Oceania Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====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 | 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> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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