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Coordinates: 28°06′32″S 146°18′00″E / 28.10889°S 146.30000°E / -28.10889; 146.30000
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{{Short description|Region of the Pacific Ocean}}
{{Short description|Subregion of Oceania}}
{{About|the geographical term|the Pelican music album|Australasia (album)|the ecozone|Australasian realm}}
{{other uses|Australasia (disambiguation)|Australasian (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Australia (continent)|Australia{{!}}Australia (country)|Austrasia|Austroasiatic languages{{!}}Austroasian}}
{{Distinguish|Australia (continent)|Australia{{!}}Australia (country)|Austrasia|Austroasiatic languages{{!}}Austroasian}}
[[File:Oceanias Regions.png|thumb|upright=1.33|Regions of [[Oceania]]]]
[[File:Location Australasia cylindrical.png|thumb|upright=1.25|Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, [[Melanesia]]]]

'''Australasia''' is a [[region]] which comprises [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]] and some neighbouring islands. The term is used in a number of different contexts including [[Geopolitics|geopolitically]], [[Physiogeographical|physiogeographically]], and [[Ecology|ecologically]] where the term covers several slightly different but related regions.
'''Australasia''' is a [[subregion]] of [[Oceania]], comprising [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]] (overlapping with [[Polynesia]]), and sometimes including [[New Guinea]] and surrounding islands (overlapping with [[Melanesia]]). The term is used in a number of different contexts, including [[Geopolitics|geopolitically]], [[physiogeographical]]ly, [[historical philology|philologically]], and [[Ecology|ecologically]], where the term covers several slightly different but related regions.


==Derivation and definitions==
==Derivation and definitions==
[[File:Location Australasia cylindrical.png|thumb|upright=1.25|Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, [[Melanesia]]]]
[[Charles de Brosses]] coined the term (as French ''Australasie'') in ''Histoire des navigations aux terres australes''<ref>
[[Charles de Brosses]] coined the term (as French ''Australasie'') in ''Histoire des navigations aux terres australes''<ref>
{{cite book |last1=de Brosses |first1=Charles |author1-link=Charles de Brosses |title=Histoire des navigations aux terres Australes. Contenant ce que l'on sçait des moeurs & des productions des contrées découvertes jusqu'à ce jour; & où il est traité de l'utilité d'y faire de plus amples découvertes, & des moyens d'y former un établissement |year=1756 |trans-title=History of voyages to the Southern Lands. Containing what is known concerning the customs and products... |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3x_MaYZVJQC |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Durand |publication-date=1756 |access-date=2013-12-08}}</ref> (1756). He derived it from the [[Latin]] for "south of [[Asia]]" and differentiated the area from [[Polynesia]] (to the east) and the southeast Pacific ([[Terra Australis|Magellanica]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Douglas |first=Bronwen |date=2014 |title=Science, Voyages, and Encounters in Oceania, 1511-1850 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |page=6 }}</ref>
{{cite book |last1=de Brosses |first1=Charles |author1-link=Charles de Brosses |title=Histoire des navigations aux terres Australes. Contenant ce que l'on sçait des moeurs & des productions des contrées découvertes jusqu'à ce jour; & où il est traité de l'utilité d'y faire de plus amples découvertes, & des moyens d'y former un établissement |year=1756 |trans-title=History of voyages to the Southern Lands. Containing what is known concerning the customs and products... |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3x_MaYZVJQC |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Durand |publication-date=1756 |access-date=2013-12-08}}</ref> (1756). He derived it from the [[Latin]] for "south of [[Asia]]" and differentiated the area from [[Polynesia]] (to the east) and the southeast Pacific ([[Terra Australis|Magellanica]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=[[Bronwen Phyllis Douglas|Douglas]]|first=Bronwen |date=2014 |title=Science, Voyages, and Encounters in Oceania, 1511–1850 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |page=6 }}</ref>


In the late 19th century, the term Australasia was used in reference to the "Australasian colonies". In this sense it related specifically to the British colonies south of Asia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria (i.e. the Australian colonies) and New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Anti-Chinese Legislation in Australasia|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1879468|journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics|jstor = 1879468|at=p. 220|last1 = Lee|first1 = Joseph|year = 1889|volume = 3|issue = 2}}</ref>
In the late 19th century, the term Australasia was used in reference to the "Australasian colonies". In this sense it related specifically to the British colonies south of Asia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria (i.e., the Australian colonies) and New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Anti-Chinese Legislation in Australasia|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1879468|journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics|jstor = 1879468|at=p. 220|last1 = Lee|first1 = Joseph|year = 1889|volume = 3|issue = 2|doi=10.2307/1879468 }}</ref>


