Oceania

Etymology

Oceania is from the French océanie coming from Greek Okeanòs, Ωκεανός, ocean. It was coined in 1812 by geographer Conrad Malte-Brun.

Definition

Characteristics

Definitions of Oceania vary. The broadest definition encompasses the islands between mainland Asia and the Americas. The island nation of Australia is the only piece of land in the area which is large enough to typically be considered a continent. The culture of the people who lived on these islands was often distinct from that of Asia and pre-Columbian America. Before Europeans arrived in the area, the sea shielded Australia and south central Pacific islands from cultural influences that spread through large continental landmasses and adjacent islands. The islands of the Malay Archipelago, north of Australia, mainly lie on the continental shelf of Asia, and their inhabitants had more exposure to mainland Asian culture as a result of this closer proximity.

The geographer Conrad Malte-Brun coined the French expression Terres océaniques ('Oceanic lands') c. 1804. In 1814 another French cartographer, Adrien-Hubert Brué, coined from this expression the shorter Océanie, which derives from the Latin word oceanus, and this from the Greek word ὠκεανός (ōkeanós), 'ocean'. The term Oceania is used because, unlike the other continental groupings, it is the ocean that links the parts of the region together. John Eperjesi's 2005 book The Imperialist Imaginary says that Since the mid-19th century, Western cartographers have used the term Oceania to organize and classify the Pacific region.

In the 19th century, many geographers divided Oceania into mostly racially based subdivisions: Australasia, Malesia (encompassing the Malay Archipelago), Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. The 2011 book Maritime Adaptations of the Pacific, by Richard W. Casteel and Jean-Claude Passeron, states that Oceania has traditionally been considered a continent in anthropological studies, similar to Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Bartholomew described Oceania as one of six major world divisions, including Australia and Pacific islands. American author Samuel Griswold Goodrich wrote in his 1854 book History of All Nations that, some 19th-century geographers classified the Pacific islands as a third continent called Oceania, alongside the New and Old Worlds. In this book, the other two continents were categorized as being the New World (the Americas) and the Old World (Afro-Eurasia). In his 1879 book Australasia, British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace commented that, geographers commonly used Oceania to refer to the Pacific islands, with Australia as its central landmass. He did not explicitly label Oceania a continent in the book, but did note that it was one of the six major divisions of the world. The Oxford Handbook of World History (2011) describes the Oceania is often treated as a secondary topic in world history, appearing at the end of global narratives as a marginal region.

Boundaries

Islands that are generally considered to be at the geographic extremes of Oceania are: the Bonin Islands, a politically integral part of Japan; Hawaii, a state of the United States; Clipperton Island, a possession of France; Rapa Nui (Easter Island), belonging to Chile; and Macquarie Island, belonging to Australia.

The United Nations (UN) has used its own geopolitical definition of Oceania since its foundation in 1947, which utilizes four of the five subregions from the 19th century: Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. This definition consists of discrete political entities and so excludes the Bonin Islands, Hawaii, Clipperton Island, and the Juan Fernández Islands, along with Easter Island, which was annexed by Chile in 1888. It is used in statistical reports, by the International Olympic Committee, and by many atlases. The UN categorizes Oceania, and by extension the Pacific area, as one of the major continental divisions of the world, along with Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Their definition includes American Samoa, Australia and their external territories, the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and the United States Minor Outlying Islands (Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island). The original UN definition of Oceania from 1947 included these same countries and semi-independent territories, which were mostly still colonies at that point. Hawaii had not yet become a U.S. state in 1947, and as such was part of the original UN definition of Oceania. The island states of Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan, all located within the bounds of the Pacific or associated marginal seas, are excluded from the UN definition; already in 1947 Dutch New Guinea was counted as part of Asia. The states of Hong Kong and Malaysia, located in both mainland Asia and marginal seas of the Pacific, are also excluded, as are Brunei, East Timor, and Indonesian New Guinea/Western New Guinea. The CIA World Factbook also categorizes Oceania as one of the major continental divisions of the world, but the name "Australia and Oceania" is used. Their definition does not include all of Australia's external territories, but is otherwise the same as the UN's definition, and is also used for statistical purposes. The Pacific Islands Forum expanded during the early 2010s, and areas that were already included in the UN definition of Oceania, such as French Polynesia, gained membership.

History

Colonisation of Oceania

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands who migrated from Africa to Asia c. 70,000 years ago and arrived in Australia c. 50,000 years ago. They are believed to be among the earliest human migrations out of Africa. Although they likely migrated to Australia through Southeast Asia, they are not demonstrably related to any known Asian or Polynesian population. There is evidence of genetic and linguistic interchange between Australians in the far north and the Austronesian peoples of modern-day New Guinea and the islands, but this may be the result of recent trade and intermarriage.

They reached Tasmania c. 40,000 years ago by migrating across a land bridge from the mainland that existed during the last ice age. It is believed that the first early human migration to Australia was achieved when this landmass formed part of the Sahul continent, connected to the island of New Guinea via a land bridge. The Torres Strait Islanders are indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands, which are at the northernmost tip of Queensland near Papua New Guinea. The earliest definite human remains found in Australia are those of Mungo Man, which have been dated at c. 40,000 years old.

It is estimated that 4% to 6% of the genome in Melanesians (e.g., Papua New Guinean and Bougainville Islander) derives from the Denisova hominin, an ancient human species discovered in 2010, while no Eurasians or Africans displayed contributions of the Denisovan genes.

