This is a list ofcountries withterritory that straddles more than onecontinent, known astranscontinental states orintercontinental states.[1]
Contiguous transcontinental countries are states that have one continuous or immediately-adjacent piece of territory that spans acontinental boundary, most commonly the line that separates Asia and Europe. By contrast,non-contiguous transcontinental countries are those states that have portions of territory that are separated from one another either by a body of water or by other countries (such as in the case of France). Most non-contiguous transcontinental countries are countries withdependencies like United Kingdom with itsoverseas territories, but can be countries that have fully integrated former dependencies in their central states like France with itsoverseas regions.[1]
For the purposes of this article, aseven-continent model is assumed based on common terms of reference by English language geographers.[2] Combined continents like "the Americas" and "Eurasia" are not acknowledged or referenced. Theboundary between Asia and Europe is largely conventional (much of it over land), and several conventions remained in use well into the 20th century. However, the now-prevalent convention—which has been in use by somecartographers since about 1850—follows theCaucasus northern chain, theUral River and theUral Mountains, is used for the purposes of this list.[3] This convention results in several countries such as in the case ofAzerbaijan,Kazakhstan, andTurkey finding themselves almost entirely in 'Asia', with a few smallenclaves or districts technically in 'Europe'. Notwithstanding these anomalies, this list of transcontinental or intercontinental states respects the convention that Europe and Asia are full continents rather thansubcontinents or componentlandmasses of a largerEurasian continent.
Listed further below, separately, are countries with distant non-contiguous parts (overseas territories) on separate continents.
The lists within this article include entries that meet the following criteria:
Theboundaries between the continents can be vague and subject to interpretation, making it difficult to conclusively define what counts as a 'transcontinental state'.
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Contiguous transcontinental states are those countries that have one continuous or immediately adjacent piece of territory that spans acontinental boundary. More specifically, they contain a portion of their territory on one continent and a portion of their territory on another continent, while having these two portions connected via a natural geological land connection (e.g. Russia) or the two portions being immediately adjacent to one another (e.g. Turkey).[6][7] In other words, someone can travel to another continent without changing the country (without crossing a border).
The modern convention for the land boundary between Asia and Africa runs along theIsthmus of Suez and theSuez Canal inEgypt. The border continues through theGulf of Suez,Red Sea, andGulf of Aden. In antiquity, Egypt had been considered part of Asia,[citation needed] with theCatabathmus Magnus escarpment taken as the boundary withAfrica (Libya).
Egypt: Out of the 27governorates of Egypt, two lie entirely on the AsianSinai Peninsula and two are transcontinental:Ismailia Governorate is nearly equally divided by the Suez Canal, andSuez Governorate—which is coterminous with the "transcontinental city" ofSuez—has a small portion east of the Canal.
The conventionalAsia-Europe boundary was subject to considerable variation during the 18th and 19th centuries, indicated anywhere between theDon River and theCaucasus to the south or theUral Mountains to the east. Since the late 19th century, the Caucasus–Urals boundary has become almost universally accepted. According to this now-standard convention, the boundary follows theAegean Sea, theTurkish Straits, theBlack Sea, along thewatershed of theGreater Caucasus, the northwestern portion of theCaspian Sea and along theUral River andUral Mountains to theArctic Ocean.[8][9]
According to this convention, the following countries have territory in both Asia and Europe.
Azerbaijan is a country located mainly on theAsian portion of theCaucasus, with a small portion of the country, itsQusar,Shabran,Siazan,Khachmaz andQuba districts north of theGreater Caucasus Watershed, and thus in Europe, placing a population of about half a million (or c. 5% of the country's total population) in Europe.
