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. 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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Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Blue Mountains in the west, and about 80 km (50 mi) from the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the Hawkesbury River in the north and north-west, to the Royal National Park and Macarthur in the south and south-west. Greater Sydney consists of 658 suburbs, spread across 33 local government areas. Residents of the city are colloquially known as "Sydneysiders". The estimated population in June 2023 was 5,450,496, which is about 66% of the state's population. The city's nicknames include the "Emerald City" and the "Harbour City".

Aboriginal Australians have inhabited the Greater Sydney region for at least 30,000 years, and their engravings and cultural sites are common. The traditional custodians of the land on which modern Sydney stands are the clans of the Darug, Dharawal and Eora peoples. During his first Pacific voyage in 1770, James Cook charted the eastern coast of Australia, making landfall at Botany Bay. In 1788, the First Fleet of convicts, led by Arthur Phillip, founded Sydney as a British penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. After World War II, Sydney experienced mass migration and by 2021 over 40 per cent of the population was born overseas. Foreign countries of birth with the greatest representation are mainland China, India, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and the Philippines. (Full article...)

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Typhoon Isa at peak intensity on April 20

Typhoon Isa was the first of a record eleven super typhoons to occur during the 1997 Pacific typhoon season. The second tropical cyclone of the season, Isa developed from a disturbance in the monsoon trough near the Caroline Islands on April 12. It moved erratically at first, though after attaining tropical storm status it curved westward due to the subtropical ridge to its north. Isa very gradually intensified, and on April 20 the typhoon reached peak 1-min winds of 270 km/h (170 mph), as reported by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center; Japan Meteorological Agency reported maximum 10-min winds of 155 km/h (95 mph). After turning northward, it accelerated to the northeast, and merged with a larger extratropical cyclone on April 24.

Early in its duration, Isa caused light rainfall and moderate winds on Pohnpei. Later, a stationary rainband from the typhoon dropped heavy precipitation on Guam during its dry season. Damage in the Guam National Weather Service area of responsibility totaled $1 million (1997 USD$, 1.9 million 2024 USD), the majority of it from crop damage. No deaths were reported. (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 1Manila Galleon in the Marianas and Carolinas, c. 1590 Boxer Codex (from Micronesia)
Image 2Map of Melanesia, showing its location within Oceania (from Melanesia)
Image 3Māori war canoe drawn after James Cook's voyage to New Zealand. (from Polynesia)
Image 4Cook's Bay on Moorea, French Polynesia (from Polynesia)
Image 5Aerial view of Solomon Islands (from Melanesia)
Image 6Cinder plain of Mount Yasur in Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 7Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian Triangle. (from Polynesia)
Image 8Micronesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Polynesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 9Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Melanesia)
Image 10Languages of Micronesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 11Polynesian (Hawaiian) navigators sailing multi-hulled canoe, c. 1781 (from Polynesia)
Image 12Tarawa Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 13Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Micronesia)
Image 14Map 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 15Map from 1961 of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, formerly Japan's South Seas Mandate. (from Micronesia)
Image 16German New Guinea before and after the German-Spanish treaty of 1899 (from Micronesia)
Image 17A Melanesian child from Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 18Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Melanesia (from Melanesia)
Image 19Polynesians with outrigger canoes at Waikiki Beach, Oahu Island, early 20th century (from Polynesia)
Image 20A depiction of a royal heiau (Hawaiian temple) at Kealakekua Bay, c. 1816 (from Polynesia)
Image 21Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Polynesia)
Image 22Polynesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Micronesia. (from Polynesia)
Image 23Canoe carving on Nanumea atoll, Tuvalu (from Polynesia)
Image 24Melanesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Micronesia and Polynesia. (from Melanesia)
Image 25German trading station at Jaluit Atoll with a Marshallese korkor outrigger canoe in the foreground (from Micronesia)
Image 26Mokoliʻi Isle near Oahu, Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 27Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Polynesia)
Image 28A common fishing canoe va'a with outrigger in Savaiʻi island, Samoa, 2009 (from Polynesia)
Image 29Beach scenery at Laura, Majuro, Marshall Islands (from Micronesia)
Image 30Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Melanesia)
Image 31An 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 32Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, Melanesia (from Australasia)
Image 33Painting of Tahitian Women on the Beach by Paul Gauguin—Musée d'Orsay (from Polynesia)
Image 34Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 (from Polynesia)
Image 35Moai at Ahu Tongariki on Rapa Nui (from Polynesia)
Image 36Mount Tavurvur in Papua New Guinea (from Melanesia)
Image 37Grinding stones discovered from archaeology in Samoa (from Polynesia)
Image 38A pan flute from Solomon Islands, 19th century (from Melanesia)
Image 39Image of the Castle Bravo nuclear test, detonated on 1 March 1954, at Bikini Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 40The arrival of Abel Tasman in Tongatapu, 1643; drawing by Isaack Gilsemans (from Polynesia)
Image 41Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Micronesia)
Image 42On February 14, 1779, Capt. James Cook was killed on the island of Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 43Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Micronesia)
Image 44Mount Marpi in Saipan. (from Micronesia)
Image 45Chamorro people in 1915 (from Micronesia)
Image 46Spinner dolphins (from Micronesia)
Image 47Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021, who initiated the Polynesian Leaders Group in late 2011. (from Polynesia)
Image 48Sailors of Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean, 1846 (from Melanesia)
Image 49Kili Island is one of the smallest islands in the Marshall Islands. (from Micronesia)
Image 50New Caledonia (from Melanesia)
Image 51King Kamehameha I receiving the Russian naval expedition of Otto von Kotzebue. Drawing by Louis Choris in 1816. (from Polynesia)
Image 52The Polynesian spread of colonization in the Pacific (from Polynesia)