Portal:Oceania

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 Mainland Australia is regarded as its continental landmass. 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 46.3 million as of 2024. Oceania is the smallest continent 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. The largest and most populous country in Oceania is Australia, and the largest city is Sydney. Puncak Jaya in Indonesia is the highest peak in Oceania at 4,884 m (16,024 ft).

The rock art of Aboriginal Australians is the longest continuously practiced artistic tradition in the world. Most Oceanian countries are parliamentary democracies, with tourism serving as a large source of income for the Pacific island nations. (Full article...)

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Mauna Loa as seen from the air.
Hualālai is visible in the background.

Mauna Loa (/ˌmɔːnə ˈloʊ.ə, ˌmaʊnə -/, Hawaiian: [ˈmɐwnə ˈlowə]; lit. 'Long Mountain') is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. Mauna Loa is Earth's largest active volcano by both mass and volume. It was historically considered to be the largest volcano on Earth until the submarine mountain Tamu Massif was discovered to be larger. Mauna Loa is a shield volcano with relatively gentle slopes, and a volume estimated at 18,000 cubic miles (75,000 km³), although its peak is about 125 feet (38 m) lower than that of its neighbor, Mauna Kea. Lava eruptions from Mauna Loa are silica-poor and very fluid, and tend to be non-explosive.

Mauna Loa has likely been erupting for at least 700,000 years, and may have emerged above sea level about 400,000 years ago. Some dated rocks are 470,000 years old. The volcano's magma comes from the Hawaii hotspot, which has been responsible for the creation of the Hawaiian Island chain over tens of millions of years. The slow drift of the Pacific Plate will eventually carry Mauna Loa away from the hotspot within 500,000 to one million years from now, at which point it will become extinct. (Full article...)

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German Samoa officially Malo Kaisalika / Kingdom of Samoa (German: Königreich Samoa; Samoan: Malo Kaisalika) was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1920, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the Independent State of Samoa, formerly Western Samoa. Samoa was the last German colonial acquisition in the Pacific basin, received following the Tripartite Convention signed at Washington on 2 December 1899 with ratifications exchanged on 16 February 1900. It was the only German colony in the Pacific, aside from the Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory in China, that was administered separately from German New Guinea. (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 1Beach scenery at Laura, Majuro, Marshall Islands (from Micronesia)
Image 2Image of the Castle Bravo nuclear test, detonated on 1 March 1954, at Bikini Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 3Painting of Tahitian Women on the Beach by Paul Gauguin—Musée d'Orsay (from Polynesia)
Image 4Mount Marpi in Saipan. (from Micronesia)
Image 5Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Micronesia)
Image 6Micronesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Polynesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 7German trading station at Jaluit Atoll with a Marshallese korkor outrigger canoe in the foreground (from Micronesia)
Image 8The arrival of Abel Tasman in Tongatapu, 1643; drawing by Isaack Gilsemans (from Polynesia)
Image 9An 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 10Moai at Ahu Tongariki on Rapa Nui (from Polynesia)
Image 11Outline of sovereign (orange) and dependent islands (yellow) (from Melanesia)
Image 12Polynesian (Hawaiian) navigators sailing multi-hulled canoe, c. 1781 (from Polynesia)
Image 13Languages of Micronesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 14Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 (from Polynesia)
Image 15Melanesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Micronesia and Polynesia. (from Melanesia)
Image 16Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Melanesia)
Image 17A common fishing canoe va'a with outrigger in Savaiʻi island, Samoa, 2009 (from Polynesia)
Image 18A pan flute from Solomon Islands, 19th century (from Melanesia)
Image 19On February 14, 1779, Capt. James Cook was killed on the island of Hawaii. (from Polynesia)
Image 20Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Micronesia)
Image 21A Melanesian child from Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 22Grinding stones discovered from archaeology in Samoa (from Polynesia)
Image 23Map 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 24Cook's Bay on Moorea, French Polynesia (from Polynesia)
Image 25Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021, who initiated the Polynesian Leaders Group in late 2011. (from Polynesia)
Image 26Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian Triangle. (from Polynesia)
Image 27Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Polynesia)
Image 28Map from 1961 of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, formerly Japan's South Seas Mandate. (from Micronesia)
Image 29Map of Melanesia, showing its location within Oceania (from Melanesia)
Image 30Kili Island is one of the smallest islands in the Marshall Islands. (from Micronesia)
Image 31Māori war canoe (waka) drawn after James Cook's voyage to New Zealand. (from Polynesia)
Image 32Sailors of Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean, 1846 (from Melanesia)
Image 33Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Polynesia)
Image 34Mokoliʻi Isle near Oahu, Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 35New Caledonia (from Melanesia)
Image 36German New Guinea before and after the German-Spanish treaty of 1899 (from Micronesia)
Image 37Polynesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Micronesia. (from Polynesia)
Image 38King Kamehameha I receiving the Russian naval expedition of Otto von Kotzebue. Drawing by Louis Choris in 1816. (from Polynesia)
Image 39Manila Galleon in the Marianas and Carolinas, c. 1590 Boxer Codex (from Micronesia)
Image 40Spinner dolphins (from Micronesia)
Image 41A depiction of a royal heiau (Hawaiian temple) at Kealakekua Bay, c. 1816 (from Polynesia)
Image 42Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Micronesia)
Image 43Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Melanesia (from Melanesia)
Image 44Aerial view of Solomon Islands (from Melanesia)
Image 45Cinder plain of Mount Yasur in Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 46Chamorro people in 1915 (from Micronesia)
Image 47The Polynesian spread of colonization in the Pacific (from Polynesia)
Image 48Canoe carving on Nanumea atoll, Tuvalu (from Polynesia)
Image 49Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, Melanesia (from Australasia)
Image 50Polynesians with outrigger canoes at Waikiki Beach, Oahu Island, early 20th century (from Polynesia)
Image 51Tarawa Atoll (from Micronesia)