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 other continents, 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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Niue (/ˈnjuːeɪ/, /niːˈjuːeɪ/; Niuean: Niuē) is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. The island is commonly referred to as "The Rock", which comes from the traditional name "Rock of Polynesia".

Niue is located in a triangle between Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. It is 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) northeast of New Zealand, and 604 kilometres (375 mi) northeast of Tonga. Niue's land area is about 261.46 square kilometres (100.95 sq mi) and its population was 1,689 at the Census in 2022. Niue is one of the world's largest coral islands. The terrain of the island has two noticeable levels. The higher level is made up of a limestone cliff running along the coast, with a plateau in the centre of the island reaching approximately 60 metres (200 ft) above sea level. The lower level is a coastal terrace approximately 0.5 km (0.3 miles) wide and about 25–27 metres (80–90 feet) high, which slopes down and meets the sea in small cliffs. A coral reef surrounds the island, with the only major break in the reef being in the central western coast, close to the capital, Alofi. Niue is subdivided into 14 villages (municipalities). Each village has a council that elects its chairperson. The villages are at the same time electoral districts; each village sends an assemblyperson to the Niue Assembly (parliament). (Full article...)

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*Hōkūleʻa*, A fibreglass hulled replica of a Hawaiian double-hulled canoe sailing off Honolulu, 2009

Polynesian navigation or Polynesian wayfinding was used for thousands of years to enable long voyages across thousands of kilometres of the open Pacific Ocean. Polynesians made contact with nearly every island within the vast Polynesian Triangle, using outrigger canoes or double-hulled canoes. The double-hulled canoes were two large hulls, equal in length, and lashed side by side. The space between the paralleled canoes allowed for storage of food, hunting materials, and nets when embarking on long voyages. Polynesian navigators used wayfinding techniques such as the navigation by the stars, and observations of birds, ocean swells, and wind patterns, and relied on a large body of knowledge from oral tradition. This island hopping was a solution to the scarcity of useful resources, such as food, wood, water, and available land, on the small islands in the Pacific Ocean. When an island’s required resources for human survival began to run low, the island's inhabitants used their maritime navigation skills and set sail for new islands. However, as an increasing number of islands in the South Pacific became occupied, and citizenship and national borders became of international importance, this was no longer possible. People thus became trapped on islands with the inability to support them.

Navigators travelled to small inhabited islands using wayfinding techniques and knowledge passed by oral tradition from master to apprentice, often in the form of song. Generally, each island maintained a guild of navigators who had very high status; in times of famine or difficulty, they could trade for aid or evacuate people to neighbouring islands. As of 2014, these traditional navigation methods are still taught in the Polynesian outlier of Taumako in the Solomons and by voyaging societies throughout the Pacific. (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 1Moai at Ahu Tongariki on Rapa Nui (from Polynesia)
Image 2Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian Triangle. (from Polynesia)
Image 3German New Guinea before and after the German-Spanish treaty of 1899 (from Micronesia)
Image 4Polynesian (Hawaiian) navigators sailing multi-hulled canoe, c. 1781 (from Polynesia)
Image 5The arrival of Abel Tasman in Tongatapu, 1643; drawing by Isaack Gilsemans (from Polynesia)
Image 6Mount Tavurvur in Papua New Guinea (from Melanesia)
Image 7New Caledonia (from Melanesia)
Image 8Melanesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Micronesia and Polynesia. (from Melanesia)
Image 9A Melanesian child from Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 10Cook's Bay on Moorea, French Polynesia (from Polynesia)
Image 11Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Melanesia (from Melanesia)
Image 12King Kamehameha I receiving the Russian naval expedition of Otto von Kotzebue. Drawing by Louis Choris in 1816. (from Polynesia)
Image 13Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Melanesia)
Image 14Image of the Castle Bravo nuclear test, detonated on 1 March 1954, at Bikini Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 15The Polynesian spread of colonization in the Pacific (from Polynesia)
Image 16Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Micronesia)
Image 17A pan flute from Solomon Islands, 19th century (from Melanesia)
Image 18Beach scenery at Laura, Majuro, Marshall Islands (from Micronesia)
Image 19A common fishing canoe va'a with outrigger in Savaiʻi island, Samoa, 2009 (from Polynesia)
Image 20Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 (from Polynesia)
Image 21Polynesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Micronesia. (from Polynesia)
Image 22Languages of Micronesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 23Cinder plain of Mount Yasur in Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 24Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Polynesia)
Image 25Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Polynesia)
Image 26Map from 1961 of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, formerly Japan's South Seas Mandate. (from Micronesia)
Image 27Kili Island is one of the smallest islands in the Marshall Islands. (from Micronesia)
Image 28Tarawa Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 29Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Melanesia)
Image 30Map of Melanesia, showing its location within Oceania (from Melanesia)
Image 31Grinding stones discovered from archaeology in Samoa (from Polynesia)
Image 32On February 14, 1779, Capt. James Cook was killed on the island of Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 33Aerial view of Solomon Islands (from Melanesia)
Image 34A depiction of a royal heiau (Hawaiian temple) at Kealakekua Bay, c. 1816 (from Polynesia)
Image 35Canoe carving on Nanumea atoll, Tuvalu (from Polynesia)
Image 36Mount Marpi in Saipan. (from Micronesia)
Image 37Mokoliʻi Isle near Oahu, Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 38German trading station at Jaluit Atoll with a Marshallese korkor outrigger canoe in the foreground (from Micronesia)
Image 39Māori war canoe drawn after James Cook's voyage to New Zealand. (from Polynesia)
Image 40Painting of Tahitian Women on the Beach by Paul Gauguin—Musée d'Orsay (from Polynesia)
Image 41Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Micronesia)
Image 42Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Micronesia)
Image 43An 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 44Chamorro people in 1915 (from Micronesia)
Image 45Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, Melanesia (from Australasia)
Image 46Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021, who initiated the Polynesian Leaders Group in late 2011. (from Polynesia)
Image 47Sailors of Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean, 1846 (from Melanesia)
Image 48Polynesians with outrigger canoes at Waikiki Beach, Oahu Island, early 20th century (from Polynesia)
Image 49Manila Galleon in the Marianas and Carolinas, c. 1590 Boxer Codex (from Micronesia)
Image 50Micronesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Polynesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 51Spinner dolphins (from Micronesia)
Image 52Map 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)