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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Early Polynesian explorers reached nearly all Pacific islands by 1200 CE, followed by Asian navigation in Southeast Asia and the West Pacific. During the Middle Ages, Muslim traders linked the Middle East and East Africa to the Asian Pacific coasts, reaching southern China and much of the Malay Archipelago. Direct European contact with the Pacific began in 1512, with the Portuguese encountering its western edges, soon followed by the Spanish arriving from the American coast.

In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and encountered the Pacific Ocean, calling it the South Sea. In 1521, a Spanish expedition led by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan was the first recorded crossing of the Pacific Ocean, Magellan then naming it the "peaceful sea." Starting in 1565 with the voyage of Andres de Urdaneta, the Spanish controlled transpacific trade for 250 years; Manila galleons would cross from Mexico to the Philippines, and vice versa, until 1815. Additional expeditions from Mexico and Peru encountered various archipelagos in the North and South Pacific. In the 17th and 18th centuries, other European powers sent expeditions to the Pacific, namely the Dutch Republic, England, France, and Russia. (Full article...)

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Ioke at its record peak intensity west of the Hawaiian Islands on August 24

Hurricane Ioke, also referred to as Typhoon Ioke, was a record-breaking, long-lived and extremely powerful tropical cyclone that traversed the Pacific for 17 days, becoming a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale on three different occasions. It was the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Central Pacific, as well as the fifth-most intense Pacific hurricane on record, tied with 1973's Hurricane Ava. It also generated the most accumulated cyclone energy for a single storm, until Cyclone Freddy surpassed its record in 2023. Ioke was the ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the active 2006 Pacific hurricane season.

The cyclone developed in the Intertropical Convergence Zone on August 20 far to the south of Hawaii. Encountering warm waters, little wind shear, and well-defined outflow, Ioke intensified from a tropical depression to Category 4 status within 48 hours. Late on August 22, it rapidly weakened to Category 2 status before crossing over Johnston Atoll. Two days later, favorable conditions again allowed for rapid strengthening, and Ioke attained Category 5 status on August 25 before crossing the International Date Line. As it continued westward, its intensity fluctuated, and on August 31, it passed near Wake Island with winds of 155 mph (250 km/h). Ioke gradually weakened as it turned northwestward and northward, and by September 6, it had transitioned into an extratropical cyclone. The remnants of Ioke accelerated northeastward and ultimately crossed into the Bering Sea, and then the Gulf of Alaska. (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 1Outline of sovereign (orange) and dependent islands (yellow) (from Melanesia)
Image 2Sailors of Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean, 1846 (from Melanesia)
Image 3Map 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 4New Caledonia (from Melanesia)
Image 5Polynesians with outrigger canoes at Waikiki Beach, Oahu Island, early 20th century (from Polynesia)
Image 6The arrival of Abel Tasman in Tongatapu, 1643; drawing by Isaack Gilsemans (from Polynesia)
Image 7A Melanesian child from Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 8Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, Melanesia (from Australasia)
Image 9Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021, who initiated the Polynesian Leaders Group in late 2011. (from Polynesia)
Image 10Spinner dolphins (from Micronesia)
Image 11A pan flute from Solomon Islands, 19th century (from Melanesia)
Image 12Micronesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Polynesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 13Tarawa Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 14Moai at Ahu Tongariki on Rapa Nui (from Polynesia)
Image 15Mokoliʻi Isle near Oahu, Hawaii (from Polynesia)
Image 16Image of the Castle Bravo nuclear test, detonated on 1 March 1954, at Bikini Atoll (from Micronesia)
Image 17Cook's Bay on Moorea, French Polynesia (from Polynesia)
Image 18Canoe carving on Nanumea atoll, Tuvalu (from Polynesia)
Image 19King Kamehameha I receiving the Russian naval expedition of Otto von Kotzebue. Drawing by Louis Choris in 1816. (from Polynesia)
Image 20Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Micronesia)
Image 21Polynesian (Hawaiian) navigators sailing multi-hulled canoe, c. 1781 (from Polynesia)
Image 22A common fishing canoe va'a with outrigger in Savaiʻi island, Samoa, 2009 (from Polynesia)
Image 23On February 14, 1779, Capt. James Cook was killed on the island of Hawaii. (from Polynesia)
Image 24Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Micronesia)
Image 25Languages of Micronesia. (from Micronesia)
Image 26Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 (from Polynesia)
Image 27Melanesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Micronesia and Polynesia. (from Melanesia)
Image 28Manila Galleon in the Marianas and Carolinas, c. 1590 Boxer Codex (from Micronesia)
Image 29Kili Island is one of the smallest islands in the Marshall Islands. (from Micronesia)
Image 30Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Melanesia (from Melanesia)
Image 31Map of Melanesia, showing its location within Oceania (from Melanesia)
Image 32Grinding stones discovered from archaeology in Samoa (from Polynesia)
Image 33Map from 1961 of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, formerly Japan's South Seas Mandate. (from Micronesia)
Image 34Cinder plain of Mount Yasur in Vanuatu (from Melanesia)
Image 35Chamorro people in 1915 (from Micronesia)
Image 36Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Polynesia)
Image 37Beach scenery at Laura, Majuro, Marshall Islands (from Micronesia)
Image 38Painting of Tahitian Women on the Beach by Paul Gauguin—Musée d'Orsay (from Polynesia)
Image 39A depiction of a royal heiau (Hawaiian temple) at Kealakekua Bay, c. 1816 (from Polynesia)
Image 40The Polynesian spread of colonization in the Pacific (from Polynesia)
Image 41Subregions (Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Australasia), as well as sovereign and dependent islands of Oceania (from Polynesia)
Image 42German trading station at Jaluit Atoll with a Marshallese korkor outrigger canoe in the foreground (from Micronesia)
Image 43Aerial view of Solomon Islands (from Melanesia)
Image 44Mount Marpi in Saipan. (from Micronesia)
Image 45Outline of sovereign (dark orange) and dependent islands (bright orange) (from Micronesia)
Image 46Chronological dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific (from Melanesia)
Image 47Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian Triangle. (from Polynesia)
Image 48Polynesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Micronesia. (from Polynesia)
Image 49German New Guinea before and after the German-Spanish treaty of 1899 (from Micronesia)
Image 50Māori war canoe (waka) drawn after James Cook's voyage to New Zealand. (from Polynesia)
Image 51An 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)