education management company. Its hybrid curriculum of distance-learning preclinicals and face-to-face clinical rotations enrolls 333 students, as of March 2024, and 215 graduates are currently in residency/internship training or practicing medicine in numerous global locations, primarily Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Samoa, and the US. (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 1Map 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 2Aerial view of Solomon Islands (from Melanesia)
Image 3A pan flute from Solomon Islands, 19th century (from Melanesia)
Image 4King Kamehameha I receiving the Russian naval expedition of Otto von Kotzebue. Drawing by Louis Choris in 1816. (from Polynesia)
Image 5Grinding stones discovered from archaeology in Samoa (from Polynesia)
Image 6Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Micronesia)
Image 7A depiction of a royal heiau (Hawaiian temple) at Kealakekua Bay, c. 1816 (from Polynesia)
Image 8Mount Tavurvur in Papua New Guinea (from Melanesia)
Image 9A Melanesian child from Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 10Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Melanesia)
Image 11German trading station at Jaluit Atoll with a Marshallese korkor outrigger canoe in the foreground (from Micronesia)
Image 12Chamorro people in 1915 (from Micronesia)
Image 13Mokoliʻi Isle near Oahu, Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 14Māori war canoe drawn after James Cook's voyage to New Zealand. (from Polynesia)
Image 15New Caledonia (from Melanesia)
Image 16Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Micronesia)
Image 17Canoe carving on Nanumea atoll, Tuvalu (from Polynesia)
Image 18Polynesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Micronesia. (from Polynesia)
Image 19Moai at Ahu Tongariki on Rapa Nui (from Polynesia)
Image 20Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Polynesia)
Image 21Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021, who initiated the Polynesian Leaders Group in late 2011. (from Polynesia)
Image 22Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian Triangle. (from Polynesia)
Image 23Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Polynesia)
Image 24Cinder plain of Mount Yasur in Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 25Cook's Bay on Moorea, French Polynesia (from Polynesia)
Image 26The Polynesian spread of colonization in the Pacific (from Polynesia)
Image 27Kili Island is one of the smallest islands in the Marshall Islands. (from Micronesia)
Image 28Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Melanesia)
Image 29German New Guinea before and after the German-Spanish treaty of 1899 (from Micronesia)
Image 30An 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 31Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, Melanesia (from Australasia)
Image 32Painting of Tahitian Women on the Beach by Paul Gauguin—Musée d'Orsay (from Polynesia)
Image 33Map of Melanesia, showing its location within Oceania (from Melanesia)
Image 34Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Melanesia (from Melanesia)
Image 35Spinner dolphins (from Micronesia)
Image 36Mount Marpi in Saipan. (from Micronesia)
Image 37Languages of Micronesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 38Tarawa Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 39Melanesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Micronesia and Polynesia. (from Melanesia)
Image 40Image of the Castle Bravo nuclear test, detonated on 1 March 1954, at Bikini Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 41Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 (from Polynesia)
Image 42The arrival of Abel Tasman in Tongatapu, 1643; drawing by Isaack Gilsemans (from Polynesia)
Image 43On February 14, 1779, Capt. James Cook was killed on the island of Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 44Beach scenery at Laura, Majuro, Marshall Islands (from Micronesia)
Image 45Sailors of Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean, 1846 (from Melanesia)
Image 46Polynesian (Hawaiian) navigators sailing multi-hulled canoe, c. 1781 (from Polynesia)
Image 47Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Micronesia)
Image 48Manila Galleon in the Marianas and Carolinas, c. 1590 Boxer Codex (from Micronesia)
Image 49Micronesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Polynesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 50Polynesians with outrigger canoes at Waikiki Beach, Oahu Island, early 20th century (from Polynesia)
Image 51A common fishing canoe va'a with outrigger in Savaiʻi island, Samoa, 2009 (from Polynesia)
Image 52Map from 1961 of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, formerly Japan's South Seas Mandate. (from Micronesia)