Written by SAHS Edited by Mr. Barkhau AHS Oceania Written by SAHS Edited by Mr. Barkhau AHS

What is Oceania? Oceania is a region made up of thousands of islands throughout the Central and South Pacific Ocean. It includes Australia, the smallest continent in terms of total land area.

What is Oceania? Oceania is dominated by the nation of Australia. The other two major landmasses of Oceania are the country of New Zealand, and the western half of the island of New Guinea, made up of the nation of Papua New Guinea.

What is Oceania? Oceania also includes three island regions: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia (including the U.S. state of Hawaii). All of these island nations are located in the Pacific Ocean

History of Oceania The Aborigine are the easiest inhabitants of Australia, an the Maori are New Zealand’s indigenous population. Both counties were settled by the British, which had a disastrous impact on the indigenous peoples.

History of Oceania Australia was originally set up as a penal colony; people who were convicted of a crime had a choice – be executed or move to Australia roughly 1/3 of all people sent to Australia died before getting there. Most criminals were for nonviolent crimes (one colonist was a 70 year old women who stole food).

Australia and News Zealand - Government Both countries democracies and part of the British commonwealth A commonwealth is a state or nation-state governed for the common good as opposed to an authoritarian state governed for the benefit of a given class of owners.

Australia and News Zealand - Government Today the term is more general and means a political community. All of the following are examples of a commonwealth a federated union of constituent states a community of sovereign states a democratic constitutional monarchy

A&NZ - Population Patters Both countries have multicultural communities. About 2 percent of Australia’s population is Aborigine, and about 7 percent of New Zealand is Maori.

A&NZ - Population Patterns Most Australians live along the mild and fertile southern, eastern, and southwestern coast. Most people that live in New Zealand live on the Northern Island.

A&NZ - Society and Culture Both countries blend European, indigenous, and Asian elements into their cultures. English is the primary language in both countries. Both countries have high quality education and health care systems.

A&NZ – Society and Culture Like Western Europe and the United States both countries have had a stressful history with their indigenous populations, however relationships have improved in recent years.

A&NZ – Economies Both countries practice capitalism and have diverse economies. Australia’s economic activities include. Agriculture Mining (uranium, other metals) Tourism

A&NZ – Economies New Zealand’s economic activities include. Agriculture Textiles Tourism

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea is located on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea The western half of the Island is part of the nation of Indonesia

Papua New Guinea It is one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world There are 852 different spoken languages in the country The country is very rural and only 18% of its population lives in cities

Papua New Guinea Parts of the country remain unexplored today and there are rumors of groups of indigenous people who have not made contact with the outside world Historically many of the tribes practiced head hunting and cannibalism – both practices are currently outlawed

Papua New Guinea The country is full of natural resources however due to difficult terrain (mountains, jungle, swamps) many of these recourses haven’t been developed – its just too expensive. Other major economic activities include eco-tourism and fishing.