The islands in the Pacific Ocean divided into three major groups
The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term Pacific Islands may refer to one of several concepts: (1) those Pacific islands whose people he Austronesian origins, (2) the Pacific islands once or currently colonized after 1500 CE, (3) the geographical region of Oceania, or (4) any island located in the Pacific Ocean.
This list of islands in the Pacific Ocean is organized by archipelago or political boundary. In order to keep this list of moderate size, the more complete lists for countries with large numbers of small or uninhabited islands he been hyperlinked.
Name ambiguity and groupings[edit]A commonly applied biogeographic definition includes islands with oceanic geology that lie within Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and the eastern Pacific (also known as the southeastern Pacific).[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] These are usually considered to be the "Tropical Pacific Islands".[8] In the 1990s, ecologists Dieter Mueller-Dombois and Frederic Raymond Fosberg broke the Tropical Pacific Islands up into the following subdivisions:[9]
Western Melanesia The Bismarck Archipelago and other islands directly east of New Guinea Bougainville and Buka Island The Solomon Islands Eastern Melanesia The Santa Cruz Islands Vanuatu New Caledonia Fiji Subtropical islands in the Australia/New Zealand region Lord Howe Island Norfolk Island Micronesia The Bonin Islands and Volcano Islands Marcus Island The Northern Marianas The Southern Marianas The Caroline Islands Nauru and Banaba Wake Island Palau The Marshall Islands The Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) Central Polynesia Johnston Atoll The Phoenix Islands The Line Islands Howland Island, Baker Island, Jarvis Island, Malden Island and Starbuck Island Tuvalu, Tokelau and the Northern Cook Islands (Pukapuka, Nassau, Rakahanga, Manihiki, Penrhyn, Suwarrow and Palmerston) Western Polynesia Tonga Samoa Wallis and Futuna Niue Eastern Polynesia The rest of the Cook Islands The Austral Islands The Society Islands The Tuamotu Archipelago and the Pitcairn Islands Easter Island and Salas y Gómez The Marquesas Islands Northern Polynesia The Hawaiian Islands Oceanic islands of the Eastern Pacific The Revillagigedo Islands Cocos Island and Malpelo Island Clipperton Island The Galápagos Islands The Desventuradas Islands The Juan Fernández Islands Geopolitics and Oceania grouping[edit] Main article: Oceania Australia NewZealand Chatham Hawaii Wake Federated Statesof Micronesia Palau Papua NewGuinea EasterIsland FrenchPolynesia CookIslands NewCaledonia Fiji Tuvalu Kiribati Phoenix Line SolomonIslands Tokelau MarshallIslands Nauru Vanuatu Tonga Pitcairn Guam Norfolk NorthernMarianas Samoa AS WF Niue Cocos Christmas RyukyuIslands Izu Bonin Volcano Okinotorishima Minamitorishima Midway Johnston Clipperton Socorro Howland Baker Kingman Palmyra Jarvis Coral Sea LordHowe Kermadec Bounties Three Kings Antipodes Aucklands Solander Snares Campbell Ashmore& Cartier Macquarie Indonesia Philippines Sarawak BN Sabah Maluku Papua EastTimor Paracels Spratlys This template: viewtalkedit Exclusive economic zones of Oceania and adjacent areas. Non-tropical islands in the extreme north Pacific, such as the Aleutian Islands, are excluded from the map.The 2007 book Asia in the Pacific Islands: Replacing the West, by New Zealand Pacific scholar Ron Crocombe, considers the phrase Pacific Islands to politically encompass American Samoa, Australia, the Bonin Islands, the Cook Islands, Easter Island, East Timor, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, the Galápagos Islands, Guam, Hawaii, the Kermadec Islands, Kiribati, Lord Howe Island, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Niue, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, the Torres Strait Islands, Wallis and Futuna, Western New Guinea and the United States Minor Outlying Islands (Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll and Wake Island). Crocombe noted that Easter Island, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, the Galápagos Islands, the Kermadec Islands, the Pitcairn Islands and the Torres Strait Islands currently he no geopolitical connections to Asia, but that they could be of future strategic importance in the Asia-Pacific.[10] Another definition given in the book for the term Pacific Islands is islands served by the Pacific Community, formerly known as the South Pacific Commission. It is a developmental organization whose members include Australia and the aforementioned islands which are not politically part of other countries.[10] In his 1962 book War in the Pacific: Strategy and Command, American author Louis Morton places the insular landmasses of the Pacific under the label of the "Pacific World". He considers it to encompass areas that were involved in the Pacific Theater of World War II. These areas include the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, as well as Australia, the Aleutian Islands, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan.[11]