The original inhabitants of the group of islands now named Melanesia were likely the ancestors of the present-day Papuan-speaking people. Migrating from Southeast Asia, they appear to have occupied these islands as far east as the main islands in the Solomon Islands archipelago, including Makira and possibly the smaller islands farther to the east.

Particularly along the north coast of New Guinea and in the islands north and east of New Guinea, the Austronesian people, who had migrated into the area somewhat more than 3,000 years ago, came into contact with these pre-existing populations of Papuan-speaking peoples. In the late 20th century, some scholars theorized a long period of interaction, which resulted in many complex changes in genetics, languages, and culture among the peoples.

European exploration

Oceania was first explored by Europeans from the 16th century onwards. Portuguese navigators, between 1512 and 1526, reached the Maluku Islands (by António de Abreu and Francisco Serrão in 1512), Timor, the Aru Islands (Martim A. Melo Coutinho), the Tanimbar Islands, some of the Caroline Islands (by Gomes de Sequeira in 1525), and west Papua New Guinea (by Jorge de Menezes in 1526). In 1519, a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan sailed down the east coast of South America, found and sailed through the strait that bears his name, and on 28 November 1520 entered the ocean which he named "Pacific". The three remaining ships, led by Magellan and his captains Duarte Barbosa and João Serrão, then sailed north and caught the trade winds which carried them across the Pacific to the Philippines, where Magellan was killed. One surviving ship led by Juan Sebastián Elcano returned west across the Indian Ocean, and the other went north in the hope of finding the westerlies and reaching Mexico. Unable to find the right winds, it was forced to return to the East Indies. The Magellan-Elcano expedition achieved the first circumnavigation of the world and reached the Philippines, the Mariana Islands, and other islands of Oceania.

From 1527 to 1595, several other large Spanish expeditions crossed the Pacific Ocean, leading to the arrival in Marshall Islands and Palau in the North Pacific, as well as Tuvalu, the Marquesas Islands, the Solomon Islands archipelago, the Cook Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific.

In the quest for Terra Australis, Spanish explorations in the 17th century, such as the expedition led by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, sailed to Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos, and sailed the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, named after navigator Luís Vaz de Torres. Willem Janszoon, made the first completely documented European landing in Australia (1606), in Cape York Peninsula. Abel Tasman circumnavigated and landed on parts of the Australian continental coast and discovered Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), New Zealand in 1642, and Fiji. He was the first known European explorer to reach these islands.

On 23 April 1770, British explorer James Cook made his first recorded direct observation of Aboriginal Australians at Brush Island near Bawley Point. On 29 April, Cook and crew made their first landfall on the mainland of the continent at a place now known as the Kurnell Peninsula. It is here that James Cook made first contact with an Aboriginal tribe known as the Gweagal. His expedition became the first recorded Europeans to have encountered its eastern coastline of Australia.

Modern history

One of the first land offensives in Oceania was the occupation of German Samoa in August 1914 by New Zealand forces. The campaign to take Samoa ended without bloodshed after over 1,000 New Zealanders landed on the German colony. Australian forces attacked German New Guinea in September 1914. A company of Australians and a British warship besieged the Germans and their colonial subjects, ending with a German surrender.

The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of 7 December 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. The Japanese subsequently invaded New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and other Pacific islands. The Japanese were turned back at the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Kokoda Track campaign before they were finally defeated in 1945. Some of the most prominent Oceanic battlegrounds were the Battle of Bita Paka, the Solomon Islands campaign, the Air raids on Darwin, the Kokoda Track, and the Borneo campaign. The United States fought the Battle of Guam from 21 July to 10 August 1944, to recapture the island from Japanese military occupation.

Australia and New Zealand became dominions in the 20th century, adopting the Statute of Westminster Act in 1942 and 1947, respectively. In 1946, Polynesians were granted French citizenship, and the islands' status was changed to an overseas territory; the islands' name was changed in 1957 to Polynésie Française (French Polynesia). Hawaii became a U.S. state in 1959. Fiji and Tonga became independent in 1970. On 1 May 1979, in recognition of the evolving political status of the Marshall Islands, the United States recognised the constitution of the Marshall Islands and the establishment of the government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The South Pacific Forum was founded in 1971, and it became the Pacific Islands Forum in 2000.

Geography

Under a four subregion model, the islands of Oceania extend to New Guinea in the west, the Bonin Islands in the northwest, the Hawaiian Islands in the northeast, Easter Island and Sala y Gómez Island in the east, and Macquarie Island in the south. Excluded under most definitions of Oceania are the Pacific landmasses of Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, and the Japanese archipelago, which are all on the margins of Asia, as well as the Aleutian Islands and other Alaskan or Canadian islands. In its periphery, Oceania's islands would sprawl 28 degrees north to the Bonin Islands in the Northern Hemisphere, and 55 degrees south to Macquarie Island in the Southern Hemisphere.

Oceanian islands are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs, and uplifted coral platforms. High islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville, Hawaiʻi, and Solomon Islands.

Oceania is one of eight terrestrial biogeographic realms, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet. Related to these concepts are Near Oceania, that part of western Island Melanesia which has been inhabited for tens of millennia, and Remote Oceania, which is more recently settled. Although the majority of the Oceanian islands lie in the South Pacific, a few of them are not restricted to the Pacific Ocean – Kangaroo Island and Ashmore and Cartier Islands, for instance, are situated in the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean, respectively, and Tasmania's west coast faces the Southern Ocean.

