The cultural regions of Oceania are Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia. Oceania is made up of Australia, the islands of New Zealand and New Guinea, in addition to the volcanic archipelagos of Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia.
Oceania is an insular continent located in the Pacific Ocean, and it has an area of 9,008,458 square kilometers, which makes Oceania the continent with the smallest surface area on the planet.
The different cultural regions of Oceania
Australasia: includes the great continental area of Australia and the insular region of New Zealand. The New Zealand archipelago is located southeast of Australia, being made up of two islands: the North Island and the South Island.
Melanesia: Includes the independent nations of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, the New Caleodnia Islands, and Vanuatu.
Micronesia: comprises more than 2000 islands, among which are:
-The Marshall Islands.
-Guam and Wake Island, territories belonging to the United States.
-The Northern Mariana Islands, a joint community with the United States.
-The Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Kiribati and Nauru.
Polynesia: includes the independent nations of:
-Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu.
-The islands Kirimati, Marquesas and Tahiti.
-Samoa Americana, US territory.
-Tokelau, an island belonging to New Zealand.
-The Cook and Nieu Islands, two independent islands in free association with New Zealand.
-The Pitcairn Islands, British area.
-French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna, two French communities.
The Australian population is mainly located in the coastal regions, and is mainly dedicated to the development of the agricultural sector. Australasia stands out as a major exporter of cereals, grains, and wool.
In Australia and New Zealand, the main economic activity consists of the practice of agriculture and livestock. In addition, both areas have large reserves of coal.
In New Guinea, they also base their economy on the development of agriculture. In addition to the cultivation of cereals, subsistence fishing is also carried out.
The island regions of Melanesia and Micronesia are dominated by an essential support economy, in addition to mining and forest resources.
The various territories of the continent of Oceania are home to people with different customs and beliefs, which attributes to the oceanic territory a multicultural and urban character.
In many of the islands it is common to be able to listen to traditional music performed with instruments native to the area, such as the garamut, the didgeridoo or the kundu, for example.
Traditional oceanic culture has a highly religious foundation, and in a sense it often has spiritual or magical traits.
The cultural manifestations of these beliefs are given through the worship of idols, weapons, tattoos, masks and other ornaments.
References
- Oceania Culture (2015). Recovered from: Viajesoceania.com.
- Mc Daniel, M., Sprout, E., Boudreau, D. and Turgeon, A. (2012). Australia and Oceania: Human Geography. Recovered from: nationalgeographic.org.
- Oceania (2017). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. London, England. Recovered from: britannica.com.
- Regions of Oceania (2013). Bogota Colombia. Recovered from: socialhizo.com.
- Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2017). Oceania. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.