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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The granite peak of Mount Wilhelm

Mount Wilhelm (German: Wilhelmsberg) is the highest mountain in Papua New Guinea at 4,509 metres (14,793 ft). It is part of the Bismarck Range and the peak is the point where three provinces, Chimbu, Jiwaka and Madang, meet. The peak is also known as Enduwa Kombuglu, or Kombugl'o Dimbin, in the local Kuman language.

The mountain is on the island of New Guinea, which incorporates Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of Papua. It is surpassed by Puncak Jaya, 4,884 m (16,024 ft), and several other peaks in Indonesian Papua. (Full article...)

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Portrait by Nathaniel Dance-Holland, c. 1775

Captain James Cook FRS (7 November [O.S. 27 October] 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, cartographer and naval officer famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and to New Zealand and Australia in particular. He made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.

Cook joined the British merchant navy as a teenager and joined the Royal Navy in 1755. He served during the Seven Years' War and subsequently surveyed and mapped much of the entrance to the St. Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec, which brought him to the attention of the Admiralty and the Royal Society. This acclaim came at a crucial moment for the direction of British overseas exploration, and it led to his commission in 1768 as commander of HMS Endeavour for the first of three Pacific voyages. (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 1New Caledonia (from Melanesia)
Image 2Polynesians with outrigger canoes at Waikiki Beach, Oahu Island, early 20th century (from Polynesia)
Image 3A pan flute from Solomon Islands, 19th century (from Melanesia)
Image 4Manila Galleon in the Marianas and Carolinas, c. 1590 Boxer Codex (from Micronesia)
Image 5Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian Triangle. (from Polynesia)
Image 6Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Melanesia)
Image 7Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Melanesia)
Image 8Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, Melanesia (from Australasia)
Image 9Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Polynesia)
Image 10Mokoliʻi Isle near Oahu, Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 11Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021, who initiated the Polynesian Leaders Group in late 2011. (from Polynesia)
Image 12Spinner dolphins (from Micronesia)
Image 13Sailors of Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean, 1846 (from Melanesia)
Image 14Polynesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Micronesia. (from Polynesia)
Image 15Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Micronesia)
Image 16A common fishing canoe va'a with outrigger in Savaiʻi island, Samoa, 2009 (from Polynesia)
Image 17Image of the Castle Bravo nuclear test, detonated on 1 March 1954, at Bikini Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 18The Polynesian spread of colonization in the Pacific (from Polynesia)
Image 19Melanesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Micronesia and Polynesia. (from Melanesia)
Image 20Cook's Bay on Moorea, French Polynesia (from Polynesia)
Image 21Polynesian (Hawaiian) navigators sailing multi-hulled canoe, c. 1781 (from Polynesia)
Image 22Painting of Tahitian Women on the Beach by Paul Gauguin—Musée d'Orsay (from Polynesia)
Image 23Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 (from Polynesia)
Image 24Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Micronesia)
Image 25Grinding stones discovered from archaeology in Samoa (from Polynesia)
Image 26Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Polynesia)
Image 27Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Micronesia)
Image 28Languages of Micronesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 29King Kamehameha I receiving the Russian naval expedition of Otto von Kotzebue. Drawing by Louis Choris in 1816. (from Polynesia)
Image 30Micronesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Polynesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 31Cinder plain of Mount Yasur in Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 32A depiction of a royal heiau (Hawaiian temple) at Kealakekua Bay, c. 1816 (from Polynesia)
Image 33Mount Marpi in Saipan. (from Micronesia)
Image 34German New Guinea before and after the German-Spanish treaty of 1899 (from Micronesia)
Image 35Chamorro people in 1915 (from Micronesia)
Image 36Mount Tavurvur in Papua New Guinea (from Melanesia)
Image 37Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Melanesia (from Melanesia)
Image 38Aerial view of Solomon Islands (from Melanesia)
Image 39Kili Island is one of the smallest islands in the Marshall Islands. (from Micronesia)
Image 40On February 14, 1779, Capt. James Cook was killed on the island of Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 41Map 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 42An 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 43Map from 1961 of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, formerly Japan's South Seas Mandate. (from Micronesia)
Image 44Beach scenery at Laura, Majuro, Marshall Islands (from Micronesia)
Image 45German trading station at Jaluit Atoll with a Marshallese korkor outrigger canoe in the foreground (from Micronesia)
Image 46A Melanesian child from Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 47Moai at Ahu Tongariki on Rapa Nui (from Polynesia)
Image 48Māori war canoe drawn after James Cook's voyage to New Zealand. (from Polynesia)
Image 49Map of Melanesia, showing its location within Oceania (from Melanesia)
Image 50The arrival of Abel Tasman in Tongatapu, 1643; drawing by Isaack Gilsemans (from Polynesia)
Image 51Canoe carving on Nanumea atoll, Tuvalu (from Polynesia)
Image 52Tarawa Atoll (from Micronesia)