The coral reefs of the South Pacific are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia with chains of reef patches. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia.

Regions

Micronesia, which lies north of the equator and west of the International Date Line, includes the Mariana Islands in the northwest, the Caroline Islands in the centre, the Marshall Islands to the west and the islands of Kiribati in the southeast.

Melanesia, to the southwest, includes New Guinea, the world's second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the Pacific islands. The other main Melanesian groups from north to south are the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, the Santa Cruz Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and New Caledonia.

Polynesia, stretching from Hawaii in the north to New Zealand in the south, also encompasses Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoa, Tonga, and the Kermadec Islands to the west, the Cook Islands, Society Islands and Austral Islands in the centre, and the Marquesas Islands, the Tuamotus, Mangareva Islands, and Easter Island to the east.

Australasia comprises Australia, New Zealand, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. Along with India, most of Australasia lies on the Indo-Australian Plate with the latter occupying the Southern area. It is flanked by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Southern Ocean to the south.

Geology

The Pacific Plate, which makes up most of Oceania, is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres (40,000,000 sq mi), it is the largest tectonic plate. The plate contains an interior hot spot forming the Hawaiian Islands. It is almost entirely oceanic crust. The oldest member disappearing by way of the plate tectonics cycle is early-Cretaceous (145 to 137 million years ago).

Australia became part of the Indo-Australian Plate 45 to 40 million years ago, and this is in the process of separating again, with the Australian Plate being relevant to Oceania. It is the lowest, flattest, and oldest landmass on Earth and it has had a relatively stable geological history. Geological forces such as tectonic uplift of mountain ranges or clashes between tectonic plates occurred mainly in Australia's early history, when it was still a part of Gondwana. Australia is situated in the middle of the tectonic plate, has occasional middle-sized earthquakes, and currently has no active volcanism (but some volcanoes in southeast Australia erupted within the last 10,000 years).

The geology of New Zealand is noted for its volcanic activity, earthquakes, and geothermal areas because of its position on the boundary of the Australian Plate and Pacific Plates. Much of the basement rock of New Zealand was once part of the super-continent of Gondwana, along with South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Antarctica, and Australia. The rocks that now form the continent of Zealandia were nestled between Eastern Australia and Western Antarctica.

The Australia-New Zealand continental fragment of Gondwana split from the rest of Gondwana in the late Cretaceous time (95–90 Ma). By 75 Ma, Zealandia was essentially separate from Australia and Antarctica, although only shallow seas might have separated Zealandia and Australia in the north. The Tasman Sea, and part of Zealandia, then locked together with Australia to form the Australian Plate (40 Ma), and a new plate boundary was created between the Australian Plate and Pacific Plate.

Most islands in the Pacific are high islands (volcanic islands), such as Easter Island, American Samoa, and Fiji, among others, having peaks up to 1300 m rising abruptly from the shore. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands were formed c. 7 to 30 million years ago, as shield volcanoes over the same volcanic hotspot that formed the Emperor Seamounts to the north and the Main Hawaiian Islands to the south. Hawaii's tallest mountain Mauna Kea is 4,205 m (13,796 ft) above mean sea level.

Flora

The most diverse country of Oceania when it comes to the environment is Australia, with tropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges in the south-east, south-west, and east, and a desert in the centre. Desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land. The coastal uplands and a belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland. The northernmost point of the east coast is the tropical-rainforested Cape York Peninsula.

Prominent features of the Australian flora are adaptations to aridity and fire, which include scleromorphy and serotiny. These adaptations are common in species from the large and well-known families Proteaceae (Banksia), Myrtaceae (Eucalyptus – gum trees), and Fabaceae (Acacia – wattle). The flora of Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia is tropical dry forest, with tropical vegetation that includes palm trees, Premna protrusa, Psydrax odorata, Gyrocarpus americanus, and Derris trifoliata.

New Zealand's landscape ranges from the fjord-like sounds of the southwest to the tropical beaches of the far north. The South Island is dominated by the Southern Alps. There are 18 peaks of more than 3000 metres (9800 ft) in the South Island. All summits over 2,900 m are within the Southern Alps, a chain that forms the backbone of the South Island; the highest peak of which is Aoraki / Mount Cook, at 3,754 metres (12,316 ft). Earthquakes are common, though usually not severe, averaging 3,000 per year. There is a wide variety of native trees, adapted to all the various microclimates in New Zealand.

In Hawaii, one endemic plant, Brighamia, now requires hand-pollination because its natural pollinator is presumed to be extinct. The two species of Brighamia – B. rockii and B. insignis – are represented in the wild by around 120 individual plants. To ensure these plants set seed, biologists rappel down 910-metre (3,000 ft) cliffs to brush pollen onto their stigmas.

The area of primary forest decreased in Oceania by 17 000 hectares per year in 1990–2000, 25 600 ha per year in 2000–2015 and 20 200 ha per year in 2015–2025.

Fauna

The aptly named Pacific kingfisher is found in the Pacific Islands, as is the Red-vented bulbul, Polynesian starling, Brown goshawk, Pacific Swallow and the Cardinal myzomela, among others. Birds breeding on Pitcairn include the fairy tern, common noddy, and red-tailed tropicbird. The Pitcairn reed warbler, endemic to Pitcairn Island, was added to the endangered species list in 2008.