Australasia found continued geopolitical attention in the early 20th century. Historian Hansong Li finds that against the backdrop of British colonialism, German geopoliticians considered "Australasia" as a counterweight to the former German South Sea Edge (Südseerand), both of which form the "Indo-Pacific" region.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Hansong |title=The "Indo-Pacific": Intellectual Origins and International Visions in Global Contexts |journal=Modern Intellectual History |date=2021 |volume=19 |issue=3 | pages=20–23 |doi=10.1017/S1479244321000214 |s2cid=236226422 |url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/hansongli/files/li_hansong-the-indo-pacific-intellectual-origins-and-international-visions-in-global-contexts.pdf |access-date=30 July 2022}}</ref>
The ''New Zealand Oxford Dictionary'' gives two meanings of "Australasia". One, especially in Australian use, is "Australia, New Zealand, [[New Guinea]], and the neighbouring islands of the Pacific". The other, especially in New Zealand use, is just Australia and New Zealand.<ref name=NZOD>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Australasia |encyclopedia=New Zealand Oxford Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=9780195584516 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001|editor1-last=Deverson |editor1-first=Tony |editor2-first=Graeme |editor2-last=Kennedy }}</ref>


Two Merriam-Webster dictionaries online (''Collegiate'' and ''Unabridged'') define Australasia as "Australia, New Zealand, and [[Melanesia]]". The ''American Heritage Dictionary'' online recognizes two [[word sense|senses]] in use: one more precise, being similar to the aforementioned senses, and the other broader, loosely covering all of [[Oceania]].
The ''New Zealand Oxford Dictionary'' gives two meanings of "Australasia". One, especially in Australian use, is "Australia, New Zealand, [[New Guinea]], and the neighbouring islands of the Pacific". The other, especially in New Zealand use, is just Australia and New Zealand.<ref name=NZOD>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Australasia |encyclopedia=New Zealand Oxford Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=9780195584516 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001|editor1-last=Deverson |editor1-first=Tony |editor2-first=Graeme |editor2-last=Kennedy }}</ref> Two Merriam-Webster dictionaries online (''Collegiate'' and ''Unabridged'') define Australasia as "Australia, New Zealand, and [[Melanesia]]". The ''American Heritage Dictionary'' online recognizes two [[word sense|senses]] in use: one more precise and the other broader, loosely covering all of [[Oceania]].


== See also ==
==Demographics==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="border:1px solid #aaa; font-size:90%;"
|- style="background:#ececec;"|
! style="line-height:95%; width:4em" class="unsortable" | [[Coat of arms|Arms]]
! style="line-height:95%; width:2em" class="unsortable" | Flag
! Name of region, followed by countries
! data-sort-type="number" | [[List of countries and outlying territories by total area|Area]]<br />(km<sup>2</sup>)
! data-sort-type="number" | [[List of countries by population|Population]]<br />({{UN_Population|Year}}){{UN_Population|ref}}
! data-sort-type="number" | [[List of countries and dependencies by population density|Population density]]<br />(per km<sup>2</sup>)
! [[Capital (political)|Capital]]
! [[ISO 3166-1 alpha-2|ISO 3166-1]]
|-
| colspan="8" style="background:#eee; text-align:center;"|'''Australasia'''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Coat of arms|text=none|Australia}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Ashmore and Cartier Islands}}
| [[Ashmore and Cartier Islands]] (Australia)
| style="text-align:right;"| 199
| colspan=4 {{N/A}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Coat of arms|text=none|Australia}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Australia}}
| '''[[Australia]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| 7,686,850
| style="text-align:right;"| {{UN_Population|Australia}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 3.1
| [[Canberra]]
| AU
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Coat of arms|text=none|Australia}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Christmas Island}}
| [[Christmas Island]] (Australia)
| style="text-align:right;"| 135
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,692
| style="text-align:right;"| 12.5
| [[Flying Fish Cove]]
| CX
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Coat of arms|text=none|Australia}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Cocos (Keeling) Islands}}
| [[Cocos (Keeling) Islands]] (Australia)
| style="text-align:right;"| 14
| style="text-align:right;"| 593
| style="text-align:right;"| 42.4
| [[West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands|West Island]]
| CC
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Coat of arms|text=none|Australia}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Coral Sea Islands}}
| [[Coral Sea Islands]] (Australia)
| style="text-align:right;"| 10
| style="text-align:right;"| 4
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.4
| colspan=2 {{N/A}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Coat of arms|text=none|New Zealand}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|New Zealand}}
| '''[[New Zealand]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| 268,680
| style="text-align:right;"| {{UN_Population|New Zealand}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 17.3
| [[Wellington]]
| NZ
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Coat of arms|text=none|Norfolk Island}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Norfolk Island}}
| [[Norfolk Island]] (Australia)
| style="text-align:right;"| 35
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,302
| style="text-align:right;"| 65.8
| [[Kingston, Norfolk Island|Kingston]]
| NF
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| [[File:National emblem of Papua New Guinea.svg|37px]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Flagicon|Papua New Guinea}}
| '''[[Papua New Guinea]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| 462,840
| style="text-align:right;"| {{UN_Population|Papua New Guinea}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 22
| [[Port Moresby]]
| PG
|-
| colspan="8" style="background:#eee; text-align:center;"|'''Total'''
|-
! colspan=3| Australasia
! 8,418,763
! 42,836,966
! 5.1
| colspan=2 {{N/A}}
|}

