Oceania

===Boundaries===
{{Further|topic=Oceania borders|Boundaries between the continents of Earth|List of transcontinental countries}}

Islands at the geographic extremes of Oceania are generally considered to be the [[Bonin Islands]], a politically integral part of Japan; [[Hawaii]], a state of the [[United States]]; Clipperton Island, a possession of [[France]]; the [[Juan Fernández Islands]], belonging to Chile; and [[Macquarie Island]], belonging to Australia.<ref name="class">{{cite web |last1=Udvardy |first1=Miklos D.F. |title=A Classification of the Biogeographical Provinces of the World |url=https://fnad.org/Documentos/A%20Classification%20of%20the%20Biogeographical%20Provinces%20of%20the%20World%20Miklos%20D.F.%20Udvardy.pdf |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=7 March 2022 |archive-date=18 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218131430/http://www.fnad.org/Documentos/A%20Classification%20of%20the%20Biogeographical%20Provinces%20of%20the%20World%20Miklos%20D.F.%20Udvardy.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tourist attractions in Easter Island & Robinson Crusoe |publisher=GoChile |url=https://www.gochile.cl/en/destinations-easter-island-robinson-crusoe.htm |access-date=2 February 2022 |quote=Despite being geographically located in Oceania, Juan Fernández Archipelago belongs to the insular Chilean territory, just like Easter Island. |archive-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202002755/https://www.gochile.cl/en/destinations-easter-island-robinson-crusoe.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ausgov">{{Cite book |last1=Thomson |first1=Lex |url=https://www.aciar.gov.au/sites/default/files/mn201_trees_for_life_-_final_artwork_-_15052018_web_upload_version.pdf |title=Trees for life in Oceania: Conservation and utilisation of genetic diversity |last2=Doran |first2=John |last3=Clarke |first3=Bronwyn |date=2018 |publisher=Australian Center for International Agricultural Research |location=Canberra, Australia |page=16 |quote=In a number of cases, human exploitation of certain high-value tree species, including sandalwoods and other highly prized timbers, has led to their extinction—such as the sandalwood species ''Santalum fernandezianum'', in Juan Fernández Islands; and others to the brink of extinction, such ''S. boninensis'' in Ogasawara Islands, Japan; or is an ongoing threatening factor in the examples of ''S. yasi'' in Fiji and Tonga, ''Gyrinops spp''. in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and ''Intsia bijuga'' throughout the Pacific Islands. |access-date=24 January 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124215245/https://www.aciar.gov.au/sites/default/files/mn201_trees_for_life_-_final_artwork_-_15052018_web_upload_version.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kladnik |first=Drago |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=69V7DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22geographically+part+of+oceania%22&pg=PA47 |title=Terraced Landscapes |date=2017 |publisher=Založba ZRC |page=47 |isbn=978-9610500193 |quote=In North America, agricultural terraces are exclusive to Mexico and the United States – which Hawaii, in the Pacific, is also part of, but is otherwise geographically part of Oceania. |access-date=2022-07-30 |archive-date=2022-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064236/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Terraced_Landscapes/69V7DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22geographically+part+of+oceania%22&pg=PA47&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="realm">{{cite book |last1=Todd |first1=Ian |title=Island Realm: A Pacific Panorama |date=1974 |publisher=Angus & Robertson |page=190 |isbn=978-0207127618 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gcEJAQAAIAAJ&q=%22French+language+cultures%22+1974+pacific |access-date=2 February 2022 |quote=[we] can further define the word ''culture'' to mean ''language''. Thus we have the French language part of Oceania, the Spanish part and the Japanese part. The Japanese culture groups of Oceania are the Bonin Islands, the Marcus Islands and the Volcano Islands. These three clusters, lying south and south-east of Japan, are inhabited either by Japanese or by people who have now completely fused with the Japanese race. Therefore they will not be taken into account in the proposed comparison of the policies of non - Oceanic cultures towards Oceanic peoples. On the eastern side of the Pacific are a number of Spanish language culture groups of islands. Two of them, the Galapagos and Easter Island, have been dealt with as separate chapters in this volume. Only one of the dozen or so Spanish culture island groups of Oceania has an Oceanic population — the Polynesians of Easter Island. The rest are either uninhabited or have a Spanish - Latin - American population consisting of people who migrated from the mainland. Therefore, the comparisons which follow refer almost exclusively to the English and French language cultures. |archive-date=18 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618161036/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Island_Realm/gcEJAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22French+language+cultures%22+1974+pacific&dq=%22French+language+cultures%22+1974+pacific&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Horn |first=Walter |url=http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/pdf/op12-6.pdf |title=Check list of the Cicindelidae of Oceania. |date=1936 |publisher=Bishop Museum |location=Honolulu, Hawaii |access-date=24 January 2022 |archive-date=9 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309041008/http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/pdf/op12-6.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="countriesoftheworld">{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Robert |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-0DAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22oceania%22+%22juan%22+%22galapagos%22&pg=PA2 |title=The Countries of the World: Volume 4 |date=1876 |publisher=Oxford University |chapter=Oceania: General Characteristics |access-date=1 February 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064236/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_countries_of_the_world/3-0DAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22oceania%22+%22juan%22+%22galapagos%22&pg=PA2&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref>

====United Nations interpretation====
{{Main|United Nations geoscheme for Oceania}}

[[File:Oceania UN Geoscheme Regions.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Oceania and its four subregions]]

The [[United Nations]] (UN) has used its own geopolitical definition of Oceania since its foundation in 1947, which utilizes four of the five subregions from the 19th century; Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. This definition consists of discrete political entities, and so excludes the Bonin Islands, Hawaii, Clipperton Island and the Juan Fernández Islands, along with Easter Island — which was annexed by Chile in 1888.<ref name="stats">{{cite web |title=Countries or areas / geographical regions |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/ |access-date=25 April 2019 |publisher=United Nations |archive-date=30 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830170949/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It is used in statistical reports, by the [[International Olympic Committee]], and by many atlases.<ref name="Lewis 1997 32" /> The UN categorizes Oceania, and by extension the Pacific area, as one of the major continental divisions of the world, along with Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Their definition includes [[American Samoa]], Australia and their [[States and territories of Australia|external territories]], the [[Cook Islands]], [[Federated States of Micronesia]], [[French Polynesia]], Fiji, [[Guam]], [[Kiribati]], the Marshall Islands, [[Nauru]], New Caledonia, New Zealand, [[Niue]], the [[Northern Mariana Islands]], [[Palau]], Papua New Guinea, [[Pitcairn Islands]], [[Samoa]], the Solomon Islands, [[Tokelau]], [[Tonga]], [[Tuvalu]], [[Vanuatu]], [[Wallis and Futuna]], and the [[United States Minor Outlying Islands]] ([[Baker Island]], [[Howland Island]], [[Jarvis Island]], [[Midway Atoll]], [[Palmyra Atoll]], and [[Wake Island]]).<ref name="stats"/> The original UN definition of Oceania from 1947 included these same countries and semi-independent territories, which were mostly still [[Colony|colonies]] at that point.<ref>{{cite book |title=Status of the 1950 Census Program in the United States: A Preliminary Report |date=1951 |publisher=United States. Bureau of the Census |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3v502REqhUC&dq=United+Nations+%22oceania%22&pg=PA58 |access-date=24 November 2022}}</ref> Hawaii had not yet become a U.S. state in 1947, and as such was part of the original UN definition of Oceania. The island states of Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, [[Singapore]] and Taiwan, all located within the bounds of the Pacific or associated marginal seas, are excluded from the UN definition. The states of [[Hong Kong]] and [[Malaysia]], located in both mainland Asia and marginal seas of the Pacific, are also excluded, as is the nation of [[Brunei]], which shares the island of [[Borneo]] with Indonesia and Malaysia. Further excluded are [[East Timor]] and [[Western New Guinea|Indonesian New Guinea/Western New Guinea]], areas which are biogeographically or geologically associated with the Australian landmass.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/tl/tl-nr-04-en.pdf|title=Timor-Leste's Fourth National Report to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity|work=Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste|access-date=12 March 2023|date=October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Westaway |first1=J. |last2=Quintao |first2=V. |last3=de Jesus Marcal |first3=S. |title=Preliminary checklist of the naturalised and pest plants of Timor-Leste |journal=Blumea - Biodiversity, Evolution and Biogeography of Plants |date=30 November 2018 |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=157–166 |doi=10.3767/blumea.2018.63.02.13 |s2cid=89935772 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[The World Factbook|The CIA World Factbook]] also categorizes Oceania as one of the major continental divisions of the world, but the name "Australia and Oceania" is used. Their definition does not include all of Australia's external territories, but is otherwise the same as the UN's definition, and is also used for statistical purposes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/australia-and-oceania/|title=Australia and Oceania - The World Factbook|website=www.cia.gov|access-date=2022-07-30|archive-date=2022-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064857/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/australia-and-oceania/|url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2008 article for the ''[[India Quarterly]]'' journal titled ''Oceania and Security: A Perspective from New Zealand'', author Peter Cozens stated, "the region of Oceania is characterised by vast distances across the sea between continental land masses [...] It is difficult to be precise about the term Oceania and its exact delimitation", adding that "the principal regional political grouping is contained within the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) - the 16 states making up the Forum are: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu - in general terms this is the area referred to as Oceania by the United Nations and similar agencies."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cozens |first1=Peter |title=Oceania and Security: A Perspective from new Zealand |journal=India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs |date=January 2008 |volume=64 |issue=1–3 |pages=154–170 |doi=10.1177/097492840806400112 |s2cid=151289753 }}</ref> The Pacific Islands Forum expanded during the early 2010s, and areas that were already included in the UN definition of Oceania, such as French Polynesia, gained membership.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/02/how-the-pacific-islands-forum-fell-apart/|title=How the Pacific Islands Forum Fell Apart|website=thediplomat.com}}</ref>

====Early interpretations====
[[File:Meyers b12 s0582a.jpg|thumb|upright=1.85|A German map of Oceania from 1884, showing the region to encompass Australia and all islands between Asia and [[Latin America]]]]

