This article is within the scope of WikiProject Oceania, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
Oceania on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.OceaniaWikipedia:WikiProject OceaniaTemplate:WikiProject OceaniaOceania articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Geography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
geography on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.GeographyWikipedia:WikiProject GeographyTemplate:WikiProject Geographygeography articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Melanesia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
Melanesia on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.MelanesiaWikipedia:WikiProject MelanesiaTemplate:WikiProject MelanesiaMelanesia articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Micronesia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
Micronesia on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.MicronesiaWikipedia:WikiProject MicronesiaTemplate:WikiProject MicronesiaMicronesia articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Polynesia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
Polynesia on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PolynesiaWikipedia:WikiProject PolynesiaTemplate:WikiProject PolynesiaPolynesia articles
This article is written in
Australian English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, realise, program, labour (but Labor Party)) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other
varieties of English. According to the
relevant style guide, this should not be changed without
broad consensus.
Oceania as a continent
The model I was taught was that Australia is a country, which is also a
subregion of the continent of Oceania. Oceania as a continent consists of 2 main regions:
Australasia and the
Pacific Islands. Australasia can be further subdivided into 3 subregions: Australia,
Zealandia (consists of New Zealand and New Caledonia) and
New Guinea (consists of Papua New Guinea and
Western New Guinea); the Pacific Islands also can be further subdivided into 3 subregions: Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia (including
Hawaii and
Easter Island). I wonder how many of you actually support this theory?
Under this theory, all the islands in the world can be grouped into their respective continents. Oh, it is a seven-continent model, so North America and South America are considered separate continents. The
World Ocean is also subdivided into 7 smaller oceans: North Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean and Antarctic Ocean (aka the
Southern Ocean).
110.145.30.41 (
talk)
11:06, 13 February 2020 (UTC)reply
Just think about it for a minute Hawai'i is in Oceania but is 11 hours flying from Australia, the only continental land mass in Oceania. Oceania exists but is not a continent there is no requirement that the world be divided up into "continents" and when the world is divided up for convenience it is into regions that mostly reflect the continents except for Oceania which is a region but is most certainly not a continent.
Andrewgprout (
talk)
06:19, 20 March 2020 (UTC)reply
Well, who said continent = landmass? The fact that Asia and Europe are treated as different continents while physically sharing the same landmass throws everything out of the window. Furthermore, why are the
Malay Archipelago and the
Japanese Archipelago considered parts of Asia? These islands are much larger than the South Pacific islands and they are not part of the Asian/Eurasian landmass. Why are the
Caribbean islands considered parts of North America? Why is
Madagascar considered a part of Africa despite being a completely sparate and geologically independent
microcontinent of its own?
In reality, continent = geographical region, not landmass. A lot of non-English speaking countries are treating Oceania as a continent, and rightly so.
120.17.142.88 (
talk)
02:10, 31 May 2022 (UTC)reply
"Well, who said continent = landmass?" ...it is in the word, in English the word continent absolutely and totally means large landmass bigger than an island. This may not be true in other languages but it is in English. In many cases these landmasses are used as a proxy for region without any particular probelms. But this is not true of oceania which by definition is an anti-continent.
Andrewgprout (
talk)
02:37, 31 May 2022 (UTC)reply
I know. The word "continent" literally means "continuous tract of land", but since the very beginning, when we named the three original continents Africa, Asia, and Europe, we had disregarded this definition. In practice, continent has never been a "continuous tract of land". It never was, and as of today, it still isn't.
120.17.142.88 (
talk)
12:13, 31 May 2022 (UTC)reply
The definition of continent is vague. Asia and Europe are literally parts of the same landmass, if they can be classified as different continents, I see no reason why Oceania cannot be classified as a continent. As far as I know, Oceania is considered a continent in some non-English speaking countries.
120.17.142.88 (
talk)
01:54, 31 May 2022 (UTC)reply
Australia is the "continent", Oceania, is the "region". This is self-explanatory, otherwise, what's the point of the very word "continent"? Everywhere would just be referred to as simply part of some particular region, which is fine, but that's not the same as using the word continent and being (in this instance) suddenly inconsistent in its use. For example, people in the UK often talk of going "onto the continent". A continent is a large landmass, simple as. The UK may be part of Europe, regards it being a region and having trade and security arrangements etc, but it most certainly Not part of the "continent" of Europe. Likewise, Hawaii is part of the political union of the USA, but it is not part of the continent of North America. — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
JellyThoughts (
talk •
contribs)
16:01, 13 November 2023 (UTC)reply
What continent are islands along the coast of Africa part of? None? They are obviously part of the African continent. Such as the Australian Country, New Zealand country and so on being part of the Oceania continent.