Native to Hawaii is the Hawaiian crow, which has been extinct in the wild since 2002. The brown tree snake is native to northern and eastern coasts of Australia, Papua New Guinea, Guam, and Solomon Islands. Native to Australia, New Guinea and proximate islands are birds of paradise, honeyeaters, Australasian treecreeper, Australasian robin, kingfishers, butcherbirds, and bowerbirds.

A unique feature of Australia's fauna is the relative scarcity of native placental mammals, and dominance of the marsupials – a group of mammals that raise their young in a pouch, including the macropods, possums, and dasyuromorphs. The passerines of Australia, also known as songbirds or perching birds, include wrens, the magpie group, thornbills, corvids, pardalotes, lyrebirds. Predominant bird species in the country include the Australian magpie, Australian raven, the pied currawong, crested pigeons and the laughing kookaburra. The koala, emu, platypus and kangaroo are national animals of Australia, and the Tasmanian devil is also one of the well-known animals in the country. The goanna is a predatory lizard native to the Australian mainland.

The birds of New Zealand evolved into an avifauna that included a large number of endemic species. As an island archipelago, New Zealand accumulated bird diversity, and when Captain James Cook arrived in the 1770s, he noted that the bird song was deafening. The mix includes species with unusual biology, such as the kākāpō, which is the world's only flightless, nocturnal, lek-breeding parrot, but also many species that are similar to neighbouring land areas. Some of the more well known and distinctive bird species in New Zealand are the kiwi, kea, takahē, kākāpō, mohua, tūī, and the bellbird. The tuatara is a notable reptile endemic to New Zealand.

Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Wallacea, and the islands of the Pacific Ocean collectively possess 42% of the world's parrot species, including half of all Critically Endangered parrots, many of which are endemic to the region.

Climate

The Pacific Islands are ruled by a tropical rainforest and tropical savanna climate. In the tropical and subtropical Pacific, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather conditions. In the tropical western Pacific, the monsoon and the related wet season during the summer months contrast with dry winds in the winter which blow over the ocean from the Asian landmass. November is the only month in which all the tropical cyclone basins are active.

To the southwest of the region, in the Australian landmass, the climate is mostly desert or semi-arid, with the southern coastal corners having a temperate climate, such as oceanic and humid subtropical climate in the east coast and Mediterranean climate in the west. The northern parts of the country have a tropical climate. Snow falls frequently on the highlands near the east coast, in the states of Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and in the Australian Capital Territory.

Most regions of New Zealand belong to the temperate zone with a maritime climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb) characterised by four distinct seasons. Conditions vary from extremely wet on the West Coast of the South Island to almost semi-arid in Central Otago and subtropical in Northland. Snow falls in New Zealand's South Island and at higher altitudes in the North Island. It is extremely rare at sea level in the North Island.

Hawaii, although being in the tropics, experiences many different climates, depending on latitude and its geography. The island of Hawaii, for example, hosts 4 (out of 5 in total) climate groups on a surface as small as 10,430 km2 (4,028 sq mi) according to the Köppen climate types: tropical, arid, temperate, and polar. The Hawaiian Islands receive most of their precipitation during the winter months (October to April). A few islands in the northwest, such as Guam, are susceptible to typhoons in the wet season.

The highest recorded temperature in Oceania occurred in Oodnadatta, South Australia (2 January 1960) and in Onslow, Western Australia (13 January 2022), both of which recorded a Temperature of 50.7 °C (123.3 °F). The lowest temperature ever recorded in Oceania was −25.6 °C (−14.1 °F), at Ranfurly in Otago in 1903, with a more recent temperature of −21.6 °C (−6.9 °F) recorded in 1995 in nearby Ophir. Pohnpei of the Senyavin Islands in Micronesia is the wettest settlement in Oceania, and one of the wettest places on earth, with annual recorded rainfall exceeding 7,600 mm (300 in) each year in certain mountainous locations. The Big Bog on the island of Maui is the wettest place, receiving an average 10,271 mm (404.4 in) each year.

Politics

Australia

Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy with Charles III at its apex as the King of Australia, a role that is distinct from his position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The King is represented in Australia by the Governor-General at the federal level and by the Governors at the state level, who by convention act on the advice of his ministers. There are two major political groups that usually form government, federally and in the states: the Australian Labor Party and the Coalition which is a formal grouping of the Liberal Party and its minor partner, the National Party. Within Australian political culture, the Coalition is considered centre-right and the Labor Party is considered centre-left. The Australian Defence Force is by far the largest military force in Oceania.

New Zealand

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy, although its constitution is not codified. Charles III is the King of New Zealand and the head of state. The King is represented by the Governor-General, whom he appoints on the advice of the Prime Minister. The New Zealand Parliament holds legislative power and consists of the King and the House of Representatives. A parliamentary general election must be called no later than three years after the previous election. New Zealand is identified as one of the world's most stable and well-governed states, with high government transparency and among the lowest perceived levels of corruption.

Pacific Islands

In Samoan politics, the Prime Minister of Samoa is the head of government. The 1960 constitution, which formally came into force with independence from New Zealand in 1962, builds on the British pattern of parliamentary democracy, modified to take account of Samoan customs. The national government (malo) generally controls the legislative assembly. Politics of Tonga takes place in a framework of a constitutional monarchy, whereby the King of Tonga is the Head of State.

