Oceania is a region made up of thousands of islands throughout the Central and South Pacific Ocean. It includes Australia, the smallest continent in terms of total land area. Most of Australia and Oceania is under the Pacific, a vast body of water that is larger than all the Earth’s continental landmasses and islands combined. The name “Oceania” justly establishes the Pacific Ocean as the defining characteristic of the region.
Oceania is dominated by the nation of Australia. The other two major landmasses are the microcontinent of Zealandia, which includes the country of New Zealand, and the western half of the island of New Guinea, made up of the nation of Papua New Guinea. Oceania also includes three island regions: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia (including the U.S. state of Hawaii).
Melanesia includes the independent nations of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and the islands of New Caledonia, a “sui generis collectivity” of France.
Micronesia includes the independent nations of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Kiribati, and Nauru; the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth in political union with the United States; and Guam and Wake Island, two territories of the United States.
Polynesia includes the independent nations of Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu; the Cook Islands and Nieu, two self-governing islands in free association with New Zealand; Tokelau, an island territory of New Zealand; French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna, two French overseas collectivities; American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States; and the Pitcairn Islands, a British overseas territory.
Australia and Oceania’s physical geography, environment and resources, and human geography can be considered separately.
Cultural Geography
Historic Cultures
Indigenous cultures shaped, and were shaped by, the geography of Australia and Oceania. Polynesian culture, for example, developed as Southeast Asian sailors explored the South Pacific. This seafaring culture developed almost entirely from its geography.
Beginning about 1500 BCE, sailors began moving east from the island of New Guinea. The farther they traveled, the more advanced their navigation became. Polynesians developed large, double-hulled vessels called outrigger canoes. Outrigger canoes could sail very quickly across the Pacific, but they could also be easily maneuvered and paddled in rough weather. Along with outrigger canoes, historic Polynesian culture relied on a sophisticated navigation system based on observations of the stars, ocean swells, and the flight patterns of birds.
Polynesians were able to domesticate plants and animals, and transport them to islands that lacked native flora and fauna. This allowed Polynesians to establish stable, permanent communities throughout the islands of the South Pacific. By 1000 CE, these seafarers had colonized the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. In the process, they established a unique, ocean-oriented culture that persists today.
Indigenous cultures of Australia and Oceania also changed the environments in which they lived. As they explored the South Pacific, Polynesians brought agriculture to isolated islands, for example.
In another example, the Maori had a significant impact on New Zealand’s forests and fauna. Between the 14th and the 19th centuries, Maori reduced New Zealand’s forest cover by about half, largely through controlled fires used to clear land for agriculture.
Nearly 40 species of birds became extinct during this brief period of time. The mass extinction happened because of habitat destruction, hunting, and competition with introduced species. Dogs and rats, for example, are species that were introduced to the islands of New Zealand by the Maori.