French writer [[Gustave d'Eichthal]] remarked in 1844 that, "the boundaries of Oceania are in reality those of the great ocean itself."<ref name="eic">{{cite book |last1=Mortimer |first1=John |title=Polytechnic Review and Magazine of Science, Literature and the Fine Arts: Volume 1 |date=1844 |publisher=The University of Michigan |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5LU5AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22BOUNDARIES+OF+OCEANIA%22&pg=PA42 |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064236/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Polytechnic_Review_and_Magazine_of_Scien/5LU5AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22BOUNDARIES+OF+OCEANIA%22&pg=PA42&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Conrad Malte-Brun]] in 1824 defined Oceania as covering Australia, New Zealand, the islands of Polynesia (which then included all the Pacific islands) and the Malay Archipelago.<ref>Which includes the present-day countries of Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Malte-Brun |first1=Conrad |title=Universal Geography: Containing the description of part of Asia, of Oceanica, &c. with additional matter, not in the European edition |date=1827 |publisher=Princeton University |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YXA9AAAAYAAJ |access-date=10 December 2022}}</ref> American [[Lexicography|lexicographer]] [[Joseph Emerson Worcester]] wrote in 1840 that Oceania is "a term applied to a vast number of islands which are widely dispersed in the Pacific Ocean [...] they are considered as forming a fifth grand division of the world." He also viewed Oceania as covering Australia, New Zealand, the Malay Archipelago and the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Worcester |first1=Joseph Emerson |title=Elements of Geography, Modern and Ancient with a Modern and an Ancient Atlas |date=1840 |publisher=Lewis and Sampson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmFiAAAAcAAJ |access-date=13 December 2022}}</ref> In 1887, the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland]] referred to Australia as the area's westernmost land,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 19 |date=1887 |publisher=Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society |page=370 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03qFAAAAIAAJ |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064237/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Journal_of_the_Royal_Asiatic_Society_of/03qFAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> while in 1870, British Reverend [[Alexander Murdoch Mackay|Alexander Mackay]] identified the [[Bonin Islands]] as its northernmost point, and [[Macquarie Island]] as its southernmost point.<ref name="mac">{{cite book |last1=Mackay |first1=Alexander |title=Manual of modern geography, mathematical, physical, and political: Volume 2 |date=1970 |publisher=Oxford University |page=602 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHEDAAAAQAAJ&dq=macquarie+islands+bonin+islands+oceania&pg=PA602 |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064237/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Manual_of_modern_geography_mathematical/HHEDAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=macquarie+islands+bonin+islands+oceania&pg=PA602&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> The Bonin Islands (adjacent to Micronesia) at that time were a possession of Britain; Macquarie Island, to the south of [[Tasmania]], is a subantarctic island in the Pacific. It was politically associated with Australia and Tasmania by 1870.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/M/Macquarie%20Island.htm |title=Macquarie Island |publisher=Utas.edu.au |date= |accessdate=2022-09-25}}</ref>

[[Alfred Russel Wallace]] believed in 1879 that Oceania extended to the [[Aleutian Islands]], which are among the northernmost islands of the Pacific.<ref name="austral"/> The islands, now politically associated with [[Alaska]], have historically had [[Aleut|inhabitants]] that were related to [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous American]]s, in addition to having non-tropical biogeography similar to that of Alaska and [[Siberia]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/A/1246860.pdf |title=FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA |author1=Olaus J. Murie |author2=Victor B. Scheffer |publisher=Fish and Wildlife service |location= |year=1939 |access-date=3 October 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pandian |first1=Jacob |last2=Parman |first2=Susan |title=The Making of Anthropology: The Semiotics of Self and Other in the Western Tradition |date=2004 |publisher=Vedams |page=206 |isbn=978-8179360149 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RgO8nLql2KwC&dq=%22some+exclude%22+%22ryukyu%22&pg=PA206 |access-date=31 March 2022 |quote=Some exclude from "Oceania" the nontropical islands such as Ryukyu, the Aleutian islands, and Japan, and the islands such as Formosa, Indonesia, and the Philippines that are closely linked with mainland Asia |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064238/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_Making_of_Anthropology/RgO8nLql2KwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22some+exclude%22+%22ryukyu%22&pg=PA206&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> Wallace insisted while the surface area of this wide definition was greater than that of Asia and [[Europe]] combined, the land area was only a little greater than that of Europe.<ref name="austral"/> American geographer Sophia S. Cornell claimed that the Aleutian Islands were not part of Oceania in 1857.<ref name="corn">{{cite book |last1=Cornell |first1=Sophia S. |title=Cornell's Primary Geography: Forming Part First of a Systematic Series of School Geographies |year=1857 |publisher=Harvard University |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Z9hizT9tiAC&dq=%22included+in+oceania%22&pg=RA2-PA95 |access-date=31 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064858/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/CORNELL_S_PRIMARY_GEOGRAPHY/1Z9hizT9tiAC?".hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22included+in+oceania%22&pg=RA2-PA95&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> She stated that Oceania was divided up into three groups; Australasia (which included Australia, New Zealand and the Melanesian islands), [[Malesia]] (which included all present-day countries within the Malay Archipelago, not the modern country of [[Malaysia]]) and Polynesia (which included both the Polynesian and Micronesian islands in her definition).<ref name="corn"/> Aside from mainland Australia, areas that she identified as of high importance were Borneo, Hawaii, Indonesia's [[Java]] and [[Sumatra]], New Guinea, New Zealand, the Philippines, French Polynesia's [[Society Islands]], Tasmania, and Tonga.<ref name="corn"/>

American geographer [[Jesse Olney]]'s 1845 book ''A Practical System of Modern Geography'' stated that it "comprises the numerous isles of the Pacific, lying south east of Asia." Olney divided up Oceania into three groups; Australasia (which included Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand), Malesia and Polynesia (which included the combined islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia in his definition).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olney |first1=Jesse |title=A Practical System of Modern Geography |date=1845 |publisher=Pratt, Woodford & cr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JE9SAQAAMAAJ |access-date=22 November 2022}}</ref> Publication ''Missionary Review of the World'' claimed in 1895 that Oceania was divided up into five groups; Australasia, Malesia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It did not consider Hawaii to be part of Polynesia, due to its geographic isolation, commenting that Oceania also included, "isolated groups and islands, such as the Hawaiian and [[Galápagos Islands|Galápagos]]."<ref name="missionary">{{cite book |title=Missionary Review of the World: Volume 18 |date=1895 |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |page=533 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZRVy7TO2nTsC |access-date=31 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064354/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Missionary_Review_of_the_World/ZRVy7TO2nTsC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> In his 1876 book ''The Earth and Its Inhabitants: Oceanica'', French geographer [[Élisée Reclus]] labelled Australia's flora as "one of the most characteristic on the globe", adding that "the Hawaiian archipelago also constitutes a separate vegetation zone; of all tropical insular groups it possesses the relatively largest number of endemic plants. In the Galápagos group also more than half of the species are of local origin."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reclus |first1=Élisée |title=The Earth and Its Inhabitants: Australasia |date=1876 |publisher=Oxford University |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzEBAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22hawaiian+archipelago+also+constitutes%22&pg=PA32-IA6 |access-date=9 January 2023}}</ref> [[Rand McNally|Rand McNally & Company]], an American publisher of maps and atlases, claimed in 1892 that, "Oceania comprises the large island of Australia and the innumerable islands of the Pacific Ocean" and also that the islands of the Malay Archipelago "should be grouped in with Asia."<ref>{{cite book |title=Rand, McNally & Co.'s Universal Atlas of the World |date=1892 |publisher=Rand McNally and Company |page=171 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lixEAQAAMAAJ&q=%22the+110th%22+%22universal+atlas%22 |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064354/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/RAND_MCNALLY_CO_S_UNIVERSAL_ATLAS_OF_THE/lixEAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22the+110th%22+%22universal+atlas%22&dq=%22the+110th%22+%22universal+atlas%22&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> British linguist [[Robert Needham Cust]] argued in 1887 that the Malay Archipelago should be excluded since it had participated in Asian civilization.<ref name="ess">{{cite book |last1=Cust |first1=Robert Needham |title=Linguistic and Oriental Essays: 1847-1887 |date=1887 |publisher=Trübner & Company |page=518 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZ4KtNU2-PMC |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064357/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Linguistic_and_Oriental_Essays_1847_1887/vZ4KtNU2-PMC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Cust considered Oceania's four subregions to be Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.<ref name="ess"/> New Zealand was categorized by him as being in Polynesia; and the only country in his definition of Australasia was Australia.<ref name="ess"/> His definition of Polynesia included both Easter Island and Hawaii, which had not yet been annexed by either Chile or the United States.<ref name="ess"/>

The ''[[Journal of the Royal Statistical Society]]'' stated in 1892 that Australia was a large island within Oceania rather than a small continent. It additionally commented, "it is certainly not necessary to consider the Hawaiian Islands and Australia as being in the same part of the world, it is however permissible to unite in one group all the islands which are scattered over the great ocean. It should be remarked that if we take the Malay Archipelago away from Oceania, as do generally the German geographers, the insular world contained in the great ocean is cut in two, and the least populated of the five parts of the world is diminished in order to increase the number of inhabitants of the most densely populated continent."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Royal Statistical Society (Great Britain) |title=Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Volume 55 |date=1892 |publisher=Royal Statistical Society. |page=309 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hujWAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22OCEANIA%22%27&pg=PA309 |access-date=13 April 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064359/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Journal_of_the_Royal_Statistical_Society/hujWAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22OCEANIA%22%27&pg=PA309&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> Regarding Australia and the Pacific, ''Chambers's New Handy Volume American Encyclopædia'' observed in 1885 that, "the whole region has sometimes been called Oceania, and sometimes Australasia—generally, however, in modern times, to the exclusion of the islands in the [Malay] archipelago, to which certain writers have given the name of [[Malesia]]."<ref name="chambers"/> It added there was controversy over the exact limits of Oceania, saying that, "scarcely any two geographers appear to be quite agreed upon the subject".<ref name="chambers">{{cite book |title=Chambers's New Handy Volume American Encyclopædia: Volume 9 |date=1885 |publisher=The University of Virginia |page=657 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J2NRAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22easter+island%22+%22oceania%22+%22galapagos%22&pg=PA657 |access-date=13 March 2022 |quote=the whole region has sometimes been called Oceania, and sometimes Australasia—generally, however, in modern times, to the exclusion of the islands in the Indian archipelago, to which certain writers have given the name of Malaysia [...] we have the three geographical divisions of Malesia, Australasia and Polynesia, the last mentioned of which embraces all the groups and single islands not included under the other two. Accepting this arrangement, still the limits between Australasia and Polynesia have not been very accurately defined; indeed, scarcely any two geographers appear to be quite agreed upon the subject; neither shall we pretend to decide in the matter. The following list, however, comprises all the principal groups and single island not previously named as coming under the division of Australasia: 1. North of the equator—The Ladrone or Marian islands. the Pelew islands, the Caroline islands, the Radack and Ralick chains, the Sandwich islands, Gilbert's or Kingstnill's archipelago. and the Galapagos. 2. South of the equator—The Ellice group, the Phoenix and Union groups. the Fiji islands, the Friendly islands, the Navigator's islands. Cook's or Harvey islands, the Society islands. the Dangerous archipelago, the Marquesas islands, Pitcairn island, and Easter island. |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064400/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Chambers_s_New_Handy_Volume_American_Enc/J2NRAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22easter+island%22+%22oceania%22+%22galapagos%22&pg=PA657&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> British physician and ethnologist [[James Cowles Prichard]] claimed in 1847 that the Aleutian Islands and the [[Kuril Islands]] form "the northern boundary of this fifth region of the world, and with the coasts of Asia and America completing its literal termination." However, he wrote that these islands "are not usually reckoned as belonging to it, because they are known to be inhabited by races of people who came immediately from the adjacent continents and are unconnected with those tribes of the human race who peopled the remote islands of this great ocean." He added that Hawaii was the most northerly area to be inhabited by races associated with Oceania.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Prichard |first1=James Cowles |title=Researches Into the Physical History of Mankind: Researches into the history of the Oceanic and of the American nations |date=1847 |publisher=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign }}</ref>