Georgia is located mainly on theAsian portion of theCaucasus; however, the Municipality ofKazbegi, northKhevsureti andTusheti are located north of the Greater Caucasus Watershed, which is geographically in Europe, with mountain peaks throughout the Caucasus ridge, placing around 5% of the country's total territory in Europe. Despite its geography, Georgia is considered a European country geopolitically[10] because of its historical, cultural, ethnic, and political ties to the continent.[11][12][13][14]
Kazakhstan is a country mainly located inCentral Asia,[15] with a small portion of the country extending west of theUral River inEastern Europe. The country's physical, cultural, ethnic, and geographic characteristics are Central Asian,[16][17] with a largeEuropean influence and influx of European settlers from Russia from when it was a part of the Soviet Union and the earlierRussian Empire. ItsWest Kazakhstan andAtyrau regions extend on either side of the Ural River,[18] placing a population of less than one million residents (out of a 15 million total population) geographically in Europe. Because the city ofAtyrau straddles the Ural River, it can be considered a transcontinental city.[19]
Russia, thelargest country in the world, spans most of northernEurasia, stretching over a vast expanse ofEastern Europe andNorth Asia. Its sparsely populatedAsian territory was historically incorporated into theTsardom of Russia in the 17th century byconquests. Russia is considered aEuropean country, as it has historical, cultural,ethnic, and political ties to the continent.[20] The vast majority of its population (80%) lives within itsEuropean portion, making it themost populous European nation. Russia's capital Moscow is thelargest city entirely in Europe.
Turkey falls almost wholly withinWest Asia (the Asian portion of Turkey consisting of the Anatolian Peninsula and additional land) plus a smaller portion of the country in theBalkan Peninsula inSoutheast Europe calledEast Thrace, which covers only 3% of the country's total area, with a population of about 11 million people, or some 14% of the country's population. Turkey's largest cityIstanbul spans both sides of theBosphorus, making it a transcontinental city in both Europe and Asia,[21] while the country's capitalAnkara is located in Asia. The territory of the current Turkish state is the core territory of the previousOttoman Empire that was also transcontinental in the same geographic region, which itself had also supplanted the earlier, similarly transcontinentalByzantine Empire.Other conventions separating Asia and Europe put different portions of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the Russian area of the Caucasus in either continent.[22]
The conventional boundary between North America and South America is at some point on theColombia–Panama border, with the most common demarcation in atlases and other sources following theDarién Mountains watershed where theIsthmus of Panama meets the South American continent (seeDarién Gap). This area encompasses a large watershed, forest and mountains in the northern portion ofColombia's Chocó Department andPanama's Darién province.
Some geographers prefer to use thePanama Canal[23] as the physical boundary between North and South America instead.[24][full citation needed] Under this convention, its capitalPanama City is classified as a South American city. Given the competing claims, the Panamanian sports governing bodies affiliate to differing continental/regional confederations:its athletics federation toSouth America's,its soccer federation toNorth, Central America and Caribbean's;its Olympic committee to bothSouth America's andCentral America's.
Colombia: Most of the Colombian mainland is located in northern South America (seeNorth America and South America above) and theMalpelo Island in the Pacific Ocean is also associated with South America (or on rare occasion Oceania, due to its status as anoceanic island).[25][26] However, the state also administers theSan Andrés and Providenciaarchipelago, 640 kilometres (400 mi) WNW of Colombia'sCaribbean Coast, in North America.
Venezuela (Aves Island): Most of Venezuela, predominantly its mainland, is located in northern South America. Aves Island, however, is geographically a definitive part of North America. It is one of theFederal Dependencies of Venezuela which are under the administration of theMinistry of Interior, Justice and Peace.The special case of Caribbean islands adjacent to the South American coastline:
Trinidad and Tobago: The state of Trinidad and Tobago lies on twotectonic plates. The southern half ofTrinidad lies on theSouth American Plate while the northern half of Trinidad and the island ofTobago lie on theCaribbean Plate. However, these geological features do not necessarily qualify Trinidad and Tobago as a transcontinental state, as the whole territory is often labeledgeopolitically as part of North America.North American Caribbean islands administered by South American states:
Caribbean islands considered North American or South American:
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Chile: Chile is mostly on the South American mainland and includes the islands ofEaster Island andIsla Salas y Gómez, which are within the Oceania subregion of Polynesia.[28] Those and the oceanicJuan Fernández Islands andDesventuradas Islands are part ofInsular Chile.[29]
Australia: The Commonwealth of Australia consists of its namesake continent and island possessions associated with Oceania, Asia, andAntarctica. ItsIndian Ocean territories ofChristmas Island and theCocos (Keeling) Islands are sometimesculturally associated withSoutheast Asia. The majority of residents on these islands have Asian ancestry (mainlyChinese andMalays); there is also a proportion ofAustralians andNew Zealanders on the islands who have European ancestry.[30][31] The islands have no properindigenous population, as they were only discovered in the 17th century, by Europeans. Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands are classified as being the westernmost areas of Oceania by theWorld Factbook, and are also considered part of Oceania by the United Nations. They are within theAustralian Plate, and could potentially be geographically part of Oceania under definitions that include the nearbyMalay Archipelago, or under definitions which are based on tectonic plates.
