1. Welcome, lone traveler from Ashburn!
Here under Oceania articles, you will find travel information classified by country, city or region of Oceania, as well as general information about Oceania and the Pacific.
Together with Europe, Oceania is the smallest continent on our planet. Oceania is one of the most diverse and fascinating areas on Earth.
A large percentage of geography experts now consider the long-established continent of Australia to be more accurately defined as Australia / Oceania.
Collectively it then combines all of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, as well as the thousands of coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific Ocean, including the Melanesia and Polynesia groups.
2. Main article
Oceania also includes Micronesia, a widely scattered group of islands that run along the northern and southern edges of the Equator.
The countries of Oceania are:
- Australia
- Norfolk Island - external territory of Australia
Melanesia
- Fiji
- New Caledonia - overseas territory of France
- Papua New Guinea
- Solomon Islands
- Vanuatu (formerly known as New Hebrides
Micronesia
- Guam - territory of the United States
- Kiribati
- Marshall Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Nauru
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Palau
- Wake Island
Polynesia
- American Samoa
- Cook Islands
- French Polynesia - overseas territory of France
- Niue
- New Zealand
- Pitcairn
- Samoa
- Tokelau
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Wallis and Futuna Islands - overseas territories of France
3. References
In addition to the ethnic categories above, there is another commonly used division of Oceania called Australasia, which comprises Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and parts of Indonesia.
Australia, which is often referred to as a continent, is the most important landmass in Oceania (it is the size of the United States). The majority of its land and outback is desert, and this limits tourist exploration to the coastal areas and few inland centers. The flora and fauna are amazing and potentially dangerous. Australian cities are often nice and cosmopolitan.
New Zealand, lying 1,000 miles away, is often considered as Australia's neighbor. However, both countries have hardly anything in common; they rather are as different as two countries can be! New Zealand's major attraction are its volcanic landscapes on North Island, its glacial landscapes on South Island and its primitive vegetal and animal life, dating back to the times of dinosaurs, with no endemic mammals.
Vanuatu (formerly known as New Hebrides) and Papua New Guinea still have primitive human populations, in some cases cannibals, which are accessible to the daring traveler (especially in Vanuatu).
Many other Pacific islands of Oceania are mainly used as holiday resorts and beach clubs.
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