Australasia

Subregion of Oceania

For other uses, see Australasia (disambiguation) and Australasian (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Australia (continent), Australia (country), Austrasia, or Austroasian.

Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, Melanesia

Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologically, where the term covers several slightly different but related regions.

## Derivation and definitions

[edit]

Charles de Brosses coined the term (as French Australasie) in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes[1] (1756). He derived it from the Latin for "south of Asia" and differentiated the area from Polynesia (to the east) and the southeast Pacific (Magellanica).[2]

In the late 19th century, the term Australasia was used in reference to the "Australasian colonies". In this sense it related specifically to the British colonies south of Asia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria (i.e., the Australian colonies) and New Zealand.[3]

Australasia found continued geopolitical attention in the early 20th century. Historian Hansong Li finds that against the backdrop of British colonialism, German geopoliticians considered "Australasia" as a counterweight to the former German South Sea Edge (Südseerand), both of which form the "Indo-Pacific" region.[4]

The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary gives two meanings of "Australasia". One, especially in Australian use, is "Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and the neighbouring islands of the Pacific". The other, especially in New Zealand use, is just Australia and New Zealand.[5] Two Merriam-Webster dictionaries online (Collegiate and Unabridged) define Australasia as "Australia, New Zealand, and Melanesia". The American Heritage Dictionary online recognizes two senses in use: one more precise and the other broader, loosely covering all of Oceania.

## Demographics

[edit]

Arms | Flag  | Name of region, followed by countries  | Area
(km2)  | Population
(2021)[6][7] | Population density
(per km2)  | Capital | ISO 3166-1

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Australasia
|  | Ashmore and Cartier Islands (Australia)  | 199  | —
|  | Australia | 7,686,850  | 25,921,089  | 3.1  | Canberra | AU
|  | Christmas Island (Australia)  | 135  | 1,692  | 12.5  | Flying Fish Cove | CX
|  | Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)  | 14  | 593  | 42.4  | West Island | CC
|  | Coral Sea Islands (Australia)  | 10  | 4  | 0.4  | —
|  | New Zealand | 268,680  | 5,129,727  | 17.3  | Wellington | NZ
|  | Norfolk Island (Australia)  | 35  | 2,302  | 65.8  | Kingston | NF
|  | Papua New Guinea | 462,840  | 9,949,437  | 22  | Port Moresby | PG
Total
Australasia  | 8,418,763  | 42,836,966  | 5.1  | —

## See also

[edit]

* Geography portal
* Oceania portal

* All pages with titles beginning with Australasia
* Asia-Pacific
* Australasian realm
* Australasia at the Olympics
* Austral-Asia Cup
* Down Under
* Sundaland
* Trans-Tasman
* Zealandia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ de Brosses, Charles (1756). Histoire des navigations aux terres Australes. Contenant ce que l'on sçait des moeurs & des productions des contrées découvertes jusqu'à ce jour; & où il est traité de l'utilité d'y faire de plus amples découvertes, & des moyens d'y former un établissement [History of voyages to the Southern Lands. Containing what is known concerning the customs and products...] (in French). Paris: Durand. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
2. ^ Douglas, Bronwen (2014). Science, Voyages, and Encounters in Oceania, 1511–1850. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 6.
3. ^ Lee, Joseph (1889). "Anti-Chinese Legislation in Australasia". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 3 (2). p. 220. doi:10.2307/1879468. JSTOR 1879468.
4. ^ Li, Hansong (2021). "The "Indo-Pacific": Intellectual Origins and International Visions in Global Contexts" (PDF). Modern Intellectual History. 19 (3): 20–23. doi:10.1017/S1479244321000214. S2CID 236226422. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
5. ^ Deverson, Tony; Kennedy, Graeme, eds. (2005). "Australasia". New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001. ISBN 9780195584516.
6. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
7. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.

* Richards, Kel (2006). "Australasia". Wordwatch. ABC News Radio. Archived from the original on 2007-03-18. Retrieved 2006-09-30.

## External links

[edit]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Australasia".

* Media related to Australasia at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

Regions of Oceania

* Asia–Pacific
* Australia-New Guinea
* Bird's Head Peninsula
* Bird's Tail Peninsula
* Indo-Australian Plate
* Indo-Pacific
* Islands Region
* Near Oceania
* Pacific Islands
* Pacific Plate
* Remote Oceania
* Ring of Fire
* Zealandia

Australasia|

| Australia|

| Mainland Australia|

| Australian Capital Territory|

* Canberra

|

Jervis Bay Territory|

* Jervis Bay Village
* Wreck Bay Village

New South Wales|

* Central Coast
* Central Tablelands
* Central West
* Far West
* Greater Blue Mountains Area
* Hunter
* Illawarra
* Mid North Coast
* Monaro
* New England
* North West Slopes
* Northern Rivers
* Northern Tablelands
* Orana
* Riverina
* South Coast
* South West Slopes
* Southern Highlands
* Southern Tablelands

Northern Territory|

* Arnhem Land
* Barkly Tableland
* Central Australia
* Darwin
* Katherine
* Top End

Queensland|

* Central West
* Central
* Darling Downs
* Far North
* Gulf Country
* North
* South East
* South West
* Wide Bay–Burnett

South Australia|

* Adelaide Hills
* Barossa Light and Lower North
* Eastern Adelaide
* Eyre Western
* Far North
* Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island
* Limestone Coast
* Murray and Mallee
* Northern Adelaide
* Southern Adelaide
* Western Adelaide
* Yorke and Mid North

Victoria|

* Barwon South West
* Gippsland
* Grampians
* Greater Melbourne
* Hume
* Loddon Mallee

