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 including 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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Location in the North Pacific Ocean

Wake Island (Marshallese: Ānen Kio, lit. 'island of the kio flower'), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets and a reef surrounding a lagoon. The nearest inhabited island is Utirik Atoll in the Marshall Islands, located 592 miles (953 kilometers) to the southeast.

The island may have been found by prehistoric Austronesian mariners before its first recorded discovery by Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira in 1568. After this, ships visited the area until it was claimed by the United States in 1899. The island had little development until 1935, when Pan American Airways constructed an airfield and hotel as a waypoint for trans-Pacific flying boats. Japan seized the island at the opening of the Pacific Theatre of World War II in December 1941, and it remained under Japanese occupation until the end of the war in September 1945. After trans-Pacific layovers by Pan American Airways ceased in 1972 due to their use of Boeing 747s, administration was taken over by the United States Air Force, which used the atoll as a processing location for Vietnamese refugees during Operation New Life in 1975. (Full article...)

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Pacific Islanders originate from countries within the Oceanian regions of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia.

Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oceania (Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia) or any other island located in the Pacific Ocean.

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