87.196.80.195 (
talk)
07:58, 29 December 2023 (UTC)reply
New Zealand (and New Caledonia) are part of the Zealandia submerged continent. They are not part of 'Oceania' or 'Australia' or whatever anyone wants to call the Australian continent. Refer to the Zealandia page for further info.
121.74.228.88 (
talk)
09:35, 29 December 2023 (UTC)reply
What is your argument? You literally said it yourself… theyre islands. New Zealand is an island of the continent Australia. Cuba is an island of the continent North America… Madagascar is an island of the continent Africa.
It's already covered under "Definitions and extent", but while it could be mentioned in the lead, doing it in the first sentence is too confusing. Btw, Oceania is not considered a continent in many countries besides the US, including Australia and New Zealand!
BilCat (
talk)
21:00, 26 October 2021 (UTC)reply
As far as I know Oceania is only called a continent in non-English speaking countries. To mention in the lede in English Wikipedia that it is 'sometimes called a continent' would be undue. Editors in Brazil or other countries are perfectly entitled to come to a consensus about Oceania's status but for most if not all of the English speaking world Oceania is not a continent.
Robynthehode (
talk)
13:53, 23 February 2022 (UTC)reply
Are you sure about that? The
Five Eyes are not the only English-speaking countries in the world, there are many English-speaking countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Carribean, and the southern half of Africa. In total, there are nearly 100 English-speaking countries in the world. Are you sure that Oceania is not considered to be a continent in all of them?
I know for a fact that Oceania is classified as a continent in a lot of non-English speaking countries. I mean why not, continent was never meant to be a "continuous landmass". The fact that Asia and Europe are treated as different continents while physically sharing the same landmass throws the original definition out of the window. Furthermore, why are the
Malay Archipelago and the
Japanese Archipelago considered parts of Asia? These islands are much larger than the South Pacific islands and they are not part of the Asian/Eurasian landmass. Why are the
Caribbean islands considered parts of North America? Why is
Madagascar considered a part of Africa despite being a completely sparate and geologically independent
microcontinent of its own?
In reality, continent = geographical region, not landmass. By the that definition, Oceania has every right to be called a continent.
120.17.142.88 (
talk)
12:37, 31 May 2022 (UTC)reply
Me as a Wikipedia editor, feels that maybe this article should have scientific prove of this Oceanic. This is my suggestions please reach out to me if you agree.
In this article, it states that the area of Oceania is 8,525,989 sq km, but if we add up the areas of Australia (7,617,930 sq km), New Zealand (268,021 sq km), and the whole island of
New Guinea (785,753 sq km), it is already 8,671,704 sq km.
I think the figure in the infobox is the area of "political Oceania" (i.e. it excludes the
Western New Guinea region and the
Aru Islands which are administered by Indonesia), but in both
human geography and
physical geography (two main branches of geography), political boundaries are ignored and countries like Indonesia are classified as
transcontinental countries.
« Although based on a superficial understanding of the Pacific islanders, Dumont d’Urville’s tripartite classification stuck. Indeed, these categories — Polynesians, Micronesians, Melanesians — became so deeply entrenched in Western anthropological thought that it is difficult even now to break out the mould in which they entrap us (
Thomas, 1989). Such labels provide handy geographical referents, yet they mislead us greatly if we take them to be meaningful segments of cultural history. Only Polynesia has stood the tests of time and increased knowledge, as a category with historical significance »,
Patrick Vinton Kirch, On the Road of the Winds: an Archeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2000 : 5.
Arorae (
talk)
20:31, 1 February 2023 (UTC)reply
The page was
edited to remove "Outside of the English-speaking world" in the first paragraph. This happened shortly after
this reddit comment was called out for cherry picking that information. The edit was not tied to an account. This has already caused confusion in that comment chain.
Theinatorinator (
talk)
04:11, 29 December 2023 (UTC)reply
@
Theinatorinator Seems this could be solved by someone finding a source that supports either position? But agreed that the clause should not be removed on the basis of the reddit discussion alone.
Sushi725 (
talk)
18:17, 31 December 2023 (UTC)reply