Talk:Oceania

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)

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)

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)

"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)

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)

I agree, definitely is a continent Venezia Friulano (talk) 14:20, 12 May 2022 (UTC)

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)

Oceania is a continent guys not named a continent in " some parts of the world"!!!!😡 WikiEditorTooGood (talk) 03:50, 26 August 2023 (UTC)

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)

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)

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)

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.

There is no argument brother, Australia is the continent by definition. Oceania is a region containing the continent Australia. 74.135.138.228 (talk) 09:37, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

Centralized discussion on oceania as a continent

Let's use Talk:Oceania (continent), please. fgnievinski (talk) 05:01, 20 March 2020 (UTC)

Proposed Compromise

I propose the following lead as a compromise:

Oceania (UK: /ˌoʊsiˈɑːniə, ˌoʊʃi-, -ˈeɪn-/, US: /ˌoʊʃiˈæniə/ , /-ˈɑːn-/) is a geographic region sometimes considered to be a continent that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.

This could recognize that outside of the US, Oceania is considered to be a continent without actually calling it one.

PtolemyXV (talk) 20:39, 25 October 2021 (UTC)

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)

Oceania is not a continent by the definition of continent. So we should not say it is, or categorise it as one. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 07:56, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

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)

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)

Support I am an inclusionist, I support your proposal. Go ahead and make the edit, as you wish. 120.17.142.88 (talk) 13:00, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

Is the Oceanic only in 1 part of the plant?

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.

Thank you, Kiera Wikipedia User 11KieraPublisher (talk) 18:30, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

What are you talking about? 2001:8003:9008:1301:F143:5EB3:3D35:F87E (talk) 07:06, 1 August 2022 (UTC)

The area is wrong

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.

The real area of Oceania should be approx. 8,970,000 sq km. 120.17.142.88 (talk) 23:34, 30 May 2022 (UTC)

According to Collins World Atlas, the total area of Oceania is 8,844,516 sq km. 203.174.173.6 (talk) 06:00, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

fix it, may be?

I think that there is a conflict of redirection in nepali language wikipedia page of "ne:ओसिनिया". So, i would request the admins to fix the side link of it in wikidata. BoyHayHay (talk) 14:28, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

Traditional tripartite subdivision

« 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)

Yes, even the United Nations geoscheme adopted this "traditional tripartite subdivision". There is nothing we can do about it. 120.16.207.195 (talk) 05:48, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Potential Conflict of Interest edit

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)

@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)

Kiribati not Kirabati

On the map at Oceania#/media/File:Oceania UN Geoscheme - Map with Zones.svg, Kiribati in army green color under Marshall Islands is misspelt. Thanks

74.215.47.125 (talk) 21:44, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 11 August 2024

X= As it is.

Y= Remove Ogasawara from Demographics. Because it's part of Asia. 62.3.195.51 (talk) 13:40, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

In progress: An editor is implementing the requested edit. Also, by some definitions, it's part of the Micronesian set of islands. I'll update anyway, because it is technically part of Japan. Awhellnawr123214 (talk) 04:54, 12 August 2024 (UTC)