1851 map of Pacific listing colonial names of individual islands.Since the beginning of the 19th century, Australia and the islands of the Pacific he been grouped by geographers into a region called Oceania.[12][13] It is often used as a quasi-continent, with the Pacific Ocean being the defining characteristic.[14] In some countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, China, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Greece, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Spain, Switzerland or Venezuela, Oceania is seen as a proper continent in the sense that it is "one of the parts of the world".[15] In his 1879 book Australasia, British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace commented that, "Oceania is the word often used by continental geographers to describe the great world of islands we are now entering upon" and that "Australia forms its central and most important feature."[16] 19th century definitions encompassed the region as beginning in the Malay Archipelago, and as ending near the Americas.[13][17][18][19][20] In the 19th century, many geographers divided up Oceania into mostly racially-based subdivisions; Australasia, Malaysia (encompassing the Malay Archipelago), Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.[21][22] The 1995 book The Pacific Island States, by Australian author Stephen Henningham, claims that Oceania in its broadest sense "incorporates all the insular areas between the Americas and Asia."[23] In its broadest possible usage, it could include Australia, the Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian islands, the Japanese and Malay Archipelagos, Taiwan, the Ryukyu and Kuril Islands, the Aleutian Islands and isolated islands off Latin America such as the Juan Fernández Islands.[24][25] Islands with geological and historical ties to the Asian mainland (such as those in the Malay Archipelago) are rarely included in present definitions of Oceania, nor are non-tropical islands to the north of Hawaii.[26][27][28] The 2004 book The Making of Anthropology: The Semiotics of Self and Other in the Western Tradition, by Jacob Pandian and Susan Parman, states that "some exclude from Oceania the nontropical islands such as Ryukyu, the Aleutian islands and Japan, and the islands such as Formosa, Indonesia and the Philippines that are closely linked with mainland Asia. Others include Indonesia and the Philippines with the heartland of Oceania."[29]
Certain anthropological definitions restrict Oceania even further to only include islands which are culturally within Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.[30][31] Conversely, Encyclopedia Britannica believe that the term Pacific Islands is much more synonymous with Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, and that Oceania, in its broadest sense, embraces all the areas of the Pacific which do not fall within Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.[25] The World Factbook and the United Nations categorize Oceania/the Pacific area as one of the seven major continental divisions of the world, and the two organizations consider it to politically encompass American Samoa, Australia, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna and the United States Minor Outlying Islands.[32]
Since the 1950s, many (particularly in English-speaking countries) he viewed Australia as a continent-sized landmass, although they are still sometimes viewed as a Pacific Island, or as both a continent and a Pacific Island.[33] Australia is a founding member of the Pacific Islands Forum, which is now recognized as the main governing body for the Oceania region.[34] It functions as a trade bloc and deals with defense issues, unlike with the Pacific Community, which includes most of the same members. By 2021, the Pacific Islands Forum included all sovereign Pacific Island nations, such as Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji and Tonga, in addition to dependencies of other nations, such as American Samoa, French Polynesia and Guam. Islands which he been fully integrated into other nations, including Easter Island (Chile) and Hawaii (United States), he also shown interest in joining.[35] Tony deBrum, Foreign Minister for the Marshall Islands, stated in 2014, "Not only is Australia our big brother down south, Australia is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum and Australia is a Pacific island, a big island, but a Pacific island."[33] Japan and certain nations of the Malay Archipelago (including East Timor, Indonesia and the Philippines) he representation in the Pacific Islands Forum, but none are full members. The nations of the Malay Archipelago he their own regional governing organization called ASEAN, which includes mainland Southeast Asian nations such as Vietnam and Thailand.[36][37] In July 2019, at the inaugural Indonesian Exposition held in Auckland, Indonesia launched its 'Pacific Elevation' program, which would encompass a new era of elevated engagement with the region, with the country also using the event to lay claim that Indonesia is culturally and ethnically linked to the Pacific islands. The event was attended by dignitaries from Australia, New Zealand and some Pacific island countries.[38]
List of the largest Pacific islands[edit]Islands of the Pacific Ocean proper, with an area larger than 10,000 km2.
