Pacific Islands: Difference between revisions
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*Low islands are reef or atolls. |
*Low islands are reef or atolls. |
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*Low islands are built on coral reefs. |
*Low islands are built on coral reefs. |
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*Low islands are quite small. |
*Low islands are quite small.<math>Insert formula here</math> |
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*Melanesia is the most populated island region. |
*Melanesia is the most populated island region. |
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*Most of Melanesia’s large islands are high islands. |
*Most of Melanesia’s large islands are high islands. |
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*The Pacific Island region has few natural resources. |
*The Pacific Island region has few natural resources. |
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*The Pacific islands are near Australia |
*The Pacific islands are near Australia |
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==List of islands== |
==List of islands== |
Revision as of 06:49, 4 April 2007
The Pacific Ocean contains an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 islands; the exact number has not been precisely determined. These islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania (although Oceania usually also includes Australia and New Zealand), and are traditionally grouped into three: (1) Melanesia, (2) Micronesia, and (3) Polynesia. Inhabitants are sometimes referred to as Pacific Islanders.
Melanesia means black islands. These include New Guinea (the largest Pacific island, which is divided into the nation of Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Irian Jaya), New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands
Micronesia means small islands. These include the Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Polynesia means many islands. These include New Zealand, the Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, the Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and Easter Island.
There are also many other islands located within the boundaries of the Pacific Ocean, but these are not considered part of Oceania. These islands include the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador; the Aleutian Islands in Alaska; the Russian islands of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands; Taiwan; the Philippines; the South China Sea Islands; most of the islands of Indonesia; and the island nation of Japan, which includes the Ryukyu Islands. However, it should be noted that the inhabitants of these islands are not considered to be Pacific Islanders and are usually identified with their nearest continent.
Geography
- About 25,000 islands dot the Pacific Ocean.
- The region is divided into three areas; Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
- The region’s islands are also classified in two groups; high islands and low islands.
- Volcanoes form high islands.
- High islands support more people and have a more fertile soil.
- Low islands are reef or atolls.
- Low islands are built on coral reefs.
- Low islands are quite small.
- Melanesia is the most populated island region.
- Most of Melanesia’s large islands are high islands.
- Most of the islands of Micronesia lie north of the equator.
- Polynesia is the largest island region in the Pacific Ocean.
- The Pacific Island region has few natural resources.
- The Pacific islands are near Australia
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List of islands
This is a list of many of the major Pacific Islands, organized by archipelago or political unit. In order to keep this list of moderate size, links are given to more complete lists for countries with large numbers of small or uninhabited islands. Note: many Polynesian languages have a glottal stop, which in most of them is seldomly written, however. If a name with a < ʻ > cannot be found, try to rewrite it without it. See 'okina for more info.
- American Samoa (United States)
- Aunuʻu
- Ofu
- Olosega
- Rose Island
- Swains Island (Olosenga, Olohega) (disputed)
- Taʻu
- Tutuila
- Baker Island (United States)
- Caroline Islands (Federated States of Micronesia)
- Chatham Islands (New Zealand)
- Clipperton Island (France)
- Easter Island/Rapa Nui (Chile)
- Fiji Islands
- French Polynesia (France)
- Gilbert Islands (Kiribati)
- Hawaiian Islands (United States)
- Howland Island (United States)
- Johnston Atoll (United States)
- Kermadec Islands (New Zealand)
- Line Islands
- Caroline Island
- Flint Island (Kiribati)
- Jarvis Island (United States)
- Kingman Reef (United States)
- Kiritimati/Christmas Island (Kiribati)
- Malden Island (Kiribati)
- Palmyra Atoll (United States)
- Starbuck Island (Kiribati)
- Tabuaeran/Fanning Island (Kiribati)
- Teraina/Washington Island (Kiribati)
- Tongareva/Penhryn Island (Cook Islands)
- Vostok Island (Kiribati)
- Marcus Island (Japan)
- Marianas Islands (United States)
- New Caledonia (France)
- New Zealand (see also Islands of New Zealand)
- Phoenix Islands (Kiribati)
- Pitcairn Islands (UK)
- Revillagigedo Islands (Mexico)
- Solomon Islands (see also Islands of the Solomon Islands)
- Tonga (only main islands or groups, on north-south order. See also complete list of islands in Tonga)
- Tuvalu (see also Islands of Tuvalu)
- Vanuatu (New Hebrides; see also Islands of Vanuatu)
- Ambrym
- Anatom
- Aoba
- Éfaté
- Erromango
- Espiritu Santo
- Futuna
- Hunter (claimed by France and Vanuatu)
- Îles Banks
- Îles Torres
- Maéwo
- Matthew (claimed by France and Vanuatu)
- Malakula
- Pentecóte
- Tanna
- Wake Island (United States)
- Wallis and Futuna (France)
- Western Samoa (see Samoa)
- list of islands in the South China Sea
- list of islands in the East China Sea
- list of islands in the Sea of Japan
- Japanese archipelago
- list of islands of the Republic of China
- Philippine archipelago
See also
- List of islands
- List of islands in the United States
- List of islands in the Arctic Ocean
- List of islands in the Atlantic Ocean
- List of islands in the Caribbean
- List of islands in the Indian Ocean
- List of islands of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean
- List of islands of Australia
- List of islands of Asia
- List of islands of New Zealand
- List of islands of North America
- List of islands of South America
- List of islands in Tonga
- Pacific Islands Tourist Information (http://www.pacificislands.co.nz)