Oceania

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Australia & New Zealand

Geography

Separated by 1600 kilometers of ocean, the southern continent of Australia and island nation of New Zealand share much in common - magnificent landscapes, a blending of European and native cultures and are major destinations in global tourism. Australia is made up of six states - Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and Southern Australia and two territories - Northern Territory and the tiny Australian Capital Territory which holds the capital, Canberra. Sydney is the continent's largest and best-known city of 4.2 million people, around one-fifth of Australia's residents. The world-famous Great Barrier Reef can be found off the northeast coast extending for 2,000 kilometers into the South Pacific Ocean. Most of the landmass is desert, with over 85% of the species being unique to Australia such as the koala, kangaroo, emu and wombat. Broken up into North and South Islands, New Zealand was originally a colony of New South Wales until 1840. Wellington serves as the capital for New Zealand's 4+ million residents while Auckland is the most heavily populated city (both are located on the North Island). As with Australia, New Zealand has exotic animals, flora and fauna not found elsewhere on the planet. Due to the harvesting of the forests and introduction of non-native animals many New Zealand species suffered or even became extinct, but the government has undertaken an intensive campaign to remove foreign creatures and reintroduce native ones back into the environment.

Politics,Economics and Religion

Economically Australia enjoys the recognition of having one of the world's highest quality of life indexes. Trade and tourism are vital components of the economy but high taxes, tariffs and a lack of a strong manufacturing industry are setbacks. A sporting nation, on any given weekend you could find cricket, rugby and Australian Rules football matches being watched across the land.

History

Both countries were heavily colonized by British settlers in the 18th -19th centuries because of their importance to the Crown's shipping interests (and in Australia's case, as a penal colony). The native population in Australia is Aborigine; in New Zealand, they are Maori. Both groups shared darker moments during Britain's wave of colonization but the 20th century has seen a concentrated effort by the two governments to make reparations for past wrongs. One recent proud moment for Australians was in hosting the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney.

Climate

The driest continent on the planet, Australia's population is mainly clustered around the south-eastern coastline. A mild, cool climate gives New Zealand a magnificent and highly beautiful landscape full of rich green valleys and forests while volcanism has produced dozens of majestic, snow-covered mountaintops known worldwide to climbers.

Melanesia

Geography

A chain of islands located to the north of Australia and running east-southeast into the Pacific Ocean, Melanesia consists of New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Torres Strait Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Palau Islands, Vanuatu and other smaller islands. The second-largest island in the world as well as the biggest landmass in the region, New Guinea is split into two regions at the island's center. It may be the most linguistically diverse country in the world with about 800 different languages spoken by its nearly 7 million people. Rainforests are common throughout the islands and are the home to an amazing array of animal and plant life; new species are constantly being catalogued and hundreds of thousands more are believed to be waiting to be discovered. Volcanism has produced some substantial mountains and hilly regions making ideal growing soil for native crops.

Politics,Economics and Religion

The warm waters are ideal for coral reefs and sandy beaches making it a favorite destination for western travellers. There have been some instances of political unrest within some of the Melanesian nations. Fiji has been plagued with a series of coups ousting the elected governments with the most recent taking place in late 2006. In 2000 the Malaku Islands west of New Guinea saw a flare up between Christian and Muslim groups resulting in many dead and half a million displaced from their homes. Most of the islands have had stable autonomous governments; as a territory of France, New Caledonia is governed by French law.

History

The people of the region encompass many cultures and languages but generally fall into two distinct groups, the Austronesians and Papuans. The former term is used to describe those whose ancestors came from Southeast Asia 12,000 years ago and spread across the island chains while the latter group is native to the region having settled approximately 35,000 years ago.

Climate

Temperatures are warm and the climate is moist producing substantial rainfall in the winter and spring months.