Name Area (km2) Country/Countries Population Population density Region Subregion New Guinea 785,753 Indonesia, Papua New Guinea 14,800,000 18.8 Oceania Melanesia Borneo 748,168 Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei 23,053,723 30.8 Asia Southeast Asia Honshu 227,960 Japan 103,000,000 451.8 Asia East Asia Sulawesi 174,600 Indonesia 18,455,000 105.7 Asia Southeast Asia South Island 150,437 New Zealand 1,201,300 7.5 Oceania Australasia / Polynesia North Island 113,729 New Zealand 4,749,200 33.0 Oceania Australasia / Polynesia Luzon 109,965 Philippines 48,520,000 441.2 Asia Southeast Asia Mindanao 104,530 Philippines 25,281,000 241.9 Asia Southeast Asia Tasmania 90,758 Australia 514,700 5.7 Oceania Australasia Hokkaido 77,981 Japan 5,474,000 70.2 Asia East Asia Sakhalin 72,493 Russia 580,000 8.0 Asia North Asia Taiwan Island (Formosa) 35,883 Taiwan 23,000,000 641.0 Asia East Asia Kyushu 35,640 Japan 13,231,000 371.2 Asia East Asia New Britain 35,145 Papua New Guinea 513,926 14.6 Oceania Melanesia Hainan Island 33,210 China 8,180,000 246.3 Asia East Asia Vancouver Island 31,285 Canada 759,366 24.2 North America Northern America Shikoku 18,800 Japan 4,141,955 220.3 Asia East Asia Grande Terre 16,648 New Caledonia (France) 208,709 12.5 Oceania Melanesia Palawan 12,189 Philippines 430,000 35.3 Asia Southeast Asia Hawaii 10,434 United States of America 185,079 17.7 Oceania Polynesia Viti Levu 10,388 Fiji 600,000 57.0 Oceania Melanesia By continent[edit] Antarctica[edit] List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands Asia[edit] List of islands of Asia List of islands of China Japanese Archipelago of 6,852 islands List of islands of Japan List of islands of Indonesia List of islands of North Korea List of islands of the Philippines List of islands of Russia List of islands of South Korea List of islands of Vietnam North America[edit] Central American Pacific Islands List of islands of North America List of islands of Canada, section British Columbia List of islands of Mexico List of islands of the United States Oceania[edit] List of islands of Australia List of islands of Britain List of islands of the Pitcairn Islands List of islands of Fiji List of islands of France, section Pacific Ocean List of islands of Hawaii List of islands of Kiribati List of islands of the Marshall Islands List of islands of New Zealand List of islands of Papua New Guinea List of islands of the Solomon Islands List of islands of Tonga List of islands of Tuvalu List of islands of the United States, section Insular areas List of islands of Vanuatu South America[edit] List of islands of South America List of islands of Chile List of islands of Colombia List of islands of Ecuador List of islands of Peru By country[edit] American Samoa[edit] American Samoa Aunuu Ofu-Olosega Rose Atoll Swains Island (Olosenga, Olohega) (Disputed) Tau Tutuila Australia[edit] List of islands of Australia, including: Coral Sea Islands Willis Island Lord Howe Island Norfolk Island Torres Strait Islands Brunei[edit] List of islands of Brunei Canada[edit] List of islands of British Columbia, many islands including: Haida Gwaii, some 400 islands near Alaska Graham Island, the main northern island Moresby Island, the main southern island Vancouver Island, Canada's largest Pacific island Gulf Islands, numerous islands off the southeast coast of V.I. near the U.S. San Juan Islands Chile[edit] Chiloé Island Desventuradas Islands Easter Island/Rapa Nui Isla Salas y Gómez Juan Fernández Islands China[edit] List of islands of China Colombia[edit] Gorgona Island Malpelo Island Cook Islands[edit] Aitutaki Atiu Pamati (Palmerston) Mangaia Manihiki (Humphrey) Manuae (Hervey) Mauke (Parry) Mitiaro (Nukuroa) Nassau Pukapuka (Danger) Rakahanga (Reirson) Rarotonga Suwarrow (Anchorage) Takutea Tongareva (Penrhyn) Costa Rica[edit] Cocos Island Ecuador[edit] Galapagos Islands Puná Island Fiji[edit] For a more comprehensive list, see List of islands of Fiji. Principal islands: Viti Levu Vanua Levu Significant outliers: Conway Reef Kadu Island Teuni Rotuma Island Archipelagos: Kadu Group Lau Islands Lomaiviti Islands Mamanuca Islands Moala Islands Ringgold Isles Rotuma Group Vanua Levu Group Viti Levu Group Yasawa Islands France[edit] Clipperton Island French Polynesia[edit] French