Fiji has a multiparty system with the Prime Minister of Fiji as head of government. The executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Fiji. Fiji's Head of State is the President.

In the politics of Papua New Guinea the Prime Minister is the head of government, and the head of state is the monarch of the United Kingdom, represented by a Governor-General. In Kiribati, a Parliamentary regime, the President of Kiribati is the head of state and government, and of a multi-party system.

New Caledonia remains an integral part of the French Republic. Inhabitants of New Caledonia are French citizens. New Caledonia sends two representatives to the French National Assembly and two senators to the French Senate.

Hawaii is dominated by the Democratic Party. As codified in the Hawaiian Constitution, there are three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. The governor is elected statewide.

Economy

The linked map below shows the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the islands of Oceania and neighbouring areas, as a guide to the following table (few land boundaries can be drawn on a map of the Pacific at this scale).

Australia

Australia and New Zealand are the only highly developed independent nations in the region, although the economy of Australia is by far the largest and most dominant economy in the region and one of the largest in the world. New Caledonia, Hawaiʻi ʻi, and French Polynesia are highly developed too, but are not sovereign states. Australia's per-capita GDP is higher than that of the UK, Canada, Germany, and France in terms of purchasing power parity. New Zealand is also one of the most globalised economies and depends greatly on international trade.

The Australian Securities Exchange in Sydney is the largest stock exchange in Australia and in the South Pacific. In 2012, Australia was the 12th largest national economy by nominal GDP and the 19th-largest measured by PPP-adjusted GDP.

Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranks Sydney tenth in the world in terms of quality of living, making it one of the most livable cities. It is classified as an Alpha World City by GaWC. Melbourne also ranked highly in the world's most liveable city list, and is a leading financial centre in the Asia–Pacific region.

The majority of people living in Australia work in health care, retail and education sectors. Australia boasts the largest amount of manufacturing in the region, producing cars, electrical equipment, machinery and clothes.

New Zealand

New Zealand's economy is the 53rd-largest in the world measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and 68th-largest in the world measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). A major economic and cultural powerhouse of the Southern Hemisphere, Auckland is ranked as a Beta+ world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Auckland and Wellington are frequently ranked among the world's most liveable cities, with Auckland being ranked first in the world according to the Global Liveability Ranking.

New Zealand has a large GDP for its population of 5.2 million, and sources of revenue are spread throughout the large island nation. The country has one of the most globalised economies and depends greatly on international trade – mainly with Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the United States. New Zealand's 1983 Closer Economic Relations agreement with Australia means that the economy aligns closely with that of Australia. In 2005, the World Bank praised New Zealand as the most business-friendly country in the world. The economy diversified and by 2008, tourism had become the single biggest generator of foreign exchange. The New Zealand dollar is the 10th-most traded currency in the world.

Pacific Islands

The overwhelming majority of people living in the Pacific islands work in the service industry, which includes tourism, education, and financial services. Oceania's largest export markets include Japan, China, the United States, and South Korea. The smallest Pacific nations rely on trade with Australia, New Zealand, and the United States for exporting goods and for accessing other products. Australia and New Zealand's trading arrangements are known as Closer Economic Relations. Australia and New Zealand, along with other countries, are members of Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the East Asia Summit (EAS), which may become trade blocs in the future, particularly EAS.

The main produce from the Pacific is copra or coconut, but timber, beef, palm oil, cocoa, sugar, and ginger are also commonly grown across the tropics of the Pacific. Fishing provides a major industry for many of the smaller nations in the Pacific, although many fishing areas are exploited by other larger countries, namely Japan. Natural Resources, such as lead, zinc, nickel, and gold, are mined in Australia and Solomon Islands. Oceania's largest export markets include Japan, China, the United States, India, South Korea, and the European Union.

Endowed with forest, mineral, and fish resources, Fiji is one of the most developed of the Pacific island economies, though it remains a developing country with a large subsistence agriculture sector. Agriculture accounts for 18% of gross domestic product, although it employed some 70% of the workforce as of 2001. Sugar exports and the growing tourist industry are the major sources of foreign exchange. Sugar cane processing makes up one-third of industrial activity. Coconuts, ginger, and copra are also significant.

The history of Hawaii's economy can be traced through a succession of dominant industries; sandalwood, whaling, sugarcane, pineapple, the military, tourism, and education. Hawaiian exports include food and clothing. These industries play a small role in the Hawaiian economy, due to the shipping distance to viable markets, such as the West Coast of the contiguous U.S. The state's food exports include coffee, macadamia nuts, pineapple, livestock, sugarcane, and honey. As of 2015, Honolulu was ranked high on world livability rankings, and was also ranked as the 2nd safest city in the U.S.

Tourism

Tourists mostly come from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Fiji currently attracts almost half a million tourists each year, more than a quarter of whom come from Australia. This has contributed $1 billion or more to Fiji's economy since 1995, but the Government of Fiji likely underestimates these figures due to the invisible economy inside the tourism industry.

Vanuatu is widely recognised as one of the premier vacation destinations for scuba divers wishing to explore coral reefss of the South Pacific region. Tourism has been promoted, in part, by Vanuatu being the site of several reality-TV shows. The ninth season of the reality TV series Survivor was filmed in Vanuatu, entitled Survivor: Vanuatu – Islands of Fire. Two years later, Australia's Celebrity Survivor was filmed at the same location used by the U.S. version.

