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 including 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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Melanesia (UK: /ˌmɛləˈniːziə/, US: /ˌmɛləˈniːʒə/) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.

The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. It also includes the Indonesian part of New Guinea, the French oversea collectivity of New Caledonia, and the Torres Strait Islands. Almost all of the region is in the Southern Hemisphere; only a few small islands that are not politically considered part of Oceania—specifically the northwestern islands of Western New Guinea—lie in the Northern Hemisphere. (Full article...)

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Oceania is, like other regions, quite diverse in its laws regarding LGBT rights. This ranges from significant rights, including same-sex marriage – granted to the LGBT+ community in New Zealand, Australia, Guam, Hawaii, Easter Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia, French Polynesia and the Pitcairn Islands – to remaining criminal penalties for homosexual activity in six countries and one territory. Although acceptance is growing across the Pacific, violence and social stigma remain issues for LGBT+ communities. This also leads to problems with healthcare, including access to HIV treatment in countries such as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands where homosexuality is criminalised.

The United Kingdom introduced conservative social attitudes and anti-LGBT laws throughout the British Empire, including its colonies throughout the Pacific Ocean. This legacy persists in anti-LGBT laws found in a majority of countries in the subsequent Commonwealth of Nations. Opponents of LGBT rights in Oceania have justified their stance by arguing it is supported by tradition and that homosexuality is a "Western vice", although anti-LGBT laws themselves are a colonial British legacy. Several Pacific countries have ancient traditions predating colonisation that reflect a unique local perspective of sexuality and gender, such as the fa'afafine in Samoa and fakaleiti in Tonga. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Oceania-related articles on Wikipedia.

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