Oceanía

Oceania (UK: , US: (), ) is a geographic region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Spanning the eastern and western hemispheres, Oceania has a land area of 8,525,989 square kilometres (3,291,903 sq mi) and a population of over 41 million. When compared to continents, the region of Oceania is the smallest in land area and the second smallest in population after Antarctica. Oceania has a diverse mix of economies from the highly developed and globally competitive financial markets of Australia and New Zealand, which rank high in quality of life and human development index, to the much less developed economies that belong to countries such as Kiribati and Tuvalu, while also including medium-sized economies of Pacific islands such as Palau, Fiji and Tonga. The largest and most populous country in Oceania is Australia, with Sydney being the largest city of both Oceania and Australia. The first settlers of Australia, New Guinea, and the large islands just to the east arrived more than 60,000 years ago. Oceania was first explored by Europeans from the 16th century onward. Portuguese navigators, between 1512 and 1526, reached the Tanimbar Islands, some of the Caroline Islands and west Papua New Guinea. On his first voyage in the 18th century, James Cook, who later arrived at the highly developed Hawaiian Islands, went to Tahiti and followed the east coast of Australia for the first time. The Pacific front saw major action during the Second World War, mainly between Allied powers the United States and Australia, and Axis power Japan. The arrival of European settlers in subsequent centuries resulted in a significant alteration in the social and political landscape of Oceania. In more contemporary times there has been increasing discussion on national flags and a desire by some Oceanians to display their distinguishable andindividualistic identity. The rock art of Australian Aborigines is the longest continuously practiced artistic tradition in the world. Puncak Jaya in Papua is the highest peak in Oceania at 4,884 metres. Most Oceanian countries have a parliamentary representative democratic multi-party system, with tourism being a large source of income for the Pacific Islands nations.

Oceanía es un continente insular de la Tierra constituido por la plataforma continental de Australia, las islas de Nueva Guinea, Nueva Zelanda y los archipiélagos coralinos y volcánicos de Melanesia, Micronesia y Polinesia. Históricamente se consideró que Insulindia también formaba parte de Oceanía.​ Todas estas islas están distribuidas por el océano Pacífico. Con una extensión de 9 008 458 km², se trata del continente más pequeño del planeta Tierra. En otros modelos continentales, en particular en los de habla inglesa, se usa Australia (continente) en lugar de Oceanía,​ pero en este caso su definición no incluye las islas del Pacífico. Inversamente, en otros modelos se utiliza el término de Oceanía para designar el conjunto de todas las islas del Océano Pacífico.