Tourism in Australia is an important component of the Australian economy. In the financial year 2014/15, tourism represented 3% of Australia's GDP contributing A$47.5 billion to the national economy. In 2015, there were 7.4 million visitor arrivals. Popular Australian destinations include the Sydney Harbour (Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Royal Botanic Garden, etc.), Gold Coast (theme parks such as Warner Bros. Movie World, Dreamworld and Sea World), Walls of Jerusalem National Park and Mount Field National Park in Tasmania, Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, The Twelve Apostles in Victoria, Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Australian outback.

Tourism in New Zealand contributes NZ$7.3 billion (or 4%) of the country's GDP in 2013, as well as directly supporting 110,800 full-time equivalent jobs (nearly 6% of New Zealand's workforce). International tourist spending accounted for 16% of New Zealand's export earnings (nearly NZ$10 billion). International and domestic tourism contribute, in total, NZ$24 billion to New Zealand's economy every year. Tourism New Zealand, the country's official tourism agency, is actively promoting the country as a destination worldwide. Milford Sound in the South Island is acclaimed as New Zealand's most famous tourist destination.

In 2003 alone, according to state government data, there were over 6.4 million visitors to the Hawaiian Islands with expenditures of over $10.6 billion. Due to the mild year-round weather, tourist travel is popular throughout the year. In 2011, Hawaiʻi saw increasing arrivals and share of foreign tourists from Canada, Australia, and China increasing 13%, 24% and 21% respectively from 2010.

Demographics

The demographic table below shows the subregions and countries of geopolitical Oceania. The countries and territories in this table are categorised according to the scheme for geographic subregions used by the United Nations. The information shown follows sources in cross-referenced articles; where sources differ, provisos have been clearly indicated. These territories and regions are subject to various additional categorisations, depending on the source and purpose of each description.

Largest city for regions

Australasia (metro, urban or proper largest city: Sydney)

Melanesia (metro, urban or proper largest city: Jayapura)

Micronesia (metro, urban or proper largest city: Dededo)

Polynesia (metro, urban or proper largest city: Auckland)

Religion

The predominant religion in Oceania is Christianity (73%). A 2011 survey found that 92% in Melanesia, 93% in Micronesia and 96% in Polynesia described themselves as Christians. Traditional religions are often animist, and prevalent among traditional tribes is the belief in spirits (masalai in Tok Pisin) representing natural forces. In the 2018 census, 37% of New Zealanders affiliated themselves with Christianity, and 48% declared no religion. In the 2016 Census, 52% of the Australian population declared some variety of Christianity and 30% stated "no religion".

In recent Australian and New Zealand censuses, large proportions of the population say they belong to "no religion" (which includes atheism, agnosticism, deism, and secular humanism). In Tonga, everyday life is heavily influenced by Polynesian traditions and especially by the Christian faith. The Ahmadiyya mosque in the Marshall Islands is the only mosque in Micronesia. Another one in Tuvalu belongs to the same sect. The Baháʼí House of Worship in Tiapapata, Samoa, is one of seven designations administered in the Baháʼí Faith.

Hinduism is a minority faith in Oceania. Fiji has the highest percentage of Hindus in Oceania at 29.7% In absolute numbers, Australia has the largest population of Hindus in Oceania constituting 2.7% of the country's population. In New Zealand, Hindus form 2.65% of the population of. Samoa also has a significant Hindu population.

Other religions in the region include Islam and Buddhism, which are prominent minority religions in Australia and New Zealand. Judaism, Sikhism and Jainism are also present. Sir Isaac Isaacs was the first Australian-born Governor General of Australia and was the first Jewish vice-regal representative in the British Empire. Prince Philip Movement is followed around Yaohnanen village on the southern island of Tanna in Vanuatu.

Languages

Native languages of Oceania fall into three major geographic groups:

The large Austronesian language family, with such languages as Malay (Indonesian), and Oceanic languages such as Gilbertese, Fijian, Māori, and Hawaiʻian

The Aboriginal Australian languages, including the large Pama–Nyungan family

The Papuan languages of New Guinea and neighbouring islands, including the large Trans–New Guinea family

Immigrants brought their own languages to the region. Common non-indigenous languages include English in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and many other territories; French in New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna; Japanese in the Bonin Islands; and Spanish on Easter Island and the Galápagos Islands. There are also Creoles formed from the interaction of Malay or the colonial languages with indigenous languages, such as Tok Pisin, Bislama, Chavacano, various Malay trade and creole languages, Hawaiian Pidgin, Norfuk, and Pitkern. Contact between Austronesian and Papuan resulted in several instances in mixed languages such as Maisin.

Immigration

The most multicultural areas in Oceania, which have a high degree of immigration, are Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. Since 1945, more than 7 million people have settled in Australia. From the late 1970s, there was a significant increase in immigration from Asian and other non-European countries, making Australia a multicultural country.

Sydney is the most multicultural city in Oceania, having more than 250 different languages spoken, with about 40% of residents speaking a language other than English at home. Furthermore, 36 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, with top countries being Italy, Lebanon, Vietnam, and Iraq, among others. Melbourne is also fairly multicultural, having the largest Greek-speaking population outside of Europe, and the second largest Asian population in Australia after Sydney.

