'''Oceania'''
- ''See also: List of Oceanian countries by population''

Interpretative details and controversies

- New Zealand is the western corner of the Polynesian Triangle. Its indigenous Māori constitute one of the major cultures of Polynesia. It is also, however, considered part of Australasia. More restricted definitions of the region may exclude New Zealand.Max Cryer, Curious Kiwi Words, 2002, p153 - "A larger portion of the rest of the world calmly refers to this geographic area as Oceania, a term many New Zealanders have never heard, let alone used."
- Hawaii is the northern corner of the Polynesian Triangle and is generally included in Oceania, though politically it is part of the United States. The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian member of the Oceanic languages|Oceanic language family, and Culture of Hawaii|Hawaiian culture is one of the major cultures of Polynesia.
- The United States Minor Outlying Islands|US territories in the North Pacific are generally considered part of Oceania.
- Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, is the eastern corner of the Polynesian triangle. A Polynesian island in the eastern Pacific Ocean and part of the territory of Chile, it is generally included in Oceania, in which case the most easterly place in Polynesia and Oceania is its dependency Isla Salas y Gómez 415 km to the East.
- The line in Indonesia dividing Oceania from Asia varies in location and is sometimes considered to be the Wallace Line. See the List of countries spanning more than one continent|transcontinental country article.
- East Timor is often reckoned as a part of Oceania due to its location to the east of the Wallace Line and its cultural ties to Pacific peoples.World-Gazetteer.com (See transcontinental country#Asia and Oceania|transcontinental country) Biogeographically, East Timor lies within Wallacea, an ecological transition zone between Asia and Australasia. This transition is less known and less favoured these days as a continental boundary.
- Australia is sometimes ''not'' included in Oceania. Terms such as ''Pacific Islands'' or ''South Sea Islands'' might be used to describe Oceania without Australia (and New Zealand). The term "Australasia" invariably includes Australia, and usually includes New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and some other parts of Oceania. This term is sometimes controversial, though, as it may may be interpreted as implying an association with Asia — a separate continent — or too great an association with Australia. The term is actually derived from the word ''"Austral"'', meaning "of, relating to, or coming from the south". This word represents the common root of both names: Australia and Australasia.
- Although Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands belong to the Commonwealth of Australia, they are west of Sumatra and are commonly associated with Asia, and not with Oceania.
- In its widest sense, the term may embrace the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, thereby including other islands in the Pacific Rim such as the Ryukyu Islands|Ryukyu, Kuril Islands|Kuril and Aleutian Islands|Aleutian islands, the Japanese Archipelago and Taiwan.Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- Amateur radio defines the continental boundaries somewhat differently. The Worked All Continents award includes all of Indonesia and the Philippines in Oceania, places Easter Island with Chile, and makes some other minor changes.

Ecogeography

Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozones, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet. The Oceania ecozone includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand. New Zealand, New Guinea and nearby islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia constitute the separate Australasia ecozone.

Sport

Pacific Games

The Pacific Games (formerly known as the South Pacific Games) is a multi-sport event, much like the Olympics, (albeit on a much smaller scale), with participation exclusively from countries around the Pacific. It is held every four years and began in 1963.

Rugby codes

Rugby League and Rugby Union are two of the region's most popular sports. Rugby union being the national sport of New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga. Rugby League is the national sport in Papua New Guinea (the second most populous country in Oceania after Australia) and is very popular in Australia and has a significant following in New Zealand. Australia has won the Rugby League World Cup a record nine times. New Zealand won their first World Cup in 2008 Rugby League World Cup|2008. Australia hosted the second tournament in 1957 Rugby League World Cup|1957. Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted it in 1968 Rugby League World Cup|1968 and 1977 Rugby League World Cup|1977. New Zealand hosted the final for the first time during the worldwide 1985 - 1988 Rugby League World Cup|1985-1988 tournament and Australia hosted the most recent one in 2008 Rugby League World Cup|2008. Australia has won the Rugby World Cup a record two times. New Zealand won the inaugural World Cup in 1987. Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted the World Cup in 1987. Australia hosted it in 2003 and New Zealand is to host it in 2011.

Cricket

Cricket is a popular summer sport in Australia and New Zealand. Australia had ruled International cricket as the number one team for more than a decade, and have won the last three Cricket World Cups. New Zealand is also considered a strong competitor in the sport, with the New Zealand Cricket Team, also called the Black Caps, enjoying success in many competitions. Both Australia and New Zealand are List of International Cricket Council members#Full Members|Full members of the International Cricket Council|ICC. Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea are some of the List of International Cricket Council members|Associate/Affiliate members of the ICC from Oceania that are governed by the East Asia-Pacific Cricket Council. Beach Cricket, a greatly simplified variant of cricket played on a sand beach, is also a popular recreational sport in Australia. Cricket is culturally a significant sport for summer in Oceania. The Boxing Day Test is very popular in Australia, conducted every year on 26 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne.

Australian rules football

Australian rules football is the national sport in Nauru and is very popular in Australia. It is also very popular in Papua New Guinea.

Soccer

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of six association football|soccer confederations under the auspices of FIFA, the international governing body of the sport. The OFC is the only confederation without an automatic qualification to the FIFA World Cup|World Cup Finals. Currently the winner of the OFC qualification tournament must play off against an Asian Football Confederation|Asian confederation side to qualify for the World Cup.''FIFA world cup 2010 - Oceania preliminary competition'' Currently, Vanuatu is the only country in Oceania to call soccer its national sport. Oceania has only been represented at four World Cup Finals — Australia national association football team|Australia in 1974 FIFA World Cup|1974 and 2006 FIFA World Cup|2006 and New Zealand national football team|New Zealand in 1982 FIFA World Cup|1982 and 2010 FIFA World Cup|2010. However, Australia is now no longer a member of the Oceania Football Confederation, having joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006. Both Australia and New Zealand have qualified for the 2010 World Cup making it the first time two countries from Oceania have qualified for the World Cup at the same time.

See also

- Architecture of Oceania
- Art of Oceania
- Economy of Oceania
- Europeans in Oceania
- Festival of Pacific Arts      
- Flags of Oceania
- Geography of Oceania
- History of Oceania
- List of cities in Oceania
- Military history of Oceania
- Oceania (journal)
- Pacific Games
- Pacific Islands Forum
- Pacific Union
- Secretariat of the Pacific Community
- United Nations geoscheme for Oceania

Notes

External links

* Category:Oceania| Category:Continents zh-min-nan:Tāi-iûⁿ-chiu be-x-old:Акіянія simple:Oceania roa-tara:Oceanie fiu-vro:Okõaania zh-classical:大洋洲 zh-yue:大洋洲 bat-smg:Okeanėjė

Related Images

- Map of Oceania
- Regions of Oceania
- Political map of Oceania, EEZ borders

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