The 1926 book ''Modern World History, 1776-1926: A Survey of the Origins and Development of Contemporary Civilization'', by Alexander Clarence Flick, considered Oceania to include all islands in the Pacific, and associated the term with the Malay Archipelago, the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, the Aleutian Islands, Japan's [[Ryukyu Islands]], Taiwan (then known as Formosa) and the Kuril Islands (currently administered by Russia, but which were then partly split between Japan and Russia).<ref name="flick">{{cite book |last1=Flick |first1=Alexander Clarence |title=Modern World History, 1776-1926: A Survey of the Origins and Development of Contemporary Civilization |date=1926 |publisher=A.A. Knopf |page=492 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PhGHAAAAMAAJ&q=Modern%20World%20History,%201776-1926A%20Survey%20of%20the%20Origins%20and%20Development%20of%20Contemporary%20Civilization |access-date=10 July 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064936/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Modern_World_History_1776_1926/PhGHAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Modern+World+History%2C+1776-1926A+Survey+of+the+Origins+and+Development+of+Contemporary+Civilization |url-status=live }}</ref> He further included in his definition [[Sakhalin]], an island which is geologically part of the [[Japanese archipelago]], but that has been administered by Russia since [[World War II]]. It is located within a marginal sea of the Pacific (the [[Sea of Okhotsk]]), unlike the rest of the Japanese archipelago and the neighbouring Kuril Islands, which border the open Pacific Ocean. Hong Kong, partly located in another marginal sea of the Pacific (the [[South China Sea]]) was also included in his definition. Australia and New Zealand were grouped together by Flick as Australasia, and categorized as being in the same area of the world as the islands of Oceania. Flick estimated this definition of Oceania had a population of 70,000,000, and commented that, "brown and yellow races constitute the vast majority" and that the minority of whites were mainly "owners and rulers".<ref name="flick"/> He added, "through trade relations, the work of [[Missionary|missionaries]] and teachers, and political control, western civilization is slowly penetrating these out of the way places either directly, or indirectly through Europeanized powers like Japan."<ref name="flick"/> Hutton Webster's 1919 book ''Medieval and Modern History '' also considered Oceania to encompass all islands in the Pacific, stating that, "the term Oceania, or Oceanica, in its widest sense applies to all the Pacific Islands." Webster broke Oceania up into two subdivisions; the continental group, which included Australia, the Japanese archipelago, the Malay Archipelago and Taiwan, and the oceanic group, which included New Zealand and the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Webster |first1=Hutton |title=World History: Volume 1 |date=1921 |publisher=D. C. Heath |page=563 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cboXAAAAIAAJ&q=the+term+Oceania,+or+Oceania,+in+its+widest+sense+applies+to+all+the+Pacific+Islands. |access-date=3 November 2022}}</ref> In his 1846 book ''A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer'', author Thomas Baldwin wrote that Oceania includes Australia and Pacific islands which "are considered, from their proximity, not to belong to the continents of Asia or America." He defined Oceania as including the Malay Archipelago, but not Japan or Taiwan, and noted that "its limits are somewhat indefinite."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baldwin |first1=Thomas |title=A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer |date=1846 |publisher=Lindsay & Blakiston |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oLMBAAAAYAAJ |access-date=20 December 2022}}</ref>

Charles Marion Tyler's 1885 book ''The Island World of the Pacific Ocean'' considered Oceania to ethnographically encompass Australia, New Zealand, the Malay Archipelago, and the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. However, Tyler included other Pacific islands in his book as well, such as the Aleutian Islands, the Bonin Islands, the Japanese archipelago, the Juan Fernández Islands, the Kuril Islands, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, [[California]]'s [[Channel Islands (California)|Channel Islands]] and [[Farallon Islands]], [[Canada]]'s [[Vancouver Island]] and [[Haida Gwaii|Queen Charlotte Islands]] (now known as Haida Gwaii), Chile's [[Chiloé Island]], Ecuador's Galápagos Islands, Mexico's [[Guadalupe Island]], [[Revillagigedo Islands]], [[Islas San Benito|San Benito Islands]] and [[Islas Marías|Tres Marías Islands]], and Peru's [[Chincha Islands]].<ref name="tyler">{{cite book |last1=Charles Marion |first1=Tyler |title=The Island World of the Pacific Ocean |date=1885 |publisher=Howard & Pariser |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8D5CAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22vancouver+island%22+%22pacific+islands%22+%22australia%22&pg=PR6 |access-date=5 November 2022}}</ref> Islands in marginal seas of the Pacific were also covered in the book, including Alaska's [[Pribilof Islands]] (located to the north of the Aleutian chain in the subarctic [[Bering Sea]]) and China's [[Hainan]] (located in the South China Sea). Tyler additionally profiled the [[Anson Archipelago|Anson archipelago]], which during the 19th century was a designation for a widely scattered group of purported islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean between Japan and Hawaii. The Anson archipelago included [[phantom island]]s such as [[Ganges Island]] and [[Los Jardines]] which were proven to not exist, as well as real islands such as Marcus Island and Wake Island.<ref>{{cite book | last = Stommel | first = Henry | title = Lost Islands: The Story of Islands That Have Vanished from Nautical Charts | publisher = University of British Columbia Press | location = Vancouver | year = 1984 | isbn = 0-7748-0210-3 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/lostislands00henr/page/ xvii, 105ff] | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/lostislands00henr/page/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FzhjAAAAMAAJ|title=Maritime Geography and Statistics ...|first=James Hingston|last=Tuckey|date=13 November 1815|publisher=Black, Parry & Company|via=Google Books}}</ref> Tyler described Australia as "the [[leviathan]] of the island groups of the world", and stated that the Juan Fernández Islands "will always retain a marked prominence in island histories, being at one time the home of that celebrated castaway [[Alexander Selkirk]], whose life and adventures have been made so intensely interesting to youthful minds, and older ones too, for that matter, by [[Daniel Defoe|Defoe]] in his wonderful book ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]''."<ref name="tyler"/> In his 1857 book ''A Treatise on Physical Geography'', Francis B. Fogg commented that "the Pacific and its dependencies may be said to contain that portion of the globe termed Oceanica or 'the Maritime World', which is divided into Australasia, Malesia and Polynesia." Fogg defined Polynesia as covering the combined islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, as well as the Ryukyu Islands. He added that, "besides the proceeding, the Pacific contains many other islands, of which the most important are Hainan and Formosa, on the coast of China, the Japan isles, the Kuriles, the Aleutian Islands (stretching from the New World to the Old), Vancouver Island, the Galápagos, Juan Fernández and Chiloé."<ref>{{cite book |last1=B. Fogg |first1=Francis |title=A Treatise on Physical Geography ... |date=1857 |publisher=Ivison & Phinney |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQgAAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22hainan%22+%22galapagos%22+%22aleutian%22&pg=PA3 |access-date=22 January 2023}}</ref> Scottish academic [[John Merry Ross]] in 1879 considered Polynesia to cover the entire South and Central Pacific area, not just islands ethnographically within Polynesia. He wrote in ''The Globe Encyclopedia of Universal Information'' that, "literally interpreted, the name would include all the groups from Sumatra to the Galápagos, together with Australia."<ref name="suma">{{cite book |last1=Ross |first1=John Merry |title=The Globe Encyclopedia of Universal Information: Volume 6 |year=1879 |publisher=The University of Michigan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBaRjHkYy1cC&dq=%22literally%22+%22galapagos%22+%22sumatra%22&pg=PA166 |access-date=5 February 2023}}</ref> Ross further wrote, "and to this vast region the term Oceania has been applied. It is more usual at the present time, however, to exclude the [Malay] archipelago."<ref name="suma"/>