European migration to New Zealand provided a major influx following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Subsequent immigration has been chiefly from the British Isles, but also from continental Europe, the Pacific, the Americas, and Asia. Auckland is home to over half (51.6 percent) of New Zealand's overseas born population, including 72 percent of the country's Pacific Island-born population, 64 percent of its Asian-born population, and 56 percent of its Middle Eastern and African born population.

Hawaii is a majority-minority state. Chinese workers on Western trading ships settled in Hawaii starting in 1789. In 1820, the first American missionaries arrived to preach Christianity and teach the Hawaiians Western ways. As of 2015, a large proportion of Hawaii's population have Asian ancestry – especially Filipino, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Many are descendants of immigrants brought to work on the sugarcane plantations in the mid-to-late 19th century. Almost 13,000 Portuguese immigrants had arrived by 1899; they also worked on the sugarcane plantations. Puerto Rican immigration to Hawaii began in 1899 when Puerto Rico's sugar industry was devastated by two hurricanes, causing a worldwide shortage of sugar and a huge demand for sugar from Hawaii.

Between 2001 and 2007, Australia's Pacific Solution policy transferred asylum seekers to several Pacific nations, including the Nauru detention centre. Australia, New Zealand, and other nations took part in the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands between 2003 and 2017 after a request for aid.

Archaeogenetics

Archaeology, linguistics, and existing genetic studies indicate that Oceania was settled by two major waves of migration. The first migration of Australo-Melanesians took place c. 40 to 80 thousand years ago, and these migrants, Papuans, colonised much of Near Oceania. Approximately 3.5 thousand years ago, a second expansion of Austronesian speakers arrived in Near Oceania, and the descendants of these people spread to the far corners of the Pacific, colonising Remote Oceania. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies quantify the magnitude of the Austronesian expansion and demonstrate the homogenising effect of this expansion. With regards to Papuan influence, autochthonous haplogroups support the hypothesis of a long history in Near Oceania, with some lineages suggesting a time depth of 60 thousand years. Santa Cruz, a population located in Remote Oceania, is an anomaly with extreme frequencies of autochthonous haplogroups of Near Oceanian origin.

Large areas of New Guinea are unexplored by scientists and anthropologists due to extensive deforestation and mountainous terrain. Known indigenous tribes in Papua New Guinea have very little contact with local authorities aside from the authorities knowing who they are. Many remain preliterate and, at the national or international level, the names of tribes and information about them are extremely hard to obtain. The Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua on the island of New Guinea are home to an estimated 44 uncontacted tribal groups.

Culture

Australia

Since 1788, the primary influence behind Australian culture has been Anglo-Celtic Western culture, with some Indigenous influences. The divergence and evolution that has occurred in the ensuing centuries has resulted in a distinctive Australian culture. Since the mid-20th century, American popular culture has strongly influenced Australia, particularly through television and cinema. Other cultural influences come from neighbouring Asian countries, and through large-scale immigration from non-English-speaking nations. The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature length film, spurred a boom in Australian cinema during the silent film era. The Australian Museum in Sydney and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne are the oldest and largest museums in Oceania. The city's New Year's Eve celebrations are the largest in Oceania.

Australia is also known for its cafe and coffee culture in urban centres. Australia and New Zealand were responsible for the flat white coffee. Most Indigenous Australian tribal groups subsisted on a simple hunter-gatherer diet of native fauna and flora, otherwise called bush tucker. The first settlers introduced British food to the continent, much of which is now considered typical Australian food, such as the Sunday roast. Multicultural immigration transformed Australian cuisine; post-World War II European migrants, particularly from the Mediterranean, helped to build a thriving Australian coffee culture, and the influence of Asian cultures has led to Australian variants of their staple foods, such as the Chinese-inspired dim sim and Chiko Roll.

Hawaii

The music of Hawaii includes traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip-hop. Hawaii's musical contributions to the music of the United States are out of proportion to the state's small size. Styles such as slack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part of Hollywood soundtracks. Hawaii also made a major contribution to country music with the introduction of the steel guitar. The Hawaiian religion is polytheistic and animistic, with a belief in many deities and spirits, including the belief that spirits are found in non-human beings and objects such as animals, the waves, and the sky.

The cuisine of Hawaii is a fusion of many foods brought by immigrants to the Hawaiian Islands, including the earliest Polynesians and native Hawaiians, and American, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Polynesian, and Portuguese origins. Native Hawaiian musician and Hawaiian sovereignty activist Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, famous for his medley of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World", was named "The Voice of Hawaii" by NPR in 2010 in its 50 great voices series.

New Zealand

New Zealand, as a culture, is a Western culture, which is influenced by the cultural input of the indigenous Māori and the various waves of multi-ethnic migration which followed the British colonisation of New Zealand. The Māori people constitute one of the major cultures of Polynesia. The country has been broadened by globalisation and immigration, specifically from Oceania, Europe, and Asia. New Zealand marks two national days of remembrance, Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day, and also celebrates many holidays such as the King's Birthday, Labour Day, and Christmas Day, as well as public anniversaries of the founding dates of most regions. The New Zealand recording industry began to develop from 1940 onwards and many New Zealand musicians have obtained success in Britain and the United States. Some artists release Māori language songs and the Māori tradition-based art of kapa haka (song and dance) has made a resurgence. The country's diverse scenery and compact size, plus government incentives, have encouraged some producers to film big budget movies in New Zealand, including Avatar, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia, King Kong and The Last Samurai.