Japan: TheBonin Islands (comprising theVolcano Islands and three remote islands:Minamitorishima,Nishinoshima, andOkinotorishima) and theIzu Islands are sometimes considered parts of Oceania, owing to theiroceanic nature.[26][32][28][33][34] The Bonin Islands belong to theOceanian biogeographic realm, and are believed to have once been inhabited byIndigenous peoples of Oceania around 2,000 years ago, with their official discovery coming much later in the 16th century, through Europeans.[35] The most isolated island, Minami-Tori-shima (also known as Marcus Island) is 2,000 kilometers removed from Tokyo, lying closer to the northernmost islands ofMicronesia.[36][37]
Indonesia and
Timor-Leste: Indonesia and Timor-Leste are occasionally associated with Oceania, as they are the closest to Australia andMelanesia out of all countries in the Malay Archipelago.[38] Indonesia'seastern region includesWestern New Guinea and nearby islands such asMaluku Islands andLesser Sunda Islands, which are culturally and ecologically associated with Oceania. Meanwhile,Aru Islands (part of Maluku) and Western New Guinea are geologically part of theAustralian landmass.[39][40][41] Likewise, the islands ofWallacea (east of theWallace Line), includingTimor,Flores,Sumba, theMoluccan archipelago, and many others, have strong biogeographic and cultural links with Oceania.
Yemen: Although mainland Yemen is in the southernArabian Peninsula and thus part of Asia, and itsHanish Islands,Zubair Group, andPerim in theRed Sea are associated with Asia, Yemen's national territory extends to thearchipelago ofSocotra, which lies east of the horn ofSomalia[42] and is much closer to Africa than to Asia.[43]
Greece: The territory of Greece includes a number of islands just off the coast ofAsia Minor, such asRhodes,Kos,Samos,Chios,Lesbos,Kastellorizo,Strongyli Megistis, andRo.
Italy: Italy has a number of small islands south of Sicily that can be considered part of the African continent, due to their proximity to Tunisia. The closest land toPantelleria and thePelagie Islands (Lampedusa,Linosa andLampione) isTunisia on the African mainland. Nevertheless, Pantelleria and Linosa are considered part of Europe, Lampedusa and Lampione part of Africa.[44]
Spain: Although its mainland is in Europe, Spain has territory, including two provinces and two autonomous cities, in Africa. Close to 5% of Spain's population live on the African continent. Spanish territory in Africa includes theCanary Islands in the Atlantic,[45][46] the cities ofCeuta andMelilla on mainland North Africa, and Spain'splazas de soberanía, which are close to those cities that are geographically part of Africa. The Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are three of the 19autonomous communities and cities that form Spain, while theplazas de soberanía are under a different status, akin tounincorporated territories. The African Mediterranean island ofAlboran belongs to the transcontinental city ofAlmería and the transcontinentalprovince of Almería..svg)
Kingdom of Denmark: As a constituent part of theDanish Realm,Greenland is anon-sovereign country within theKingdom of Denmark. Fully located on the North American tectonic plate, and close to the mainland, Greenland is considered to be geographically a part of North America,[47] with the United Nations categorizing them as such.[48] Although it is politically associated with Europe and internationally represented by a European state (including in the Council of Europe), it is autonomous. Historically and ethnically, its native population is of North American tradition, although it also shares cultural links with other native peoples bordering theArctic Sea in Northern Europe and Asia (today in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia), as well as in North America (Alaska in the U.S.,Northwest Territories,Nunavut and northern parts ofQuebec andLabrador in Canada). Greenland was part of metropolitan Denmark and within the territory of the European Union, but voted for more autonomy and is now excluded from the EU.[49]
Netherlands: Though most of theKingdom of the Netherlands' landmass is in Europe, it also includes six island territories in theLesser Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean: theDutch Caribbean. Within the Lesser Antilles archipelago, three territories are in theLeeward Islands group (considered part of the continent of North America) and three in theLeeward Antilles group (on the South American continental shelf). Since thedissolution of theDutch Antilles in 2010, thesovereignKingdom of the Netherlands has been administratively divided into four non-sovereign constituent "countries":Aruba,Curaçao,Sint Maarten and the Netherlands — the last of which includes the islands of Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba (collectively known as the BES islands or theCaribbean Netherlands) as "special municipalities", making it a non-sovereign transcontinental constituent countrywithin the Kingdom.