==See also==
{{portal|Geography|Oceania}}
* {{look from}}
* [[Asia-Pacific]]
* [[Asia-Pacific]]
* [[Australasian realm]]
* [[Australasia at the Olympics]]
* [[Australasia at the Olympics]]
* [[Austral-Asia Cup]]
* [[Austral-Asia Cup]]
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* [[Zealandia]]
* [[Zealandia]]


==Notes==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


{{Refbegin}}
==References==
* {{cite web | last = Richards | first = Kel | year = 2006 | url = http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1587644.htm | title = Australasia | work = Wordwatch | publisher = ABC News Radio | access-date = 2006-09-30 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070318140546/http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1587644.htm | archive-date = 2007-03-18 | url-status = dead }}
* {{cite web |last=Richards |first=Kel |year=2006 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1587644.htm |title=Australasia |work =Wordwatch |publisher=ABC News Radio |access-date=2006-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070318140546/http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1587644.htm |archive-date=2007-03-18 |url-status=dead }}
{{Refend}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{EB1911 poster|Australasia}}
{{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}


{{Oceania}}
{{Oceania topics}}
{{Regions of Oceania}}
{{Regions of Oceania}}
{{Regions of the world}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|28|06|32|S|146|18|00|E|display=title}}


[[Category:Australasia| ]]
[[Category:Australasia| ]]
[[Category:Asia-Pacific]]
[[Category:Australasian realm]]
[[Category:Regions of Oceania]]

Latest revision as of 20:08, 17 November 2024

For other uses, see Australasia (disambiguation) and Australasian (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Australia (continent), Australia (country), Austrasia, or Austroasian.
Australia's concept of Australasia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and, in this case, Melanesia

Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologically, where the term covers several slightly different but related regions.

Derivation and definitions

[edit]

Charles de Brosses coined the term (as French Australasie) in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes[1] (1756). He derived it from the Latin for "south of Asia" and differentiated the area from Polynesia (to the east) and the southeast Pacific (Magellanica).[2]

In the late 19th century, the term Australasia was used in reference to the "Australasian colonies". In this sense it related specifically to the British colonies south of Asia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria (i.e., the Australian colonies) and New Zealand.[3]

Australasia found continued geopolitical attention in the early 20th century. Historian Hansong Li finds that against the backdrop of British colonialism, German geopoliticians considered "Australasia" as a counterweight to the former German South Sea Edge (Südseerand), both of which form the "Indo-Pacific" region.[4]

The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary gives two meanings of "Australasia". One, especially in Australian use, is "Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and the neighbouring islands of the Pacific". The other, especially in New Zealand use, is just Australia and New Zealand.[5] Two Merriam-Webster dictionaries online (Collegiate and Unabridged) define Australasia as "Australia, New Zealand, and Melanesia". The American Heritage Dictionary online recognizes two senses in use: one more precise and the other broader, loosely covering all of Oceania.

Demographics

[edit]
Arms Flag Name of region, followed by countries Area
(km2) 		Population
(2021)[6][7] 		Population density
(per km2) 		Capital ISO 3166-1
Australasia
Australia Ashmore and Cartier Islands Ashmore and Cartier Islands (Australia) 199 —
Australia Australia Australia 7,686,850 25,921,089 3.1 Canberra AU
Australia Christmas Island Christmas Island (Australia) 135 1,692 12.5 Flying Fish Cove CX
Australia Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia) 14 593 42.4 West Island CC
Australia Coral Sea Islands Coral Sea Islands (Australia) 10 4 0.4 —
New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand 268,680 5,129,727 17.3 Wellington NZ
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (Australia) 35 2,302 65.8 Kingston NF
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea 462,840 9,949,437 22 Port Moresby PG
Total
Australasia 8,418,763 42,836,966 5.1 —

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ de Brosses, Charles (1756). Histoire des navigations aux terres Australes. Contenant ce que l'on sçait des moeurs & des productions des contrées découvertes jusqu'à ce jour; & où il est traité de l'utilité d'y faire de plus amples découvertes, & des moyens d'y former un établissement [History of voyages to the Southern Lands. Containing what is known concerning the customs and products...] (in French). Paris: Durand. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  2. ^ Douglas, Bronwen (2014). Science, Voyages, and Encounters in Oceania, 1511–1850. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 6.
  3. ^ Lee, Joseph (1889). "Anti-Chinese Legislation in Australasia". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 3 (2). p. 220. doi:10.2307/1879468. JSTOR 1879468.
  4. ^ Li, Hansong (2021). "The "Indo-Pacific": Intellectual Origins and International Visions in Global Contexts" (PDF). Modern Intellectual History. 19 (3): 20–23. doi:10.1017/S1479244321000214. S2CID 236226422. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  5. ^ Deverson, Tony; Kennedy, Graeme, eds. (2005). "Australasia". New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001. ISBN 9780195584516.
  6. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  7. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  • Richards, Kel (2006). "Australasia". Wordwatch. ABC News Radio. Archived from the original on 2007-03-18. Retrieved 2006-09-30.
[edit]
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Australasia".

28°06′32″S 146°18′00″E / 28.10889°S 146.30000°E / -28.10889; 146.30000

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