The national cuisine has been described as Pacific Rim, incorporating the native Māori cuisine and diverse culinary traditions introduced by settlers and immigrants from Europe, Polynesia, and Asia. New Zealand yields produce from land and sea – most crops and livestock, such as maize, potatoes, and pigs, were gradually introduced by the early European settlers. Distinctive ingredients or dishes include lamb; salmon; koura (crayfish); whitebait; shellfish including dredge oysters, pāua, mussels, scallops, pipi and tuatua; kumara (sweet potato); kiwifruit; tamarillo; and pavlova (considered a national dish).

Samoa

The fa'a Samoa, or traditional Samoan way, remains a strong force in Samoan life and politics. Despite centuries of European influence, Samoa maintains its historical customs, social and political systems, and language. Cultural customs such as the Samoa 'ava ceremony are significant and solemn rituals at important occasions, including the bestowal of matai chiefly titles. Items of great cultural value include the finely woven 'ie toga. The Samoan word for dance is siva, which consists of unique, gentle movements of the body in time to music and which tell a story. Samoan male dances can be more snappy. The sasa is also a traditional dance where rows of dancers perform rapid synchronised movements in time to the rhythm of wooden drums (pate) or rolled mats. Another dance performed by males is called the fa'ataupati or the slap dance, creating rhythmic sounds by slapping different parts of the body. As with other Polynesian cultures (Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Māori) with significant and unique tattoos, Samoans have two gender specific and culturally significant tattoos.

Arts

The artistic creations of native Oceanians vary greatly throughout the cultures and regions. The subject matter typically carries themes of fertility or the supernatural. Petroglyphs, tattooing, painting, wood carving, stone carving, and textile work are other common art forms. Art of Oceania properly encompasses the artistic traditions of the people indigenous to Australia and the Pacific Islands. These early peoples lacked a writing system, and made works on perishable materials, so few records of them exist from this time. Indigenous Australian rock art is the oldest and richest unbroken tradition of art in the world, dating as far back as 60,000 years and spread across hundreds of thousands of sites. These rock paintings served several functions. Some were used in magic, others to increase animal populations for hunting, while some were simply for amusement. Sculpture in Oceania first appears on New Guinea as a series of stone figures found throughout the island, but mostly in the mountainous highlands. Establishing a chronological timeframe for these pieces in most cases is difficult, but one has been dated to c. 1500 BCE.

By 1500 BCE, the Lapita culture, descendants of the second wave, would begin to expand and spread into the more remote islands. At around the same time, art began to appear in New Guinea, including the earliest examples of sculpture in Oceania. Beginning c. 1100 CE, the people of Easter Island would begin construction of nearly 900 moai (large stone statues). At c. 1200 CE, the people of Pohnpei, a Micronesian island, would embark on another megalithic construction, building Nan Madol, a city of artificial islands and a system of canals. Hawaiian art includes wood carvings, feather work, petroglyphs, bark cloth (called kapa in Hawaiian and tapa elsewhere in the Pacific), and tattoos. Native Hawaiians had neither metal nor woven cloth.

Sport

Rugby union is one of the region's most prominent sports, and is the national sport of New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga. The most popular overall sport in Australia is cricket, with their national team having won the Cricket World Cup a record five times. The most popular sport among Australian women is netball, while Australian rules football garners the highest spectatorship numbers and television ratings. Rugby union is the most popular sport among New Zealanders, and they are second only to South Africa for the most Rugby World Cup titles, having won the tournament three times. Australia's team the Wallabies have won the World Cup twice, despite Rugby union being less popular among Australians. In Papua New Guinea, the most popular sport is Rugby league. Fiji's sevens team is one of the most successful in the world, as is New Zealand's.

Australian rules football is the national sport in Nauru. It has a large following in Papua New Guinea, where it is the second most popular sport after Rugby League. Additionally, it attracts significant attention across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The highest level of the sport is the Australian Football League (AFL), which was the fourth-best attended sporting league in the world during the 2010s.

Vanuatu is the only country in Oceania to call association football its national sport. However, it is also the most popular sport in Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu, and has a significant (and growing) popularity in Australia. In 2006, Australia left the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and their men's team the Socceroos has qualified for every subsequent FIFA World Cup as an Asian entrant. The sole Micronesian country with membership in the OFC is Kiribati, although it is not recognised by FIFA like the other OFC members. Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau all have no presence, primarily due to lack of infrastructure and logistical difficulties related to Micronesia's remoteness. Like Australia, the Micronesian dependent territories of Guam and Northern Mariana Islands currently compete in the AFC instead of the OFC. The OFC was dominated by Australia for many years, and became known for one-sided results.

Australians view sport as an important part of their cultural identity, and the country performs well on the international stage, despite having a relatively small population. They have hosted two Summer Olympics: Melbourne 1956 and Sydney 2000, and the city of Brisbane is also set to host the 2032 edition. Australia has hosted five editions of the Commonwealth Games and New Zealand three times. The Pacific Games (formerly known as the South Pacific Games) is a multi-sport event, much like the Olympics on a much smaller scale, with participation exclusively from countries around the Pacific; Australia and New Zealand competed in the games for the first time in 2015.