The continent of Oceania has four regions; Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It is the smallest continent in terms of area, and the second smallest in terms of population (only Antarctica has less residents). Just over 39 million people live in Oceania; that's half the population of Germany, a country less than 5% the size of Oceania! Of these 39 million people, just over half live in one country: Australia. The vast majority of jurisdictions in Oceania have comparatively small areas and populations. What we call Oceania is technically not a continent. It is actually a... Show more The continent of Oceania has four regions; Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It is the smallest continent in terms of area, and the second smallest in terms of population (only Antarctica has less residents). Just over 39 million people live in Oceania; that's half the population of Germany, a country less than 5% the size of Oceania! Of these 39 million people, just over half live in one country: Australia. The vast majority of jurisdictions in Oceania have comparatively small areas and populations. What we call Oceania is technically not a continent. It is actually a collection of islands rather than landmasses. Australia is in fact a continent and contains not only the country which shares its name, but also New Guinea and the surrounding islands. New Zealand is not a part of the Australian continent, but is on a separate, submerged continent called Zealandia! Because of the region's nature as many collections of islands, for convenience's sake they have been grouped together under the name Oceania. Opinions as to which lands are a part of Oceania differ, with some using it only for the smaller islands (discounting Australia and New Zealand) whilst others include the Philippines and Indonesia, which are more traditionally thought of as parts of Asia. The term Oceania refers to the Australian continent, the Zealandia continent, the island groups of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia, and the countries which are found upon them. Just like all of the other inhabited continents, Oceania has a love of sport. Similar to the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games, the Pacific Games are held every four years and all nations within Oceania (except for Australia and New Zealand) take part. The Oceania Football Confederation comes under the umbrella of FIFA and is the means for qualification to the World Cup. Cricket is popular in the region and Australia is historically the most successful of all nations at that sport. Australia is also the most successful team in Rugby League (having won the World Cup a record 10 times) and it is the national sport of Papua New Guinea. The national sport in New Zealand, Mattoa, Fiji and Tonga is Rugby Union and Australian Rules Football is popular all over Oceania, though it has failed to gain popularity elsewhere. Show less
The continent of Oceania has four regions; Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It is the smallest continent in terms of area, and the second smallest in terms of population (only Antarctica has less residents). Just over 39 million people live in Oceania; that's half the population of Germany, a country less than 5% the size of Oceania! Of these 39 million people, just over half live in one country: Australia. The vast majority of jurisdictions in Oceania have comparatively small areas and populations.
What we call Oceania is technically not a continent. It is actually a collection of islands rather than landmasses. Australia is in fact a continent and contains not only the country which shares its name, but also New Guinea and the surrounding islands. New Zealand is not a part of the Australian continent, but is on a separate, submerged continent called Zealandia!
Because of the region's nature as many collections of islands, for convenience's sake they have been grouped together under the name Oceania. Opinions as to which lands are a part of Oceania differ, with some using it only for the smaller islands (discounting Australia and New Zealand) whilst others include the Philippines and Indonesia, which are more traditionally thought of as parts of Asia.
The term Oceania refers to the Australian continent, the Zealandia continent, the island groups of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia, and the countries which are found upon them.
Just like all of the other inhabited continents, Oceania has a love of sport. Similar to the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games, the Pacific Games are held every four years and all nations within Oceania (except for Australia and New Zealand) take part. The Oceania Football Confederation comes under the umbrella of FIFA and is the means for qualification to the World Cup. Cricket is popular in the region and Australia is historically the most successful of all nations at that sport. Australia is also the most successful team in Rugby League (having won the World Cup a record 10 times) and it is the national sport of Papua New Guinea. The national sport in New Zealand, Mattoa, Fiji and Tonga is Rugby Union and Australian Rules Football is popular all over Oceania, though it has failed to gain popularity elsewhere.
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