====Historical and contemporary interpretations====
In a 1972 article for the ''[[Music Educators Journal]]'' titled ''Musics of Oceania'', author Raymond F. Kennedy wrote, "many meanings have been given to the word Oceania. The most inclusive–but not always the most useful–embraces about 25,000 land areas between Asia and the Americas. A more popular and practical definition excludes Indonesia, East Malaysia (Borneo), the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and other islands closely related to the Asian mainland, as well as the Aleutians and the small island groups situated near the Americas. Thus, Oceania most commonly refers to the land areas of the South and Central Pacific."<ref name="journal">{{cite journal |last1=Kennedy |first1=Raymond F. |title=Musics of Oceania |journal=Music Educators Journal |date=October 1972 |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=59–64 |doi=10.2307/3394143 |jstor=3394143 |s2cid=191492515 }}</ref> Kennedy defined Oceania as including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.<ref name="journal"/> The [[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Publishing Office]]'s ''Area Handbook for Oceania'' from 1971 states that Australia and New Zealand are the principal large sovereignties of the area. It further states, "In its broadest definition Oceania embraces all islands and island groups of the Pacific Ocean that lie between Asia and the two American continents. In popular usage, however, the designation has a more restricted application. The islands of the North Pacific, such as the Aleutians and the Kuriles, usually are excluded. In addition, the series of sovereign island nations fringing Asia (Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, East Malaysia, the Republic of Indonesia) are not ordinarily considered to be part of the area."<ref name="handbook">{{cite book |last1=Henderson |first1=John William |title=Area Handbook for Oceania |date=1971 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NuOIqt-UQowC&dq=%22oceania%22+%22all+islands%22&pg=PA39 }}</ref> In 1948, American military journal ''Armed Forces Talk'' broke the islands of the Pacific up into five major subdivisions; Indonesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and the non-tropical Islands. The Indonesia subdivision consisted of the islands of the Malay Archipelago, while the non-tropical islands were categorized as being North Pacific islands such as Alaska's [[Kodiak Archipelago|Kodiak archipelago]], the Aleutian Islands, Japan, the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. Japan's Bonin and Ryukyu Islands are also considered to be [[subtropics|subtropical islands]], with the main Japanese archipelago being non-tropical.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1479-8298.2007.00250.x|title=Diversity of drosophilid flies on Kume-jima, a subtropical island: comparison with diversity on Iriomote-jima|first1=Masanori|last1=Kondo|first2=Masahito T.|last2=Kimura|date=13 March 2008|journal=Entomological Science|volume=11|issue=1|pages=7–15|doi=10.1111/j.1479-8298.2007.00250.x|s2cid=83888348 }}</ref> The journal associated the term Oceania with the Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian subdivisions, but not with the Indonesian or non-tropical subdivisions.<ref>{{cite book |title=Armed Forces Talk |date=1948 |publisher=War Department |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HUQV0sJpJPIC |access-date=7 September 2022}}</ref> The ''Pacific Islands Handbook'' (1945), by Robert William Robson, stated that, "Pacific Islands generally are regarded as Pacific islands lying within the tropics. There are a considerable number of Pacific Islands outside the tropics. Most of them have little economic or political importance." He noted the political significance of the Aleutian Islands, which were invaded by the Japanese military in World War II, and categorized New Zealand's [[Antipodes Islands]], [[Auckland Islands]], [[Bounty Islands]], [[Campbell Islands]], [[Chatham Island]] and [[Kermadec Islands]] as being non-tropical islands of the South Pacific, along with Australia's [[Lord Howe Island]] and Norfolk Island. The Kermadec Islands, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island are also considered to be subtropical islands. Other non-tropical areas below the [[equator]], such as Chiloé Island, Macquarie Island, Tasmania, and the southern portions of mainland Australia and New Zealand, were not included in this category.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robson |first1=Robert William |title=The Pacific Islands Handbook North American Ed. 1944 |date=1946 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=357 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mmuAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Pacific+Islands+generally+are+regarded+as+Pacific+islands+lying+within+the+Tropics%22 |access-date=9 November 2022}}</ref>

According to the 1998 book ''Encyclopedia of Earth and Physical Sciences'', Oceania refers to Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and more than 10,000 islands scattered across the Pacific Ocean. It notes that, "the term [has] also come under scrutiny by many geographers. Some experts insist that Oceania encompasses even the cold Aleutian Islands and the islands of Japan. Disagreement also exists over whether or not Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan should be included in Oceania."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marshall Cavendish Corporation |title=Encyclopedia of Earth and Physical Sciences: Nuclear physics-Plate tectonics |date=1998 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University |page=876 |isbn=978-0761405511 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=px7YAAAAMAAJ&q=%22japan%22+%22aleutian%22+%22oceania%22 |access-date=29 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064459/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Earth_and_Physical_Scien/px7YAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22japan%22+%22aleutian%22+%22oceania%22&dq=%22japan%22+%22aleutian%22+%22oceania%22&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> The Japanese Archipelago, the Malay Archipelago and Taiwan and other islands near China are often deemed as a geological extension of Asia, since they do not have [[Oceanic islands|oceanic geology]], instead being detached fragments of the Eurasian continent that were once physiologically connected.<ref>{{cite web |author= |url=https://www.dost.gov.ph/knowledge-resources/news/38-2009-news/365-philippines-islands-to-reunite-with-mainland-asia.html |title=Philippines islands to reunite with mainland Asia |website=Dost.gov.ph |date=28 August 2009 |access-date=14 July 2022 |archive-date=2 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502045840/https://www.dost.gov.ph/knowledge-resources/news/38-2009-news/365-philippines-islands-to-reunite-with-mainland-asia.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="chen">{{cite book |last1=Chenevière |first1=Alain |last2=Sabater |first2=Roger |title=Pacific: The Boundless Ocean |date=1995 |publisher=Konecky & Konecky |page=14 |isbn=978-1568522395 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=So2r2OogWtoC&q=%22form+part+of+it+since+they+are+attached+both%22 |access-date=24 April 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064502/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Pacific/So2r2OogWtoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22form+part+of+it+since+they+are+attached+both%22&dq=%22form+part+of+it+since+they+are+attached+both%22&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Osozawa |first1=Soichi |last2=Shinjo |first2=Ryuichi |last3=Armid |first3=Alroem |last4=Watanabe |first4=Yasushi |last5=Horiguchi |first5=Toshiaki |last6=Wakabayashi |first6=John |title=Palaeogeographic reconstruction of the 1.55 Ma synchronous isolation of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, and Taiwan and inflow of the Kuroshio warm current |journal=International Geology Review |date=September 2012 |volume=54 |issue=12 |pages=1369–1388 |doi=10.1080/00206814.2011.639954 |bibcode=2012IGRv...54.1369O |s2cid=129309233 }}</ref> Certain Japanese islands off the main archipelago are not geologically associated with Asia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.science.gov/topicpages/r/ryukyu+islands+japan.html|title=ryukyu islands japan: Topics by Science.gov|website=Science.gov|access-date=2022-07-30|archive-date=2022-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408172011/https://www.science.gov/topicpages/r/ryukyu+islands+japan.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ohba |first1=Michio |last2=Tsuchiyama |first2=Akira |last3=Shisa |first3=Noriko |last4=Nakashima |first4=Kei |last5=Lee |first5=Dong-Hyun |last6=Ohgushi |first6=Akira |last7=Wasano |first7=Naoya |title=Naturally occurring Bacillus thuringiensis in oceanic islands of Japan, Daito-shoto and Ogasawara-shoto. |journal=Applied Entomology and Zoology |date=2002 |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=477–480 |doi=10.1303/aez.2002.477 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2002AppEZ..37..477O }}</ref> The book ''The World and Its Peoples: Australia, New Zealand, Oceania'' (1966) asserts that, "Japan, Taiwan, the Aleutian Islands, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia [and] the Pacific archipelagos bordering upon the [[East Asia|Far East Asian]] mainland are excluded from Oceania", and that "all the islands lying between Australia and the Americas, including Australia, are part of Oceania."<ref name="nz">{{cite book |title=The World and Its Peoples: Australia, New Zealand, Oceania |date=1966 |publisher=Greystone Press |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MhBAAAAIAAJ&q=%22excluded+from+oceania%22 |access-date=29 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064537/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_World_and_Its_Peoples_Australia_New/4MhBAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22excluded+from+oceania%22&dq=%22excluded+from+oceania%22&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> Furthermore, the book adds that Hawaii is still within Oceania, despite being politically integrated into the U.S., and that the Pacific Ocean "gives unity to the whole" since "all these varied lands emerge from or border upon the Pacific."<ref name="nz"/>

The 1876 book ''The Countries of the World: Volume 4'', by British scientist and explorer [[Robert Brown (botanist, born 1842)|Robert Brown]], labelled the Malay Archipelago as Northwestern Oceania, but Brown still noted that these islands belonged more to the Asian continent. They are now often referred to as [[Maritime Southeast Asia]], with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore being founding members of the [[ASEAN]] regional organization for [[Southeast Asia]] in 1967 (Brunei and East Timor did not exist as independent nations at that point).<ref name="countriesoftheworld"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chong |first1=Teck Choy |title=Brunei Darussalam Independence 1984: The Memorable Year 1984, a New Nation was Born |date=2015 |publisher=Sci-Tech Technologies |isbn=978-9991796000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-KnUjwEACAAJ |access-date=20 January 2023}}</ref> Brown also categorized Japan and Taiwan as being in the same part of the world as the islands of Oceania, and excluded them from ''The Countries of the World: Volume 5'', which covered mainland Asia and Hong Kong.<ref name="countriesoftheworld"/> However, Brown did not explicitly associate Japan or Taiwan with the term Oceania.<ref name="countriesoftheworld"/> He divided Oceania into two subregions; Eastern Oceania, which included the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, and Southwestern Oceania, which included Australia and New Zealand.<ref name="countriesoftheworld"/> The Galápagos Islands, the Juan Fernández Islands and the Revillagigedo Islands were identified as the easternmost areas of Oceania in the book. Brown wrote, "they lie nearest the American continent of all oceanic islands, and though rarely associated with Polynesia, and never appearing to have been inhabited by any aboriginal races, are, in many ways, remarkable and interesting."<ref name="countriesoftheworld"/> Brown went on to add, "the small islands lying off the continent, like the [[Queen Charlotte Islands|Queen Charlotte's]] in the North Pacific, the [[Farallon Islands|Farallones]] off California, and the [[Chincha Islands|Chinchas]] off Peru are — to all intents and purposes, only detached bits of the adjoining shores. But in the case of the Galápagos, at least, this is different."<ref name="countriesoftheworld"/> He also claimed that they are "often cited as illustrating the peculiar relation of such islands to continents. Mr. [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]] has, for instance, adducted them as an illustration of the fact that such islands are inhabited by plants and animals closely allied to those of the nearest mainland, without actually being the same."<ref name="countriesoftheworld"/> The Juan Fernández Islands and the neighbouring [[Desventuradas Islands]] are today seen as the easternmost extension of the Indo-West Pacific biogeographic region. The islands lie on the Nazca Plate with Easter Island and the Galápagos Islands, and have a significant south central Pacific component to their marine fauna.<ref name="marine">{{cite journal|title=Marine Biodiversity in Juan Fernández and Desventuradas Islands, Chile: Global Endemism Hotspots |publisher=Journals.plos.org |date=6 January 2016 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0145059 |doi-access=free |last1=Friedlander |first1=Alan M. |last2=Ballesteros |first2=Enric |last3=Caselle |first3=Jennifer E. |last4=Gaymer |first4=Carlos F. |last5=Palma |first5=Alvaro T. |last6=Petit |first6=Ignacio |last7=Varas |first7=Eduardo |last8=Muñoz Wilson |first8=Alex |last9=Sala |first9=Enric |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=e0145059 |pmid=26734732 |pmc=4703205 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1145059F }}</ref><ref name="east">{{cite journal |last1=Pequeño |first1=Germán |title=Shore Fishes of Easter Island, John E. Randall & Alfredo Cea Egaña |journal=Gayana |date=2011 |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=201–202 |id={{ProQuest|920291064}} |doi=10.4067/S0717-65382011000200011 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="class"/> According to scientific journal ''[[PLOS One]]'', the [[Humboldt Current]] helps create a biogeographic barrier between the marine fauna of these islands and South America.<ref name="marine"/> Chile's government have occasionally considered them to be within Oceania along with Easter Island.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Georgia |title=Rapa Nui Journal: Volumes 7-10 |date=1993 |publisher=University of Texas |page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXvjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22juan+fernandez%22+%22oceania%22+%22rapa+nui%22 |access-date=19 March 2022 |quote=[...] Chile Division of Cultural Affairs and Information (DIRACI) [stated] that Chile's area included "180 km2 (69.48 miles) of Oceania— Easter Island, Juan Fernandez Archipelago (Robinson Crusoe Island) and other islands off the Chilean coast." The ''Pacific Islands Handbook'' (1989) and ''Encyclopedia of World Cultures'' (1991) did not realize that they had overestimated Rapa Nui because of this. |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064541/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Rapa_Nui_Journal/ZXvjAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22juan+fernandez%22+%22oceania%22+%22rapa+nui%22&dq=%22juan+fernandez%22+%22oceania%22+%22rapa+nui%22&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> Chile's government also categorize Easter Island, the Desventuradas Islands and the Juan Fernández Islands as being part of a region titled [[Insular Chile]]. They further include in this region Salas y Gómez, a small uninhabited island to the east of Easter Island. ''PLOS One'' describe Insular Chile as having "cultural and ecological connections to the broader insular Pacific."<ref name="marine"/>