Portugal:Continental Portugal is in Europe, while the archipelago ofMadeira, anAutonomous Region (includingPorto Santo Island, theDesertas Islands and theSavage Islands), is associated with Africa.[50] TheAzoresAutonomous Region can be split as two island groups (the westernmostFlores Island andCorvo Island on the North American tectonic plate being a distinct group from the rest), so Portugal could be a transcontinental state geologically (seeEurope and North America above). However, geologic tectonic plate separation does not necessarily define geographical continental distinction.
United States: While the territory of the United States lies overwhelmingly in North America, it includes the state ofHawaii in Oceania, as well as several other Oceanian island possessions. These islands includeAmerican Samoa (inPolynesia),Guam and theNorthern Mariana Islands (inMicronesia) and most of theUnited States Minor Outlying Islands (Baker Island,Howland Island,Jarvis Island,Midway Atoll,Palmyra Atoll andWake Island).[28] Additionally, the territory of the United States also encompassesAlaskan islands on Northeast Asia's continental shelf. Most of these islands are always associated with North America, except for the westernmostNear Islands group, which is on Asia's continental shelf beyond theNorth Aleutians Basin and on rare occasions could be associated with Asia, which could then allow the U.S. state ofAlaska to be considered a transcontinental state. Alaska'sAleutian Islands, located at the northernmost tip of the Pacific Ocean, have also been considered part of Oceania on rare occasions, due to the remote nature of the western islands, and their close proximity to the Pacific Plate.[51][52][53] The islands, however, haveIndigenous American inhabitants and non-tropical biogeography, and as such they are excluded from most standard definitions of Oceania.[54][55][38][56]
France:Metropolitan France is located in Europe, while the fiveoverseas departments and regions, fiveoverseas collectivities, and oneSui generis collectivity are located in other continental regions.Guadeloupe,Martinique,Saint Barthélemy,Saint Martin, andSaint Pierre and Miquelon are located in North America,French Guiana is located in South America,Mayotte andRéunion are located in Africa, andFrench Polynesia,Wallis and Futuna, andNew Caledonia are located inOceania. These 11 populated territories ofoverseas France are integral parts of France, as are the uninhabitedClipperton Island (considered either North American or Oceanian)[57][58] and the uninhabitedFrench Southern and Antarctic Lands, which include the claimedAdélie Land on theAntarctic mainland, theCrozet Islands and theKerguelen Islands in theAntarctic region,Saint Paul andAmsterdam Islands on theAustralian Plate, and theScattered Islands in the Indian Ocean. French sovereignty claim onAdélie Land is inabeyance under theAntarctic Treaty System. France has territory in each continental region except Asia.
United Kingdom: The territory of the United Kingdom itself is located entirely within Europe. However, the UK is the sovereign state of 'one, undivided Realm' consisting of all territory under the sovereignty of theBritish Crown, i.e. itself, theBritish Overseas Territories and theCrown Dependencies.[59] All are on islands, apart fromGibraltar, which is onEurasia. This Realm is spread across all seven continental regions: the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and the Crown Dependencies are located in Europe; six Overseas Territories are in North America;[a] theFalkland Islands are in South America; thePitcairn Islands are in Oceania;Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha are in Africa;Akrotiri and Dhekelia are in Asia; and theBritish Antarctic Territory is inAntarctica. TheBritish Indian Ocean Territory are geologically part of South Asia, but geopolitically in East Africa.South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are associated with South America but straddle the plate boundary with and are closer to Antarctica.[citation needed]
Brunei,
Malaysia,
Papua New Guinea, and
