Geography
What are Australia and Oceania?
Quick answer
Australia is both a country and the smallest continent. Oceania is the wider region of the Pacific that includes Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and thousands of small islands.
In one sentence
Oceania is the region of Australia, New Zealand and thousands of Pacific islands, and Australia is both a country and a continent.
Explained
Australia is the smallest continent and the sixth-largest country in the world. It is surrounded by ocean, which makes it the only continent that is a single country. The middle of Australia, the Outback, is dry and red. Most people live near the coast, in cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The capital is Canberra.
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Oceania is a wider name for the part of the world that includes Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the many islands of the Pacific Ocean. It has 14 independent countries, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. Geographers often group its islands into three areas: Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.
Australia is known for its wildlife, such as kangaroos, koalas and wombats, which are marsupials. Its famous places include Uluru, a giant red rock sacred to the Aboriginal peoples of the area, and the Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef system in the world. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years, and are among the oldest living cultures.
New Zealand (Aotearoa in the Māori language) has two main islands, with mountains, volcanoes and green farmland. Wellington is its capital. Many Pacific islands are low coral islands, or volcanic ones, and some are at risk from rising seas. Because Australia and New Zealand lie south of the equator, their seasons are opposite to those in Europe and North America. See islands for how they form.
Examples
| Place | What it is |
|---|---|
| Australia | country and continent, capital Canberra |
| New Zealand | island country, capital Wellington |
| Papua New Guinea | large country, hundreds of languages |
| Fiji | island country in the Pacific |
| Great Barrier Reef | the largest coral reef system |
Common mistakes
- "Sydney is the capital." It is the biggest city; Canberra is the capital.
- "Australia and Oceania are the same." Oceania includes many other countries and islands.
- "New Zealand is part of Australia." It is a separate country, about 2,000 kilometres away.
Quick quiz
Australia and Oceania
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What is the capital of Australia?
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Related topics
Continents
Continents are the very large areas of land on Earth. In English-speaking schools you usually learn seven, but some countries count six.
Oceans
Oceans are the huge bodies of salt water that cover most of Earth. There are five: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic.
Islands
An island is a piece of land completely surrounded by water. Islands can be tiny or huge, and they form in different ways, such as from volcanoes or coral.
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest continent, with 54 countries, the Sahara Desert, the River Nile, the Congo rainforest and savannas full of wildlife.
Antarctica
Antarctica is the frozen continent around the South Pole. It is the coldest, windiest and driest continent, covered by ice, and has no permanent residents.
Asia
Asia is the largest continent, covering about a third of the world's land and holding around 60 percent of its people. It has Mount Everest, the Himalayas and the most populous countries.