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The Oceania Portal

Map of Oceania

Oceania is a geographical (often geopolitical) region consisting of numerous countries and territories—mostly islands—in the Pacific Ocean. The exact scope of Oceania is controversial, with varying interpretations including East Timor, Australia, and New Zealand.

The primary use of the term Oceania is to describe a continental region (like Europe or Africa) that lies between Asia and the Americas, with Australia as the major land mass. The name Oceania is used, rather than Australasia, because unlike the other continental groupings, it is the ocean rather than the continent that links the nations together. Oceania is the smallest continental grouping in land area and the second smallest, after Antarctica, in population.

  

Daily article

A beach at Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu, on a sunny day.

Tuvalu is an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its name means "Eight Standing Together" in Tuvaluan. Tuvalu is one of the smallest countries in the world, in fact, the fourth smallest. Tuvalu also has very poor lands. There is almost no potable water, and the soil is hardly usable for agriculture.

Due to their low elevation (5 meters, or 16 feet maximum), the islands that make up this nation are threatened by any future sea level rise. The population of 11,636 (July 2005 est.) may evacuate during the next decades to New Zealand, or Niue.

  

Selected article

Ambae island, Vanuatu, image acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

Aoba, also known as Ambae, is an island in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. Ambae has a population of less than 10,000, divided into 3-4 discernible language groups. The island has no considerable towns, and there are three airstrips with service by Vanair, at Walaha(W), Redcliff(S), and Longana(E).

Ambae is physically characterized by the large volcano at its center, Manaro; indeed, the island is little more than the peak of a volcanic mountain rising dramatically from the sea. This volcano has no visible vents at its apex, only crater lakes. It is, nevertheless, active: a steam and ash eruption in 2005 displaced around half of the island's inhabitants.

The local economy is largely non-monetary, with cash crop income (from copra, cacao, and dried kava) being used primarily for school fees and sundry items like soap, salt, kerosine, etc. Most regular employment is in the public sector, as teachers. Remittances from employed relatives in the towns of Luganville or Port Vila also contribute cash to the local economy.

  

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