Philippines: TheMalay Archipelago, comprising the bulk ofMaritime Southeast Asia (excluding theAndaman and Nicobar Islands andSingapore) and the island ofNew Guinea, located betweenMainland Australia andMainland Southeast Asia, can be considered a transcontinental region. Many initial 19th century definitions of Oceania included most or all of the Malay Archipelago.[66][29][67][68] Definitions of Oceania which include the Malay Archipelago are much rarer today; the non-oceanic nature of the Malay Archipelago and its geological connections to Asia may not have been as widely known in the 19th century.[38] The Philippines are the closest to the Oceania subregion of Micronesia, and are sometimes historically associated with it, mainly due to their shared Christian cultures and Spanish colonial histories, and their sharedAustronesian backgrounds.[25] Anthropologically,New Guinea is a part of Melanesia, but it is sometimes included in the Malay Archipelago. The state of Papua New Guinea is an observer in theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes themainland states of Southeast Asia, and has contemplated full membership in this organisation.[69] Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore (as well as Japan) are all dialogue partners of thePacific Islands Forum (PIF), and Timor-Leste are an observer. However, only countries solely associated with Oceania have full membership, such as Australia,Federated States of Micronesia,Fiji, New Zealand andSamoa.[70][71]
Costa Rica and
Mexico:Oceania at times is considered to encompass alloceanic islands in the Pacific Ocean.[26][32] Oceanic islands are defined as islands that were never connected to a continental landmass, and which formed through volcanic activity in the ocean.[26] Mexico administers the oceanicGuadalupe Island andRevillagigedo Islands, and the oceanic islet ofRocas Alijos, while Costa Rica administers the oceanicCocos Island. All of these islands were uninhabited prior to European discovery,[72] and none lie on the North American or South American tectonic plates; the Mexican islands lie on the Pacific Plate with most of Oceania, and Cocos Island lies on the self-namedCocos Plate, which contains no other islands besides Colombia's Malpelo Island. Furthermore, the Mexican state ofBaja California, despite being physiologically connected to the American landmass, is in fact part of the Pacific Plate. Guadalupe Island and Rocas Alijos are rarely categorized with other Pacific Islands, as they are only 250 to 300 kilometers removed from Baja California. Revillagigedo's most remote island,Clarion, is 700 kilometers from Mexico's coast, and Cocos Island is 550 kilometers from Costa Rica's coast. These islands are more frequently associated with the termPacific Islands,[73] and occasionally have been included as part of Oceania.[74][25][72] Remoter islands such as France'sClipperton (1,100 kilometers from Mexico's coast) are even more commonly associated with Oceania, with such islands usually having stronger biogeographical affinities to the central Pacific or south Pacific.[75]
Ecuador: The Pacific Ocean archipelago of theGalápagos Islands, about 1,000 kilometers from continental Ecuador, is sometimes considered part of Oceania.[39][32][76][77][74] This is because of the distance separating them from mainland South America, and their oceanic geology.[26][29] The islands lie on theNazca Plate with Easter Island, which is considered to be separate to the South American Plate, and they additionally border the Pacific Plate.[78] The Galápagos Islands did not have any known human ties to South America during thepre-Columbian era;[79][80] however, they also do not fit into a cultural subregion of Oceania and the Pacific, as is the case with Easter Island, which historically was Polynesian.[81][80]
Iceland: Among the most frequently cited features ofIceland's geography is its position atop theMid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs beneath the island. This ridge divides Iceland between the two continental plates, although the country identifies with Europe for political and economic reasons.[82]A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe ... is formed by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles.
Russia is culturally part of Europe and this will still be the case in the future.
Another puts the western portion of the Caucasus region in Europe and the eastern part (the bulk of Azerbaijan and small portions of Armenia, Georgia, and Russia's Caspian Sea coast) in Asia.
Most of this account of the influence of the Hispanic languages in Oceania has dealt with the Western Pacific, but the Eastern Pacific has not been without some share of the presence of the Portuguese and Spanish. The Eastern Pacific does not have the multitude of islands so characteristic of the Western regions of this great ocean, but there are some: Easter Island, 2000 miles off the Chilean coast, where a Polynesian tongue, Rapanui, is still spoken; the Juan Fernandez group, 400 miles west of Valparaíso; the Galápagos archipelago, 650 miles west of Ecuador; Malpelo and Cocos, 300 miles off the Colombian and Costa Rican coasts respectively; and others. Not many of these islands have extensive populations — some have been used effectively as prisons — but the official language on each is Spanish.