[[File:Members of Pacific Island Forum.svg|thumb|upright=1.55|A map of member states for the [[Pacific Islands Forum]], the member states are depicted in blue. The PIF is a governing organization for the Pacific, and all of its members are seen as being politically within Oceania. Territories ethnographically associated with Oceania, but not politically associated with Oceania, such as Easter Island, Hawaii, and Western New Guinea, have considered gaining representation in the PIF. The Pacific island nations of Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan are dialogue partners, but none have full membership. East Timor, located in marginal seas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, also have observer status.]]
[[File:Map of the Territorial Waters of the Pacific Ocean.png|thumb|upright=1.55|An [[exclusive economic zone]] map of the Pacific which includes areas not politically associated with Oceania, that may be considered geographically or geologically within Oceania]]
In her 1997 book ''Australia and Oceania'', Australian historian [[Kate Darian-Smith]] defined the area as covering Australia, New Zealand and the islands of the Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. She excluded Hawaii from her definition, but not Easter Island.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Kate Darian |title=Australia and Oceania |date=1997 |publisher=Raintree Steck-Vaughn |isbn=978-0817247782 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2VnZUM8DzEC&q=%22AUSTRALIA+AND+OCEANIA%22+1997+EASTER |access-date=6 January 2023}}</ref> The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] stated in a 1986 report that they include Easter Island in their definition of Oceania "on the basis of its Polynesian and biogeographic affinities even though it is politically apart", further noting that other oceanic islands administered by Latin American countries had been included in definitions of Oceania.<ref>{{cite book |title=Review of the Protected Areas System in Oceania |date=1986 |isbn=978-2-88032-509-1 |url=https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/30152 |quote=Easter Island on the east has been included on the basis of its Polynesian and biogeographic affinities even though it is politically apart. The other islands of the eastern Pacific (Galapagos, Juan Fernandez, etc.) have sometimes been included in Oceania. |last1=Dahl |first1=Arthur Lyon }}</ref> In 1987, ''The Journal of Australasian Cave Research'' described Oceania as being "the region from [[Irian Jaya]] (Western New Guinea, a province of New Guinea) in the west to Galápagos Islands (Equador) and Easter Island (Chile) in the east."<ref>{{cite journal |title=Oceania Bibliography |journal=Helictite: Journal of Australasian Cave Research |date=1987 |volume=25 |issue=1 |url=https://helictite.caves.org.au/pdf4/25.01.Issue.Print.pdf |access-date=16 March 2022 |quote=This paper covers the region from Irian Jaya (Western New Guinea, a province of New Guinea) in the west to Galapagos Islands (Equador) and Easter Island (Chile) in the east. |archive-date=22 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322012745/https://helictite.caves.org.au/pdf4/25.01.Issue.Print.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 1980 report on [[Sexually transmitted infection|venereal disease]]s in the South Pacific, the ''British Journal of Venereal Diseases'' categorized the Desventuradas Islands, Easter Island, the Galápagos Islands and the Juan Fernández Islands as being in an eastern region of the South Pacific, along with areas such as Pitcairn Islands and French Polynesia, but noted that the Galápagos Islands were not a member of the [[Pacific Community|South Pacific Commission]], like other islands in the South Pacific.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://sti.bmj.com/content/sextrans/56/4/204.full.pdf |title=Venereal diseases in the islands of the South Pacific |last1=Willcox |first1=R. R. |journal=British Journal of Venereal Diseases |volume=56 |issue= 4|year=1980 |pages=204–209 |doi=10.1136/sti.56.4.204 |pmid=7427693 |pmc=1045778 |access-date=3 September 2022 }}</ref> The South Pacific Commission is a developmental organization formed in 1947 and is currently known as the Pacific Community; its members include Australia and other Pacific Islands Forum members. In a 1947 article on the formation of the South Pacific Commission for the ''Pacific Affairs'' journal, author Roy E. James stated the organization's scope encompassed all non-self governing islands below the equator to the east of Papua New Guinea (which itself was included in the scope and then known as [[Dutch New Guinea]]). Easter Island and the Galápagos Islands were defined by James as falling within the organization's geographical parameters.<ref>James, R.E., 1947. The South Pacific Commission. ''Pacific Affairs'', pp.193-198.</ref> The 2007 book ''Asia in the Pacific Islands: Replacing the West'', by New Zealand Pacific scholar [[Ron Crocombe]], defined the term "Pacific Islands" as being islands in the South Pacific Commission, and stated that such a definition "does not include Galápagos and other [oceanic] islands off the Pacific coast of the Americas; these were uninhabited when Europeans arrived, then integrated with a South American country and have almost no contact with other Pacific Islands." He adds, "Easter Island still participates in some Pacific Island affairs because its people are Polynesian."<ref name="asianpacific"/>

[[Thomas Sebeok]]'s two volume 1971 book ''Linguistics in Oceania'' defines Easter Island, the Galápagos Islands, the Juan Fernández Islands, [[Costa Rica]]'s [[Cocos Island]] and [[Colombia]]'s [[Malpelo Island]] (all oceanic)<ref name="zug"/> as making up a [[Spanish language]] segment of Oceania.<ref name="ling"/> Cocos Island and Malpelo Island are the only landmasses located on the [[Cocos Plate]], which is to the north of the Nazca Plate. The book observed that a native Polynesian language was still understood on Easter Island, unlike with the other islands, which were uninhabited when discovered by Europeans and mostly being used as prisons for convicts.<ref name="ling"/> Additionally, the book includes Taiwan and the entire Malay Archipelago as part of Oceania.<ref name="lingtai">{{cite book |last1=Bowen |first1=James Dean |title=Linguistics in Oceania, 2 |date=1971 |publisher=The University of Michigan |page= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lYouAAAAMAAJ&q=taiwan+Linguistics+in+Oceania+(2+v. |access-date=2 February 2022 |chapter=Japanese in Taiwan |quote= |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064537/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Current_Trends_in_Linguistics_Linguistic/lYouAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=taiwan+Linguistics+in+Oceania+%282+v.&dq=taiwan+Linguistics+in+Oceania+%282+v.&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> While not oceanic in nature, Taiwan and Malay Archipelago countries like Indonesia and the Philippines share [[Austronesians|Austronesia]]n ethnolinguistic origins with Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, hence their inclusion in the book.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p69411/pdf/book.pdf |title=The Austronesians: Historical and comparative perspectives |editor1=Peter Bellwood |editor2=James J. Fox |editor3=Darrell Tryon |publisher=Australian National University |location=Canberra |year=2006 |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524202017/https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p69411/pdf/book.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="lingtai"/> Hainan, which neighbours Taiwan, also has Austronesian ethnolinguistic origins, although it was not included in the book.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc=2374892 | year=2008 | last1=Li | first1=D. | last2=Li | first2=H. | last3=Ou | first3=C. | last4=Lu | first4=Y. | last5=Sun | first5=Y. | last6=Yang | first6=B. | last7=Qin | first7=Z. | last8=Zhou | first8=Z. | last9=Li | first9=S. | last10=Jin | first10=L. | title=Paternal Genetic Structure of Hainan Aborigines Isolated at the Entrance to East Asia | journal=PLOS ONE | volume=3 | issue=5 | pages=e2168 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0002168 | pmid=18478090 | bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.2168L | doi-access=free }}</ref> The book defined Oceania's major subregions as being Australia, Indonesia (which included all areas associated with the Malay Archipelago), Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. In 2010, Australian historian Bronwen Douglas claimed in ''The Journal of Pacific History'' that "a strong case could be made for extending Oceania to at least Taiwan, the homeland of the Austronesian language family whose speakers colonized significant parts of the region about 6,000 years ago."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Douglas |first1=Bronwen |title='Terra Australis' to Oceania: Racial Geography in the "Fifth Part of the World" |journal=The Journal of Pacific History |date=2010 |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=179–210 |doi=10.1080/00223344.2010.501696 |jstor=25764398 |pmid=20836257 |hdl=1885/52012 |s2cid=205438654 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> For political reasons, Taiwan was a member of the [[Oceania Football Confederation]] during the 1970s and 1980s, rather than the [[Asian Football Confederation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goal.com/en-au/news/chinese-taipei-india-intercontinental-cup-know-your-rivals/bugueu6dtcwd1u6nbyi6wmj90/match/4c8k8i08ssh8dc5lclsl4sxuy|title=Indian National Football Team: Know Your Rivals - Chinese Taipei|website=Goal.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Van Fossen |first1=Anthony |title=The Struggle for Recognition: Diplomatic Competition Between China and Taiwan in Oceania |journal=Journal of Chinese Political Science |date=August 2007 |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=125–146 |doi=10.1007/s11366-007-9008-0 |hdl=10072/18133 |s2cid=154652706 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Ian Todd's 1974 book ''Island Realm: A Pacific Panorama'' also defines oceanic Latin American islands as making up a Spanish language segment of Oceania, and included the Desventuradas Islands, Easter Island, the Galápagos Islands, Guadalupe Island, the Juan Fernández Islands, the Revillagigedo Islands and Salas y Gómez. Cocos Island and Malpelo Island were not explicitly referenced in the book, despite being areas which would fall within this range. All other islands associated with Latin American countries were excluded, as they are continental in nature, unlike Guadalupe Island and the Revillagigedo Islands (both situated on the Pacific Plate) and the oceanic islands situated on the Cocos Plate and Nazca Plate. Todd defined the oceanic Bonin Islands as making up a [[Japanese language]] segment of Oceania, and excluded the main Japanese archipelago.<ref name="realm"/> Todd further included the Aleutian Islands in his definition of Oceania. The island chain borders both the Pacific Plate and the [[North American Plate]], and is geologically a partially submerged volcanic extension of the [[Aleutian Range]] on the Alaskan mainland, that stretches for another 1,600 kilometres.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hurtigruten.com/en-us/expeditions/stories/tectonics-of-the-east-pacific/|title=Tectonics of the East Pacific {{pipe}} Hurtigruten Expeditions|website=www.hurtigruten.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.apiai.org/departments/cultural-heritage-department/culture-history/history/|title=History {{pipe}}|website=Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association}}</ref><ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Aleutian Islands|volume=1|pages=543–544}}</ref> He did not include the volcanic Kuril Islands and Ryukyu Islands, which similarly border both the Eurasian Plate and the Pacific Plate,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Prasad |first1=Birendra |title=BPSC General Studies Preliminary Guide 2022 |date=2021 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |isbn=978-9354880216 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VFFREAAAQBAJ&dq=volcanic+islands+ryuku+kuril&pg=RA1-PA12 |access-date=19 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.soundseismic.com/earthquake-resources/kuril-islands-earthquake-of-8-5-magnitude|title=1963 Kuril Islands earthquake of 8.5 magnitude &#124; Sound Seismic|website=www.soundseismic.com}}</ref> nor did he include the neighbouring Kodiak archipelago in the North Pacific Ocean, which is firmly situated on the North American Plate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dggs.alaska.gov/popular-geology/earthquakes-tsunamis.html|title=Popular Geology - Earthquakes & Tsunamis|website=dggs.alaska.gov}}</ref> ''The Stockholm Journal of East Asian Studies'' stated in 1996 that Oceania was defined as Australia and an ensemble of various Pacific Islands, "particularly those in the central and south Pacific [but] never those in the extreme north, for example the Aleutian chain."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Stockholm Journal of East Asian Studies: Volumes 6-8 |date=1996 |publisher=Center for Pacific Asia Studies, University of Stockholm |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qP8uAQAAIAAJ&q=%22extreme+north%22+%22oceania%22+1996+%22aleutian%22 |access-date=31 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064537/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_Stockholm_Journal_of_East_Asian_Stud/qP8uAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22extreme+north%22+%22oceania%22+1996+%22aleutian%22&dq=%22extreme+north%22+%22oceania%22+1996+%22aleutian%22&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> In the ''Pacific Ocean Handbook'' (1945), author Eliot Grinnell Mears claimed, "it is customary to exclude the Aleutians of the North Pacific, the American coastal islands and the [[Netherlands East Indies]]", and that he included Australia and New Zealand in Oceania for "scientific reasons; Australia's fauna is largely continental in character, New Zealand's are clearly insular; and neither [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth realm]] has close ties with Asia."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mears |first1=Eliot Grinnell |title=Pacific Ocean Handbook |date=1945 |publisher=J. L. Delkin |pages=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ku04AAAAIAAJ&q=%22customary%22+%22exclude%22+%22north+pacific%22+%22aleutians%22 |access-date=27 July 2022}}</ref> In his 2002 book ''Oceania: An Introduction to the Cultures and Identities of Pacific Islanders'', Andrew Strathern excluded [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] and the rest of the Ryukyu Islands from his definition of Oceania, but noted that the islands and their [[Ryukyuan people|indigenous inhabitants]] "show many parallels with Pacific island societies."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strathern |first1=Andrew |title=Oceania: An Introduction to the Cultures and Identities of Pacific Islanders |year=2002 |publisher=Carolina Academic Press |page=5 |isbn=978-0890894446 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_AMAQAAMAAJ&q=okinawa+%22Pacific+island+societies.%22 |access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref>