Western Australia|

* Gascoyne
* Goldfields–Esperance
* Great Southern
* Greater Perth
* Perth Metropolitan Area
* Kimberley
* Mid West
* Peel
* Pilbara
* South West
* Wheatbelt

Tasmania|

* Central Highlands
* East Coast
* Midlands
* North East
* North West
* Northern
* South West
* Southern
* West Coast

External Territories|

* Ashmore and Cartier Islands
* Coral Sea Islands
* Heard Island and McDonald Islands
* Norfolk Island

| Australian Indian Ocean Territories|

* Christmas Island
* Cocos (Keeling) Islands

|

New Zealand‡|

| North Island|

* Northland
* Auckland
* Waikato
* Bay of Plenty
* Gisborne
* Hawke's Bay
* Taranaki
* Manawatū-Whanganui
* Wellington

|

South Island|

* Tasman
* Nelson
* Marlborough
* West Coast
* Canterbury
* Otago
* Southland
* Stewart Island

Outlying Islands|

* Chatham Islands
* Kermadec Islands
* Solander Islands
* Three Kings Islands

| NZ Subantarctic Islands|

* Antipodes Islands
* Auckland Islands
* Bounty Islands
* Campbell Islands
* Snares Islands

|

Melanesia|

| Island Melanesia|

* Fiji
* New Caledonia

| East Melanesian Islands|

* Bismarck Archipelago
* Admiralty Islands
* Gazelle Peninsula
* Santa Cruz Islands
* Vanuatu

| Solomon Islands Archipelago|

* Bougainville
* Bonis Peninsula
* Solomon Islands

|

New Guinea|

* Aru Islands

| Papua New Guinea|

* Highlands Region
* Momase Region
* Huon Gulf
* Huon Peninsula
* Southern Region

|

Western New Guinea|

* Central Papua
* Highland Papua
* Papua
* South Papua
* Southwest Papua
* West Papua

Micronesia|

* Caroline Islands
* Federated States of Micronesia
* Palau
* Kiribati
* Banaba
* Gilbert Islands
* Mariana Islands
* Guam
* Northern Mariana Islands
* Marshall Islands
* Nauru
* Wake Island

Polynesia|

| Polynesian Triangle|

* Easter Island
* Salas and Gómez Island
* Cook Islands
* Northern Cook Islands
* Southern Cook Islands
* French Polynesia
* Austral Islands
* Gambier Islands
* Mangareva Islands
* Marquesas Islands
* Society Islands
* Tuamotu Islands
* Hawaii
* Southeastern Hawaiian Islands
* Johnston Atoll
* Line Islands
* Jarvis Island
* Kingman Reef
* Kiritimati
* Palmyra Atoll
* Tabuaeran
* Teraina
* Niue
* Pitcairn Islands
* Pitcairn Island
* Henderson Island
* Ducie Island
* Oeno Island
* Rotuma
* Samoan Islands
* American Samoa
* Independent State of Samoa
* Tokelau Islands
* Atafu
* Fakaofo
* Nukunonu
* Swains Island
* Tonga
* Tuvalu
* Wallis and Futuna
* Hoorn Islands
* Wallis Island

| Phoenix Islands|

* Canton Island
* Howland and Baker Islands
* Baker Island
* Howland Island

|

Polynesian Outliers|

* Clipperton Island
* Desventuradas Islands
* Galápagos Islands
* Juan Fernández Islands
* Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
* Midway Atoll

* ‡ also part of Polynesia

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Earth's primary regions and subregions

Worlds|

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Hemispheres|

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Landmasses|

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* Zealandia
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Continents|

| Africa|

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|

Antarctica|

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Asia|

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North America|

* Aridoamerica
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* Eastern Canada
* Northern Canada
* Western Canada
* Northern Mexico
* West Indies
* Anglo
* French
* Latin
* Ibero
* Hispanic
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* Latin America and the Caribbean

Oceania|

* Australasia
* Australia
* Mainland Australia
* New Guinea
* Tasmania
* Zealandia
* Melanesia
* Island Melanesia
* Micronesia
* Near Oceania
* Polynesia
* Remote Oceania

South America|

* Amazon Plain
* Amazon Basin
* Amazon Rainforest
* Andean States
* Brazilian Highlands
* Caribbean South America
* The Guianas
* Latin America and the Caribbean
* Southern Cone
* Patagonia

Islands|

| By continent|

* Africa
* America
* North America
* Caribbean
* Central America
* South America
* Antarctica
* Asia
* Europe
* by area
* by population
* Oceania
* Australia
* New Zealand

|

By ocean|

* Arctic Ocean
* Atlantic Ocean
* Baltic Sea
* Black Sea
* Caribbean Sea
* Irish Sea
* Mediterranean Sea
* Adriatic Sea
* Aegean Sea
* Ionian Sea
* Indian Ocean
* Persian Gulf
* Pacific Ocean
* East China Sea
* South China Sea
* Southern Ocean

Oceans|

* Antarctic/Southern Ocean
* Antarctic Convergence
* Arctic Ocean
* Atlantic Ocean
* Indian Ocean
* Pacific Ocean
* Great Barrier Reef
* Mariana Trench
* Ring of Fire
* World Ocean

Other waterbodies|

* Lakes
* lists
* Rivers
* Seas

Rim|

* Atlantic Rim
* Indian Ocean Rim
* Mediterranean Rim
* Pacific Rim

Polar|

* Antarctic
* Arctic

Global|

* Global East
* Global Heartland
* Global North
* Global Northeast
* Global Northwest
* Global South
* Global Southeast
* Global Southwest
* Global West

* Continents of Earth / List of seas / Physical Earth

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
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National|

* Vatican
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28°06′32″S 146°18′00″E﻿ / ﻿28.10889°S 146.30000°E﻿ / -28.10889; 146.30000
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