Finally, a few comments on the area we consider to be part of "South America" are in order. Essentially we have followed the limits established by Meyer de Schauensee (1970: xii) with a few minor modifications. Thus, all the continental inshore islandsare included (e.g., Trinidad and Tobago; various small islands off the northern coast of Venezuela, the Netherlands Antilles [Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao]; and Fernando de Noronha, off the northeastern coast of Brazil), but islands more properly considered part of the West Indies (e.g. Grenada) arenot. To the south, we have opted to include the Falkland Islands (or Islas Malvinas — in referring to them as the Falklands we are not making any political statement but merely recognizing that this book is being written in the English language), as their avifauna is really very similar to that of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. However, various other islands farther out in the South Atlantic (e.g., South Georgia) are not included except incidentally (e.g., endemic South Georgia Pipit have been incorporated). Likewise, the Juan Fernández Islands far off the Chilean coast have not been included (except for incidental comments), nor have the Galápagos Islands, situated even further off the Ecuadorian coast.
[we] can further define the wordculture to meanlanguage. 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 Galápagos 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.
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 speciesSantalum fernandezianum, in Juan Fernández Islands; and others to the brink of extinction, suchS. boninensis in Ogasawara Islands, Japan; or is an ongoing threatening factor in the examples ofS. yasi in Fiji and Tonga,Gyrinops spp. in Papua New Guinea (PNG) andIntsia bijuga throughout the Pacific Islands.
The Bonin Islands, now known as the Ogasawara Islands, are a group of subtropical islands located roughly equidistant between the Tokyo, Japan and the Northern Mariana Islands. This group of islands is nowhere near Tokyo, but it is still considered to be a part of Tokyo! The Ogasawara Islands consist of 30 subtropical islands made The Bonin Islands were said to be discovered first by Bernardo de la Torre, a Spanish explorer, who originally called the islands "Islas del Arzobispo" [,,,]
This paper covers 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.
The Canary Islands are politically part of Spain, but geographically part of Africa, being islands of volcanic origin situated around one hundred miles off the coast of North-West Africa.
The offshore Canary Islands, although historically and geographically part of Africa, remained culturally, economically and politically part of Spain.
Oceania is the word often used by continental geographers to describe the great world of islands we are now entering upon [...] This boundless watery domain, which extends northwards of Behring Straits and southward to the Antarctic barrier of ice, is studded with many island groups, which are, however, very irregularly distributed over its surface. The more northerly section, lying between Japan and California and between the Aleutian and Hawaiian Archipelagos is relived by nothing but a few solitary reefs and rocks at enormously distant intervals.
The regional name of the Pacific Islands is appropriate: Oceania, a sea of islands, including those of Alaska and Hawaii. The Pacific Basin is not insignificant or remote. It covers one third of the globe's surface. Its northern boundary is the Aleutian Islands chain. Oceania virtually touches all of the Western Hemisphere.
Oceania consists of Australasia, Polynesia and Malaysia. Australasia means South Asia. It comprises New Holland or Australia, Van Diemen's Land or Tasmania, Papua or New Guinea, Norfolk Island, New Zealand and some smaller islands. Polynesia is the term given to the various islands in the Pacific Ocean, which, as you may see on the map, are situated to the eastward of Australia, including the Philippine Islands. Malaysia is the name given to the islands of the Malay Archipelago, which are principally inhabited by the Malay race, comprising Borneo, the Sunday Isles, Celebes, Moluccas [...]
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 Malaysia, 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 Galápagos. 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.
Mexico controls two small groups of Pacific Ocean islands — Islas Revilla Cigedo and Guadalupe — both less than 500 miles ... They have no indigenous population and are geographically part of Oceania
The British added the Ellice, Pitcairn and portions of the Phoenix Islands; the Australians consolidated their claims to Papua; and the French consolidated their claims to Clipperton islands; Easter and adjacent islands were claimed by Chile, Cocos Island was claimed by Costa Rica, and the Galápagos claimed by Ecuador. By 1900 there were virtually no remaining islands in Oceania unclaimed by foreign powers.
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 (Galápagos, Juan Fernandez, etc.) have sometimes been included in Oceania.
Oceania is primarily considered as the restricted region treated in this paper, but for comparative purposes, in the table only, it is also considered in a broad sense as including New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the Antipodes, and Galápagos.
The human colonization of remote Oceania occurred in the late Holocene. Prehistoric human explorers missed only the Galápagos and a very few out-of-the-way places as they surged east out of the Solomons, island-hopping thousands of kilometers through the Polynesian heartland to reach Hawaii to the far north, Easter Island over 7500km to the east and, New Zealand to the south
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 Galápagos.