In his 1994 book ''Familia Gekkonidae (Reptilia, Sauria). Part 1: Australia and Oceania'', German [[Herpetology|herpetologist]] Klaus Henle referred to the area as the Pacific region, and defined it as covering Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Henle included the Indonesian half of New Guinea, but excluded the rest of Indonesia and the Malay Archipelago, as well as all Japanese islands and oceanic Latin American islands (with the exception of Easter Island).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Henle |first1=Klaus |title=Familia Gekkonidae (Reptilia, Sauria) : part I Australia and Oceania |date=2011 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3110141146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=alfrs1ccgccC |access-date=22 December 2022}}</ref> In the 2006 book ''Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds'', American paleontologist [[David Steadman]] wrote, "no place on earth is as perplexing as the 25,000 islands that make Oceania." Steadman viewed Oceania as encompassing Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia (including Easter Island and Hawaii). He excluded from his definition the larger islands of New Guinea and New Zealand, and argued that Cocos Island, the Galápagos Islands, the Revillagigedo Islands and other oceanic islands nearing the Americas were not part of Oceania, due to their biogeographical affinities with that area and lack of prehistoric indigenous populations.<ref name="birds"/> In his 2018 book ''Regionalism in South Pacific'', Chinese author Yu Changsen wrote that some "stress a narrow vision of the Pacific as those Pacific Islands excluding Australia and even sometimes New Zealand", adding that the term Oceania "promotes a broader concept that has room for Australia and New Zealand."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Changsen |first1=Yu |title=Regionalism in South Pacific |date=2018 |publisher=社会科学文献出版社 |isbn=978-7520133111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmVmEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22room+for+australia%22+%22pacific%22+%22oceania%22&pg=PT8 |access-date=6 December 2022}}</ref>

American marine geologist Anthony A. P. Koppers wrote in the 2009 book ''Encyclopedia of Islands'' that, "as a whole, the islands of the Pacific Region are referred to as Oceania, the tenth continent on earth. Inherent to their remoteness and because of the wide variety of island types, the Pacific Islands have developed unique social, biological and geological characteristics." Koppers considered Oceania to encompass the entire 25,000 islands of the Pacific Ocean. In this book, he included the Aleutian Islands, the Galápagos Islands, the Japanese archipelago, the Kuril Islands and continental islands off the coast of the Americas such as the Channel Islands, the Farallon Islands and Vancouver Island;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clague |first1=David |last2=Gillespie |first2=Rosemary |title=Encyclopedia of Islands |date=2009 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520256491 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9ZogGs_fz8C |access-date=5 December 2022}}</ref> all of these islands lie in or close to the Pacific [[Ring of Fire]], as is the case with New Guinea and New Zealand, which were also included. In the 2013 book ''The Environments of the Poor in Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific'', Paul Bullen critiqued the definition of Oceania in ''Encyclopedia of Islands'', and wrote that since Koppers included areas such as Vancouver Island, it is "not clear what the referents of 'Pacific Region', 'Oceania' or 'Pacific Islands' are." Bullen added that, "Asia, Europe and the Maritime Continent are not literal geographic continents. The '[[Asia-Pacific]] region' would comprise two quasi-continents. 'The Pacific' would not refer to the Pacific Ocean and everything in it e.g., the Philippines."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bullen |first1=Paul |title=The Environments of the Poor in Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific |date=19 November 2013 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=9789814517997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ev3AwAAQBAJ&dq=%22vancouver+island%22+%22oceania%22+%22pacific+region%22&pg=PA134 |access-date=5 December 2022}}</ref> ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names'' (2017), by John Everett-Heath, states that Oceania is "a collective name for more than 10,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean" and that "it is generally accepted that Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the islands north of Japan (the Kurils and Aleutians) are excluded."<ref name="ev">{{cite book |last1=Everett-Heath |first1=John |title=The Concise Dictionary of World Place Names |date=2017 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-255646-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qgJCDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22generally+accepted%22+oceania+excluded+japan&pg=PT1171 |access-date=8 July 2022 |quote=It is generally accepted that Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the islands north of Japan (the Kurils and Aleutians) are excluded}}</ref> In his 1993 book ''A New Oceania: Rediscovering Our Sea of Islands'', New Guinea-born [[Fijians|Fijian]] scholar [[Epeli Hauʻofa]] wrote that, "Pacific Ocean islands from Japan, through the Philippines and Indonesia, which are adjacent to the Asian mainland, do not have oceanic cultures, and are therefore not part of Oceania."<ref name="edu au" />

''The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania'' (2018) defined Oceania as only covering Austronesian-speaking islands in Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, with this definition including New Guinea and New Zealand. Other Austronesian areas such as Indonesia and the Philippines were not included, due to their closer cultural proximity to mainland Asia. Australia was also not included, as it was settled several thousands of years before the arrival of Austronesian-speaking peoples in Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. The book stated, "this definition of Oceania might seem too restrictive: Why not include Australia, for example, or even too broad, for what does [[New Guinea Highlands|Highland New Guinea]] have to do with Hawai'i?", further noting that, "a few other islands in the Pacific such as those of Japan or the Channel Islands off the southern California coast are not typically considered Oceania as the indigenous populations of these places do not share a common ancestry with Oceanic groups, except for a time far before humans sailed Pacific waters."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cochrane |first1=Ethan E. |last2=Hunt |first2=Terry L. |title=The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-992507-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZRODwAAQBAJ&dq=%22islands+in+the+pacific+such+as+those+of+japan%22&pg=PA1 |access-date=21 January 2023}}</ref> It has been theorized that the indigenous [[Jōmon people]] of the Japanese archipelago are related to Austronesians, along with the indigenous inhabitants of the Ryukyu Islands. Some also theorize that [[Indigenous Australian]]s are related to the [[Ainu people]], who are the original inhabitants of Japan's [[Hokkaido]], the Kuril Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin.<ref>{{cite web |author=Moller Eric |url=https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/ainu-spirit-northern-people |title=Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People |publisher=Cultural Survival |date= 18 July 2022|accessdate=2022-09-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110807554.195 |chapter=Dentition of the Ainu and the Australian Aborigines |title=Orofacial Growth and Development |year=1977 |last1=Hanihara |first1=Kazuro |pages=195–200 |isbn=978-90-279-7889-9 }}</ref> In their 2019 book ''Women and Violence: Global Lives in Focus'', Kathleen Nadeau and Sangita Rayamajhi wrote that, "the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and most of Indonesia are not usually considered to be part of the region of Oceania as it is understood today. These regions are usually considered to be part of Maritime Southeast Asia. Although these regions, as well as the large East Asian islands of Taiwan, Hainan and the Japanese archipelago, have varying degrees of cultural connections."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nadeau |first1=Kathleen |last2=Rayamajhi |first2=Sangita |title=Women and Violence: Global Lives in Focus |date=2023 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1440862243 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KXe5DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22hainan%22+%22varying+degrees+of+cultural%22&pg=PA231 |access-date=20 January 2023}}</ref>