Polynesia (Autonomous Overseas Territory of France) Austral Islands Tubuai Society Islands Windward Islands Moorea Tahiti Tetiaroa Maiao Mehetia Leeward Islands Bora Bora Huahine Maupiti Raiatea and Tahaa Tupai Mopelia (Maupihaa) Manuae (Scilly Atoll) Motu One (Bellinghausen) Marquesas Fatu Hiva Hiva Oa Euba Nuku Hiva Tahuata Ua Huka Pen Ua Pou Tuamotus Rangiroa Fakara Moruroa Fangataufa Gambier Islands Mangareva Helena Island Guam[edit] Guam Cocos Island Hong Kong[edit] List of islands of Hong Kong Hong Kong Island Lantau Indonesia[edit] Western New Guinea Borneo Natuna Islands Japan[edit] List of islands of Japan, including: The five main islands: Hokkaido - the northernmost and second largest main island. Honshu - the largest and most populous island; home of the capital Tokyo. Kyushu - the third largest main island and closest to the Asian continent. Shikoku - the second smallest main island after Okinawa; between Honshu and Kyushu Okinawa Island - the smallest and southernmost of the main islands Other notable islands: Marcus Island Okinotori Islands Kiribati[edit] List of islands of Kiribati: Caroline Island Flint Island Gilbert Islands Line Islands (8 of 11) Kiritimati/Christmas Island Malden Island Phoenix Islands Starbuck Island Tabuaeran/Fanning Island Teraina/Washington Island Vostok Island Macau[edit] List of islands of Macau Malaysia[edit] Sipadan Marshall Islands[edit] Marshall Islands Bikini Enewetak Kwajalein Rongelap Majuro Mexico[edit] Cedros Island Tiburón Island Revillagigedo Islands Rocas Alijos Guadalupe Island Micronesia[edit]Islands of Federated States of Micronesia
Caroline Islands Pohnpei Yap Ulithi Chuuk Puluwat Kosrae Nauru[edit] Nauru, a country and single island New Caledonia[edit] New Caledonia (special collectivity of France) Grande Terre (New Caledonia) Chesterfield Islands Ilots du Mouillage Isle of Pines Belep Islands New Caledonia Loyalty Islands Bagao Lifou Island Maré Island Ouvéa Island Tiga Island Matthew Island and Hunter Island, administered by France as part of New Caledonia but also claimed by Vanuatu New Zealand[edit] Islands of New Zealand, around 600 islands including: Auckland Islands Chatham Islands Chatham Island Pitt Island d'Urville Island Great Barrier Island Kapiti Island Kermadec Islands Macauley Island Raoul Island North Island South Island Stewart Island / Rakiura Waiheke Island Niue[edit] Niue, a country and single island Northern Mariana Islands[edit] Northern Mariana Islands Saipan Rota Tinian Maug Pagan Island Alamagan Farallon de Pajaros Palau[edit]Palau has over 250 islands, including:
Angaur Babeldaob Caroline Islands Kayangel Ngerekebesang Island Oreor Peleliu Southwest Islands Panama[edit] Pearl Islands Papua New Guinea[edit] List of islands of Papua New Guinea New Guinea, eastern half Bismarck Archipelago Admiralty Islands Manus Island Karkar Island New Britain New Ireland Saint Matthias Group Solomon Islands archipelago (northern part) Bougainville Buka Island Trobriand Islands Kiriwina Woodlark Island D'Entrecasteaux Islands Fergusson Island Goodenough Island Normanby Island (Papua New Guinea) Louisiade Archipelago Misima Island Tagula Island or Sudest Island Rossel Island Samarai Daru Island Kiwai Island Philippines[edit] List of islands of the Philippines, over 7600 islands including: Spratly Islands (disputed) Scarborough Shoal (disputed) Pitcairn Islands[edit] Main article: List of islands of the United Kingdom § Overseas Territories Pitcairn Islands, four islands: Pitcairn Island Henderson Island Oeno Island Ducie Island Russia[edit] List of islands of Russia Kuril Islands Sakhalin Samoa[edit] List of islands of Samoa: Samoa (western part of the Samoa Islands) Sai'i Upolu Apolima Manono Nuutele Singapore[edit] Pedra Branca Solomon Islands[edit] Islands of the Solomon Islands Bellona Choiseul Florida Island Guadalcanal Malaita Maramasike New Georgia Islands Rennell Russell Islands San Cristobal Santa Cruz Islands Santa Isabel Shortland Islands Sikaiana (Stewart Islands) Tulagi Ulawa Uki Taiwan[edit] List of islands of Taiwan, 166 islands including: Taiwan, the main island with over 99% of the country's total area Tokelau[edit] List of islands of Tokelau Tokelau (mostly autonomous), three coral atolls with about 25 islands combined, including: Olohega (Swains Island), administered by the United States as part of American Samoa, but claimed by Tokelau due to geography, history and language Tonga[edit] List of islands in Tonga; in north to south order: Niuafoou Niuatoputapu (Keppel's Island) Vau Kao Tofua Haapai Tongatapu Eua Tuvalu[edit] Islands of Tuvalu Funafuti (atoll of at least 30 islands) Nanumanga (or Nanumaga) Nanumea (atoll of at least 6 islands) Niulakita Niutao Nui (atoll of at least 21 islands) Nukufetau (atoll of at least 33 islands) Nukulaelae (atoll of at least 15 islands) Vaitupu (atoll of at least 9 islands) United States[edit] Alaska, many islands including: Aleutian Islands Alexander Archipelago Nunivak Island St. Lawrence Island List of islands of California Channel Islands Hawaiian Islands, many islands and islets including: Hawaii Kahoolawe Kauai Ka'ula Lanai Maui Molokai Niihau Oahu Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Kure Nīhoa Necker French Frigate Shoals Gardner Pinnacles Maro Reef Laysan Lisianski Pearl and Hermes Reef List of islands of Oregon Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge United States Minor Outlying Islands, eight small island groups between Hawaii and the Philippines (e.g. Johnston Atoll, Midway Atoll, Wake Atoll) List of islands of Washington state Islands of Puget Sound San Juan Islands Vanuatu[edit] List of islands of Vanuatu, some 83 islands including (north to south approximately): Torres Islands Banks Islands Espiritu Santo Malakula Ambrym Paama Epi Shepherd Islands Efate, home of the national capital Port Vila Lelepa Erromango Tanna Disputed: Matthew Island and Hunter Island, administered by France as part of New Caledonia but also claimed by Vanuatu Wallis and Futuna[edit] Wallis and Futuna Alofi Futuna Wallis (Uvea) Notes[edit] ^ R. Zug, George (2013). Reptiles and Amphibians of the Pacific Islands: A Comprehensive Guide. University of California Press. p. 10. One cannot refer to "Pacific islands" and ignore the Galapagos Islands and other eastern Pacific islands. ^ Hinz, Earl R. (1999). Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands (4th ed.). University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 9780824821159. Retrieved 12 March 2022. ^ Nunn, Patrick D.; Kumar, Lalit; Eliot, Ian; McLean, Roger F. (2016-03-02). "Classifying Pacific islands | Geoscience Letters | Full Text". Geoscience Letters. 3 (1). Geoscienceletters.springeropen.com: 1–19. Bibcode:2016GSL.....3....7N. doi:10.1186/s40562-016-0041-8. S2CID 53970527. ^ Udvardy, Miklos D.F. "A Classification of the Biogeographical Provinces of the World" (PDF). UNESCO. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022. ^ Doran, Edwin B. (1959). Handbook of Selected Pacific Islands. The University of California. Retrieved 12 March 2022. ^ Lal, Brij V.; Fortune, Kate (2000). The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1. University of Hawaiʻi Press. p. 60. ISBN 9780824822651. Retrieved 12 March 2022. ^ "Draft Check List of Pacific Oceanic Islands" (PDF) – via micronesica.org. [better source needed] ^ Pacific Science Volume 46, April 1992 ^ Mueller-Dombois, Dieter; Fosberg, Frederic R. (1998). Vegetation of the Tropical Pacific Islands. Springer. Retrieved 11 March 2022. ^ a b Crocombe, R. G. (2007). Asia in the Pacific Islands: Replacing the West. University of the South Pacific. Institute of Pacific Studies. p. 13. ISBN 9789820203884. Retrieved 24 January 2022. ^ Morton, Louis (1964). War in the Pacific: Strategy and Command. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160882326. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) ^ Barrington-Ward, Mark James (1879). The child's geography. Oxford University. p. 56. Retrieved 13 March 2022. There are six great divisions of the earth— Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America and Oceania. Of these, Asia is largest, Europe smallest. Oceania is made up of Australia and many scattered islands. ^ a b Brown, Robert (1876). "Oceania: General Characteristics". The countries of the world. Oxford University. Retrieved 1 February 2022. ^ Society, National Geographic (4 January 2012). "Australia and Oceania: Physical Geography". National Geographic Society. ^ "Divisões dos continentes" (PDF). IBGE. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021. ^ Wallace, Alfred Russel (1879). Australasia. The University of Michigan. p. 2. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022. Oceania is the word often used by continental geographers to describe the great world of islands we are now entering upon [...] This boundless watery domain, which extends northwards of Behring Straits and southward to the Antarctic barrier of ice, is studded with many island groups, which are, however, very irregularly distributed over its surface. The more northerly section, lying between Japan and California and between the Aleutian and Hawaiian Archipelagos is relived by nothing but a few solitary reefs and rocks at enormously distant intervals. ^ Ireland, A. (1863). The Geography and History of Oceania. W. Fletcher, printer. p. 1. Retrieved 12 March 2022. Oceania, the fifth great division of the earth's surface, includes the numerous islands scattered over the great ocean which extends from the south - eastern shores of Asia to the western coast of America. ^ Wallace, Alfred Russel (1879). Australasia. The University of Michigan. p. 2. Retrieved 12 March 2022. Oceania is the word often used by continental geographers to describe the great world of islands we are now entering upon [...] This boundless watery domain, which extends northwards of Behring Straits and southward to the Antarctic barrier of ice, is studded with many island groups, which are, however, very irregularly distributed over its surface. The more northerly section, lying between Japan and California and between the Aleutian and Hawaiian Archipelagos is relived by nothing but a few solitary reefs and rocks at enormously distant intervals. ^ Chambers, William (1856). Chambers's Parlour Atlas with Descriptive Introduction and Copious Consulting Index. The University of Virginia. Oceania, the fifth great division of the earth's surface, includes the numerous islands scattered over the great ocean which extends from the south - eastern shores of Asia to the western coast of America. It is separated from Asia by the Str. of Malacca, the Chinese Sea, and the Channel of Formosa; and from America by a broad belt of ocean comparatively free of islands. ^ Chambers's New Handy Volume American Encyclopædia: Volume 9. The University of Virginia. 1885. p. 657. Retrieved 13 March 2022. the whole region has sometimes been called Oceania, and sometimes Australasia—generally, however, in modern times, to the exclusion of the islands in the Indian archipelago, to which certain writers he given the name of Malaysia [...] we he the three geographical divisions of Malaysia, Australasia and Polynesia, the last mentioned of which embraces all the groups and single islands not included under the other two. Accepting this arrangement, still the limits between Australasia and Polynesia he not been very accurately defined; indeed, scarcely any two geographers appear to be quite agreed upon the subject; neither shall we pretend to decide in the matter. The following list, however, comprises all the principal groups and single island not previously named as coming under the division of Australasia: 1. North of the equator—The Ladrone or Marian islands. the Pelew islands, the Caroline islands, the Radack and Ralick chains, the Sandwich islands, Gilbert's or Kingstnill's archipelago. and the Galapagos. 2. South of the equator—The Ellice group, the Phoenix and Union groups. the Fiji islands, the Friendly islands, the Nigator's islands. Cook's or Harvey islands, the Society islands. the Dangerous archipelago, the Marquesas islands, Pitcairn island, and Easter island. ^ Cornell, Sophia S. (1857). Cornell's Primary Geography: Forming Part First of a Systematic Series of School Geographies. Harvard University. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022. ^ Missionary Review of the World: Volume 18. Funk & Wagnalls. 1895. p. 533. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022. ^ Stephen Henningham (1995). The Pacific Island States. London: Macmillan Press. doi:10.1057/9780230372436. ISBN 978-1-349-39416-6. ^ Danver, Steven L. (2015). Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues. Taylor & Francis. p. 185. ISBN 9781317464006. Retrieved 23 April 2022. ^ a b "Pacific Islands | Countries, Map, & Facts". Britannica. Archived from the original on Jan 5, 2024. ^ Everett-Heath, John (2017). The Concise Dictionary of World Place Names. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-255646-2. Retrieved 8 July 2022. It is generally accepted that Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the islands north of Japan (the Kurils and Aleutians) are excluded ^ Henderson, John William (1971). Area Handbook for Oceania. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 5. Retrieved 11 March 2022. ^ "Oceania | Definition, Population, & Facts". Britannica. Archived from the original on Dec 8, 2023. ^ Pandian, Jacob; Parman, Susan (2004). The Making of Anthropology: The Semiotics of Self and Other in the Western Tradition. Vedams. p. 206. ISBN 9788179360149. Retrieved 19 July 2022. ^ paul d'Arcy paul d'Arcy (2012-09-18). "Oceania and Australasia | The Oxford Handbook of World History | Oxford Academic". Academic.oup.com. Retrieved 2022-08-02. ^ Ethan E Cochrane and Terry L Hunt (December 2017). "The Archaeology of Prehistoric Oceania (a single chapter of a title in Oxford Handbooks Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy))". ResearchGate.[better source needed] ^ "UNSD — Methodology". Unstats.un.org. Retrieved 2022-07-19. ^ a b O'Malley, Nick (September 21, 2014). "'Australia is a Pacific island - it has a responsibility'". The Sydney Morning Herald. ^ "Consultations on Pacific Islands Forum 2050 Strategy". Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. ^ "Pacific forum looks to widen entry - ABC News". ABC News. Abc.net.au. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 2022-03-02. ^ "The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) | Coopération Régionale et Relations Extérieures de la Nouvelle-Calédonie". Cooperation-regionale.gouv.nc. Retrieved 2022-03-02. ^ "Japan, U.S. Increase cooperation to enhance Pacific islands' security | Indo-Pacific Defense Forum". ^ "Indonesia's "Pacific elevation": Elevating what and who? - Griffith Asia Insights". vteEastern Pacific islandsOceanic islands located between Polynesia and the Americas, sorted by country, from north to south(excluding continental islands)Mexico Guadalupe Island Rocas Alijos Revillagigedo Islands San Benedicto Roca Partida Socorro (San Tomás) Clarión (Santa Rosa) France Clipperton Island Costa Rica Cocos Island Colombia Malpelo Island Gorgona Island Ecuador Galápagos Islands Chile Desventuradas Islands Juan Fernández Islands Robinson Crusoe Alejandro Selkirk Santa Clara vteList of islands of Oceania Sovereign states Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Indonesia Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Timor-Leste Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Associated statesof New Zealand Cook Islands Niue Dependenciesand other territories American Samoa Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Easter Island French Polynesia Guam Hawaii New Caledonia Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Pitcairn Islands Tokelau Wallis and Futuna vteCountries and territories of Oceania List of Oceanian countries by area List of Oceanian countries by population Sovereign statesEntire Australia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu In part Chile Easter Island Juan Fernández Islands Ecuador Galápagos Islands Indonesia Central Papua Highland Papua Papua South Papua Southwest Papua West Papua United States Hawaii Palmyra Atoll Associated states Cook Islands Niue Dependencies andother territoriesAustralia Ashmore and Cartier Islands Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Coral Sea Islands Norfolk Island France Clipperton Island French Polynesia New Caledonia Wallis and Futuna New Zealand Tokelau United Kingdom Pitcairn Islands United States American Samoa Baker Island Guam Howland Island Jarvis Island Johnston Atoll Kingman Reef Midway Atoll Northern Mariana Islands Wake Island British Overseas Territories Overseas France Overseas collectivity Overseas country of France Realm of New Zealand Political status of the Cook Islands and Niue States and territories of Australia Australian Indian Ocean Territories Territories of the United States Commonwealth (U.S. insular area) Insular area United States Minor Outlying IslandsOceania portal
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