Oceania Overview

According to Countryaah, Oceania stands for the islands of the Pacific in the north and east of Australia. There are more than 7,500 islands, of which around 2,100 islands are inhabited. If you add Australia, you speak of the continental greater region of Australia and Oceania. Each region in Oceania offers unique travel destinations. Take a look at the specifics of Oceania.

In the Pacific, north and east of Australia, is the island region of Oceania. It comprises 7,500 islands, which provide a habitat on 2,100 of which 16.5 million people.

Australia and New Zealand are probably among the most famous travel destinations in Oceania. Numerous special cities can be visited, as well as various natural highlights.

Oceania is a popular travel destination for backpackers. New Zealand and Australia in particular are popular regions for work-and-travel trips. Since these are safe travel countries, they are also well suited for solo travelers and younger people.

Numerous highlights await the vacationer in Oceania. These include

  • Surf and diving spots
  • Snorkeling regions
  • Climbing paradises
  • endless beaches
  • Wilnis
  • active volcanoes
  • Primeval forests and rainforests
  • special animal species

and much more. You meet a wide variety of cultures and meet travelers from all over the world.

Micronesia

Micronesia, a Region belonging to Oceania that integrates the archipelagos of the western Pacific. They are politically divided into eight territories. Its population is 340,000 residents.

Independent states

  • Palau
  • Federated States of Micronesia
  • Marshall Islands
  • Nauru
  • Kiribati

Dependent states of USA

  • Guam
  • Wake
  • Northern Mariana Islands

History

Guam also called Guaján, which is part of the Marianas archipelago, has been dependent on the United States of America since 1898 (when it was taken from Spain, like the territories of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines). The United States occupied Wake in 1899. The following four formerly formed the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (between World War I and II under Spanish rule first and Japanese later, with the exception of the Marshall Islands, which were German). Palau and the current Federated States of Micronesia were formerly known as the Caroline Islands. Nauru was under German rule until World War I where it became the possession of Australia. The Gilbert Islands currently in Kiribati belonged to the British. Although, European rule began well in advance of the nineteenth century

Languages

The native languages of Micronesia correspond to the Malay-Polynesian language family; a large part of them belong to the Micronesia branch of the oceanic languages; the languages of Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro (Federated States of Micronesia) belong to the Polynesian branch. But the language of Palau, Guam and Northern Marianas (Chamorro) are closer to those of Eastern Indonesia. The English language is very widespread in the region.

Polynesia

Polynesia. One of the great divisions of Oceania comprising lands scattered in the Pacific between Australia and America.

Geography

It covers a territory in the shape of a triangle of 30 million km 2, with its corners in Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. There are two main types of islands: coral-forming atolls, and volcanic-forming atolls. The geographical isolation, as a great advantage, due to its great exoticism and the preserved natural environment of these islands, makes this place a tourist destination.

Main archipelagos

  • New Zealand
  • Hawaiian Islands
  • Togas Islands
  • Cook islands
  • Austral Islands
  • Phoenix islands

History

The settlement of Polynesia began around 1000 BC, from Samoa, the true center of dispersal of the Polynesian culture. From there they occupied the Cook Islands, Tahiti and Tuamotu and arrived in the Marquesas Islands in the 3rd century ; to Hawaii and Easter between the fourth and sixth centuries. Starting from Tahiti, they came to New Zealand from the 8th century.

The cultures and civilizations of Polynesia and the Pacific Islands were known to Asia, continental Africa, and Europe after the colonization of America. The great cultural, social and linguistic diversity was devastated, first by the arrival of Europeans and later by the push of globalization. There are practically no places left where Western culture – in the form of new food, clothing, music and dance has not reached. The young natives have quickly adapted to these new ways, leaving aside the ancient customs.

Population

Due to their physical characteristics, they constitute a homogeneous population formed by a robust physical constitution, slightly lighter skin and smooth hair. The various languages they speak are a clear example of the exceptional linguistic diversity that existed in Oceania.

The Christianity was gaining ground and progressively replacing traditional forms of religion are very few places where ancient beliefs have survived the thrust of Christianity.

Melanesia

Melanesia. It is one of the traditional divisions of Oceania, a geographical territory of tens of thousands of square kilometers, from the Fiji Islands in the east to the islands off the Irian Jaya coast in the west.

Geography

It stretches from the western Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea and has Australia to the south, Indonesia to the west, Micronesia to the north and Polynesia to the east.

The largest islands are made up of mountains formed by volcanoes, with deep and narrow valleys. Scattered among the large islands are numerous atolls. The predominant vegetation is the umbrophilous lowland forest. The coasts of the islands are often fringed by Coral Reefs and Mangroves.

Islands of the region

  • New Guinea Island
  • Bougainville Island
  • Torres Strait Islands
  • Bismarck Archipelago
  • Solomon Islands Archipelago
  • Trobriand Islands
  • Vanuatu Islands
  • New caledonia

History

It is one of the traditional divisions of Oceania created by the French explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville in 1832. The legacy of the Melanesian aborigines, today almost extinct due to demographic decline, cultural imposition or assimilation, and four hundred years of missionary evangelization, is varied and surprising.

Population and economy

It is inhabited by between 700 and 1000 different cultural variants and the number of languages and dialects that are spoken exceeds 2000. The residents belong to the so-called Melanesian race. They are people of medium height, very dark skin, long curly black hair, elusive forehead, prominent brow ridges and elusive chin. In the case of the oceanic Melanesians, they are also dark-skinned, they have hair in various shades ranging from black to bright blonde or gold. Although these racial considerations based on the mere observation of physical features predominated in the 19th century and in the first part of the 20th century, today there is a high degree of miscegenation.

Basically, they are farmers who practice the type of cultivation called slashing. The hunting and fishing are very important activities of the economy. They live grouped in villages; they tend to be polygamous Social relationships are complicated and competitive.

They practice the cult of ancestors and cultural heroes. The myths that narrate the relationships between the supernatural and man, and magic, which allows the latter to dominate spirits, are present in many aspects of everyday life.

Melanesia