In ''Reptiles and Amphibians of the Pacific Islands: A Comprehensive Guide'' (2013), George R. Zug claimed that "a standard definition of Oceania includes Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and New Zealand and the oceanic islands of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia." He went on to write that his preferred definition of Oceania emphasis islands with oceanic geology, stating that oceanic islands are, "islands with no past connections to a continental landmass" and that, "these boundaries encompass the Hawaiian and Bonin Islands in the north and Easter Island in the south, and the [[Palau]] Islands in the west to the Galápagos Islands in the east."<ref name="zug">{{cite book |last1=R. Zug |first1=George |title=Reptiles and Amphibians of the Pacific Islands: A Comprehensive Guide |date=2013 |publisher=University of California Press |page= |quote=}}</ref> Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand and New Caledonia (which is geologically associated with New Zealand) were all excluded, as these areas are descendants of the ancient [[Pangaea]] supercontinent, along with landmasses such as the Americas and [[Afro-Eurasia]]. Volcanic islands which are geologically associated with continental landmasses, such as the Aleutian Islands, Japan's [[Izu Islands]], the Kuril Islands, the Ryukyu Islands and most of the Solomon Islands, were also excluded from his definition. Unlike the United Nations, the World Factbook defines the still-uninhabited Clipperton Island as being a discrete political entity, and they categorize it as part of North America, presumably due to its relative proximity (situated 1,200 kilometres off Mexico on the Pacific Plate). Clipperton is not politically associated with the Americas, as is the case with other oceanic islands nearing the Americas, having had almost no interaction with the continent throughout its history.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p241101/pdf/book.pdf |title=France in the South Pacific: Power and Politics |author=Denise Fisher |publisher=Australian National University |location=Canberra |year=2013 |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326211929/https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p241101/pdf/book.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pacific-studies.net/datadetails.php?place=4&type=Data&source=3|title=pacific-studies.eu: Clipperton Island (France) {{pipe}} The World Factbook|website=Pacific-studies.net|access-date=2022-07-30|archive-date=2022-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204075635/https://www.pacific-studies.net/datadetails.php?place=4&type=Data&source=3|url-status=live}}</ref> From the early 20th century to 2007, the island was administratively part of French Polynesia, which itself was known as French Oceania up until 1957.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/French-Polynesia|title=French Polynesia summary {{pipe}} Britannica|website=Britannica.com|access-date=2022-07-30|archive-date=2022-05-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504205135/https://www.britannica.com/summary/French-Polynesia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Clipperton-Island|title=Clipperton Island {{pipe}} island, Pacific Ocean {{pipe}} Britannica|website=Britannica.com|access-date=2022-07-30|archive-date=2022-05-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504205134/https://www.britannica.com/place/Clipperton-Island|url-status=live}}</ref> In terms of marine fauna, Clipperton shares similarities with areas of the Pacific which are much farther removed from the Americas.<ref name="clipzoo">{{cite web |last1=Robertson |first1=D. Ross |last2=Allen |first2=Gerald R. |year=1996 |title=Zoogeography of the shorefish fauna of Clipperton Atoll |url=https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/19435 |publisher=Repository.si.edu |hdl=10088/19435 |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112172307/https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/19435 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.2839.1.1 |title=Sponges from Clipperton Island, East Pacific |journal=Zootaxa |publisher=Mapress.com |date= 29 April 2011 |volume=2839 |issue=1 |pages=1–46–1–46 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2839.1.1 |access-date=27 February 2022 |archive-date=27 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227130813/https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.2839.1.1 |url-status=live |last1=Van Soest |first1=Rob W. M. |last2=Kaiser |first2=Kirstie L. |last3=Van Syoc |first3=Robert |citeseerx=10.1.1.296.6640 }}</ref> Scottish author [[Robert Hope Moncrieff]] considered Clipperton to be the easternmost point of Oceania in 1907, while Ian Todd also included it in his definition of Oceania in ''Island Realm: A Pacific Panorama''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moncrieff |first1=Robert Hope |title=The World of To-day A Survey of the Lands and Peoples of The Globe as Seen in Travel and Commerce: Volume 4 |date=1907 |publisher=Oxford University |page=222 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VPVaAAAAQAAJ&q=%22easter+island%22+%22clipperton+island%22+%22oceania%22 |access-date=28 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064635/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_World_of_To_day/VPVaAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22easter+island%22+%22clipperton+island%22+%22oceania%22&dq=%22easter+island%22+%22clipperton+island%22+%22oceania%22&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref>

Other uninhabited Pacific Ocean landmasses have been explicitly associated with Oceania,<ref name="janick">{{Cite book |last=Janick |first=Jules |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DrXCupIJVQMC&dq=%22galapagos%22+%22oceania%22+%22polynesia%22&pg=PA146 |title=Horticultural Reviews, Volume 36 |date=2010 |publisher=Wiley |page=146 |isbn=978-0470527221 |quote=Oceania is a broadly applied term for the thousands of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They range from extremely small, uninhabited islands, to large ones, including Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. Oceania is further grouped into three regions, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. There a few other Pacific island groups that do not fit into these groupings, such as Galapagos. |access-date=1 February 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064634/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Horticultural_Reviews_Volume_36/DrXCupIJVQMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22galapagos%22+%22oceania%22+%22polynesia%22&pg=PA146&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> including the highly remote Baker Island and Wake Island (now administered by the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. military]]).<ref name="stats"/> This is due to their location in the centre of the Pacific, their biogeography and their oceanic geology. Less isolated oceanic islands that were once uninhabited, such as the Bonin Islands, the Galápagos Islands and the Juan Fernández Islands, have since been sparsely populated by citizens of their political administrators.<ref name="realm"/><ref name="ling"/> Archaeological evidence suggests that [[Micronesians]] may have lived on the Bonin Islands {{c.|2,000}} years ago, but they were uninhabited at the time of European discovery in the 16th century.<ref>{{citation |last=Welsch |first=Bernhard |date=June 2004 |contribution-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25169675 |contribution=Was Marcus Island Discovered by Bernardo de la Torre in 1543? |title=Journal of Pacific History |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=109–122 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=Milton Park |doi=10.1080/00223340410001684886 |jstor=25169675 |s2cid=219627973 }}.</ref>

====Boundaries between subregions====
Depending on the definition, New Zealand could be part of Polynesia, or part of Australasia with Australia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dumas |first1=Michel |last2=Preux |first2=Pierre-Marie |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KUuZDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22new+zealand%22+%22australasia+or+polynesia%22&pg=PA87 |title=Neuroepidemiology in Tropical Health |date=2017 |publisher=Academic Press |page=87 |access-date=6 February 2022 |chapter=Neurologic Diseases in Tropical Oceania |isbn=978-0128046258 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304050555/https://books.google.com/books?id=KUuZDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22new+zealand%22+%22australasia+or+polynesia%22&pg=PA87 |url-status=live }}</ref> New Zealand was originally settled by the Polynesian [[Māori people|Māori]], and has long maintained a political influence over the subregion.<ref name="southsea">{{cite book |last1=Halter |first1=Nicholas |title=Australian Travellers in the South Seas |date=2021 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=978-1760464158 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dAAbEAAAQBAJ |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=6 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206160214/https://books.google.com/books?id=dAAbEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="lowy18">{{cite web |url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/nz-and-australia-big-brothers-or-distant-cousins |title=NZ and Australia: Big Brothers or Distant Cousins? {{pipe}} The Interpreter |publisher=Lowyinstitute.org |date=9 July 2020 |access-date=6 February 2022 |archive-date=6 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206160214/https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/nz-and-australia-big-brothers-or-distant-cousins |url-status=live }}</ref> Through immigration and high Māori birth rates, New Zealand has attained the largest population of Polynesians in the world,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whimp |first1=Graeme |chapter=Working in the Space Between: Pacific Artists in Aotearoa/New Zealand |date=2009 |hdl=10125/146805b24 |editor1-first=A. Marata |editor1-last=Tamaira |title=In The Space Between: Negotiating Culture, Place, and Identity in the Pacific |pages=9–23 }}</ref> while Australia has the third largest Polynesian population (consisting entirely of immigrants). Modern-day Indigenous Australians are loosely related to Melanesians,<ref>{{Cite journal | title = Whole-Genome Genetic Diversity in a Sample of Australians with Deep Aboriginal Ancestry
 | last1 = McEvoy | first1 = B. P.
 | last2 = Lind | first2 = J. M.
 | last3 = Wang | first3 = E. T.
 | last4 = Moyzis | first4 = R. K.
 | last5 = Visscher | first5 = P. M.
 | last6 = Van Holst Pellekaan | first6 = S. M.
 | last7 = Wilton | first7 = A. N.
 | journal = The American Journal of Human Genetics
 | year = 2010 | volume = 87 | issue = 2 | pages = 297–305
 | doi = 10.1016/j.ajhg.2010.07.008 | pmc = 2917718 | pmid = 20691402
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Malaspinas |first1=Anna-Sapfo |last2=Westaway |first2=Michael C. |last3=Muller |first3=Craig |last4=Sousa |first4=Vitor C. |last5=Lao |first5=Oscar |last6=Alves |first6=Isabel |last7=Bergström |first7=Anders |last8=Athanasiadis |first8=Georgios |last9=Cheng |first9=Jade Y. |last10=Crawford |first10=Jacob E. |last11=Heupink |first11=Tim H. |last12=Macholdt |first12=Enrico |last13=Peischl |first13=Stephan |last14=Rasmussen |first14=Simon |last15=Schiffels |first15=Stephan |last16=Subramanian |first16=Sankar |last17=Wright |first17=Joanne L. |last18=Albrechtsen |first18=Anders |last19=Barbieri |first19=Chiara |last20=Dupanloup |first20=Isabelle |last21=Eriksson |first21=Anders |last22=Margaryan |first22=Ashot |last23=Moltke |first23=Ida |last24=Pugach |first24=Irina |last25=Korneliussen |first25=Thorfinn S. |last26=Levkivskyi |first26=Ivan P. |last27=Moreno-Mayar |first27=J. Víctor |last28=Ni |first28=Shengyu |last29=Racimo |first29=Fernando |last30=Sikora |first30=Martin |last31=Xue |first31=Yali |last32=Aghakhanian |first32=Farhang A. |last33=Brucato |first33=Nicolas |last34=Brunak |first34=Søren |last35=Campos |first35=Paula F. |last36=Clark |first36=Warren |last37=Ellingvåg |first37=Sturla |last38=Fourmile |first38=Gudjugudju |last39=Gerbault |first39=Pascale |last40=Injie |first40=Darren |last41=Koki |first41=George |last42=Leavesley |first42=Matthew |last43=Logan |first43=Betty |last44=Lynch |first44=Aubrey |last45=Matisoo-Smith |first45=Elizabeth A. |last46=McAllister |first46=Peter J. |last47=Mentzer |first47=Alexander J. |last48=Metspalu |first48=Mait |last49=Migliano |first49=Andrea B. |last50=Murgha |first50=Les |last51=Phipps |first51=Maude E. |last52=Pomat |first52=William |last53=Reynolds |first53=Doc |last54=Ricaut |first54=Francois-Xavier |last55=Siba |first55=Peter |last56=Thomas |first56=Mark G. |last57=Wales |first57=Thomas |last58=Wall |first58=Colleen Ma'run |last59=Oppenheimer |first59=Stephen J. |last60=Tyler-Smith |first60=Chris |last61=Durbin |first61=Richard |last62=Dortch |first62=Joe |last63=Manica |first63=Andrea |last64=Schierup |first64=Mikkel H. |last65=Foley |first65=Robert A. |last66=Lahr |first66=Marta Mirazón |last67=Bowern |first67=Claire |last68=Wall |first68=Jeffrey D. |last69=Mailund |first69=Thomas |last70=Stoneking |first70=Mark |last71=Nielsen |first71=Rasmus |last72=Sandhu |first72=Manjinder S. |last73=Excoffier |first73=Laurent |last74=Lambert |first74=David M. |last75=Willerslev |first75=Eske |title=A genomic history of Aboriginal Australia |journal=Nature |date=13 October 2016 |volume=538 |issue=7624 |pages=207–214 |doi=10.1038/nature18299 |pmid=27654914 |bibcode=2016Natur.538..207M |hdl=10754/622366 |s2cid=4471731 |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1516136/ |hdl-access=free }}</ref> and Australia maintains political influence over Melanesia,<ref name="lowy18"/> which is mostly located on the same tectonic plate.<ref name="birds"/><ref name="plates"/> Despite this, Australia is rarely seen as a part of the subregion.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 40387356|last1 = Kirch|first1 = Patrick V.|title = Reviewed work: Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands, Ian Lilley|journal = Archaeology in Oceania|year = 2006|volume = 41|issue = 3|pages = 128–130|doi = 10.1002/j.1834-4453.2006.tb00623.x}}</ref><ref name="Codrington Melanesians Encyc">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Codrington|first=Robert|title=Melanesians|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics|year=1915|publisher=T & T Clark|location=Edinburgh|pages=528–535}}</ref> As with Australia and New Zealand, Melanesia's New Caledonia has a significant non-indigenous European population, numbering around 71,000.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|url=http://www.isee.nc/tec/popsociete/telechargements/4-population.pdf|title=ISEE - Salaires|website=Isee.nc|access-date=20 August 2017|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225164238/http://www.isee.nc/tec/popsociete/telechargements/4-population.pdf%20}}</ref> Conversely, New Caledonia has still had a similar history to the rest of Melanesia, and their [[French language|French]]-speaking Europeans make up only 27% of the total population.<ref name="autogenerated2"/><ref name="devchris">{{Cite journal |last1=Ernst |first1=Manfred |last2=Anisi |first2=Anna |date=1 February 2016 |title=The Historical Development of Christianity in Oceania |url=https://www.academia.edu/33371338 |journal=Sanneh/Wiley |pages=588–604 |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=12 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412012839/https://www.academia.edu/33371338 |url-status=live }}</ref> As such, it is not also culturally considered a part of the predominantly English-speaking Australasia.<ref name="emb">{{cite web|url=https://noumea.embassy.gov.au/nmeafrench/media191.html|title=Australian Consulate-General in|first=corporateName= Department of Foreign Affairs and|last=Trade|website=Noumea.embassy.gov.au|access-date=2022-07-30|archive-date=2022-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411100613/https://noumea.embassy.gov.au/nmeafrench/media191.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Some cultural and political definitions of Australasia include most or all of Melanesia, due to its geographical proximity to Australia and New Zealand, but these are rare.<ref name=NZOD>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Australasia |encyclopedia=New Zealand Oxford Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0195584516 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001|editor1-last=Deverson |editor1-first=Tony |editor2-first=Graeme |editor2-last=Kennedy }}</ref> Australia, New Zealand and the islands of Melanesia are more commonly grouped together as part of the [[Australasian realm|Australasian biogeographical realm]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/australasia-realm|title=Australasia realm|date=7 October 2019|website=Biology Articles, Tutorials & Dictionary Online|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064726/https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/australasia-realm|url-status=live}}</ref> The UN's name for the Australasia subregion is "Australia and New Zealand"; their definition includes New Zealand, but places Papua New Guinea in Melanesia.<ref name="stats"/> Papua New Guinea is geographically the closest country to Australia, and is often geologically associated with Australia as it was once physiologically connected.<ref name="stats"/> The UN's definition of this subregion also includes Australia's Indian Ocean external territories of [[Christmas Island]] and [[Cocos (Keeling) Islands]].<ref name="stats"/> These tropical islands are situated within the bounds of the Australian Plate and have been geographically associated with Southeast Asia, due to their proximity to western Indonesia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/api/records/a05f7892-8f70-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6|title=BMR Cruise 107: Seabed Morphology and Offshore Resources around Christmas Island, Indian Ocean|website=Product catalogue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/pub/scientific-publications/archive/conservation-christmas-cocos.pdf |title=Conservation values in Commonwealth waters of the Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Island remote Australian territories |publisher=CSIRO |date=August 2009 |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401084035/https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/pub/scientific-publications/archive/conservation-christmas-cocos.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=M. Athyal |first1=Jesudas |title=Religion in Southeast Asia: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures |date=2015 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=40 |isbn=978-1610692502 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-RfYBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22christmas+island%22+%22in+southeast+asia%22&pg=PA40 |access-date=10 July 2022 |archive-date=10 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710222449/https://books.google.com/books?id=-RfYBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22christmas+island%22+%22in+southeast+asia%22&pg=PA40 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wildlifetourism.org.au/christmas-island-australias-gem-in-the-indian-ocean/|title=Christmas Island – Australia's Gem In The Indian Ocean|website=Wildlifetourism.org.au|access-date=19 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064649/https://www.wildlifetourism.org.au/christmas-island-australias-gem-in-the-indian-ocean/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://parksaustralia.gov.au/christmas/pub/bird-brochure.pdf|title=Christmas & Cocos Keeling Islands Birding Guide|website=Parksaustralia.gov.au|access-date=19 July 2022|archive-date=6 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406033004/https://parksaustralia.gov.au/christmas/pub/bird-brochure.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Both were uninhabited when discovered by Europeans during the 17th century. Approximately half of the population on these islands are [[European Australians|European Australian]] mainlanders (with smaller numbers being [[European New Zealanders]]), while the other half are immigrants from China or the nearby Malay Archipelago.<ref name=Census2016>{{cite web |publisher=Australian Government |department=[[Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development]] |title=2016 Census: Christmas Island |url=http://regional.gov.au/territories/Christmas/files/CI_2016_Census_Data_Fact_Sheet_Final.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111164850/http://regional.gov.au/territories/Christmas/files/CI_2016_Census_Data_Fact_Sheet_Final.pdf |archive-date=11 January 2018|access-date=3 May 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Egan |first1=Colleen |title=Bad tidings on Christmas |url=http://sievx.com/articles/psdp/19991211ColleenEgan.html |publisher=The Weekend Australian |access-date=7 March 2022 |date=11 December 1999 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608164850/http://sievx.com/articles/psdp/19991211ColleenEgan.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The UN further define the subregion as including Australia's Indian Ocean external territory Heard Island and McDonald Islands. These islands lie on the [[Antarctic Plate]] and are also thought of as being in Antarctica or no region at all, due to their extreme geographical isolation.<ref name="geo">{{cite book |doi=10.1130/2007.2425(18) |chapter=The seismicity of the Antarctic plate |title=Continental Intraplate Earthquakes: Science, Hazard, and Policy Issues |year=2007 |last1=Reading |first1=Anya M. |isbn=978-0-8137-2425-6 }}</ref><ref name="stats"/> The World Factbook define Heard Island and McDonald Islands as part of Antarctica, while placing Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands as the westernmost extent of Oceania.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cocos-keeling-islands/ |title=Cocos (Keeling) Islands - The World Factbook |website=Cia.gov |date=24 June 2022 |access-date=10 July 2022 |archive-date=10 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710181719/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cocos-keeling-islands/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/christmas-island/|title=Christmas Island|date=24 June 2022|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|website=Cia.gov|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126032949/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/christmas-island/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Norfolk Island]], an external territory of Australia, was inhabited in prehistoric times by either Melanesians or Polynesians, and is geographically adjacent to the islands of Melanesia. The current inhabitants are mostly European Australians, and the UN categorize it as being in the Australasia subregion.<ref name="stats"/> The 1982 edition of the ''South Pacific Handbook'', by David Stanley, groups Australia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and Hawai{{okina}}i together under an "Anglonesia" category. This is in spite of the geographical distance separating these areas from Hawai{{okina}}i, which technically lies in the North Pacific.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stanley |first=David |url={{Google books|lRV1FozOqQAC|page=502|plainurl=yes}} |title=South Pacific Handbook |date=1982 |publisher=Moon Publications |page=502 |isbn=978-0-9603322-3-6 }}</ref> The 1985 edition of the ''South Pacific Handbook'' also groups the Galápagos Islands as being in Polynesia, while noting that they are not culturally a part of the subregion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stanley |first=David |url={{Google books|unz2v_HT5q0C|page=43||plainurl=yes}} |title=South Pacific Handbook |date=1985 |publisher=Moon Publications |page=43 |isbn=978-0-918373-29-8 }}</ref> The islands are typically grouped with others in the southeastern Pacific that were never inhabited by Polynesians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hinz |first1=Earl R. |title=Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands |date=1999 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=978-0-8248-2115-9 |edition=4th |url={{Google books|uK5-YO9J_GcC|page=337|plainurl=yes}} |page=337 }}</ref><ref name="veg"/>

The Bonin Islands are in the same biogeographical realm as the geographically adjacent Micronesia, and are often grouped in with the subregion because of this.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bluejapan.org/fr/geography/climate-and-season/|title=Climate And Seasons – Blue Japan en français|website=Bluejapan.org|access-date=19 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064648/https://bluejapan.org/fr/geography/climate-and-season/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="veg">{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-8686-3 |title=Vegetation of the Tropical Pacific Islands |series=Ecological Studies |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-387-98313-4 |s2cid=46366808 }}</ref>