CONTINENTS REVIEW: AUSTRALASIA / OCEANIA

Australasia, also called Oceania or Australasia/Oceania, is the World's smallest continent. These are the facts on australiasia otherwise called 'Oceania'


Geography

Total Area 8,112,000 km covering approximately 5.3% of the Earth's land and 1.5% of the Earth's surface.

It is situated partly in the Pacific ocean, bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Southern ocean to the south.

The highest point is Mount Wilhelm (4509 m) in Papua New Guinea.

The longest river is the Darling river (2,739 km) which is a tributary of the Murray river in Australia.

Australasia is the flattest continent with much of Australia being desert.

Climate and weather

Australasia/Oceania is broadly divided into four regions as shown on the map right.

Australasia lies entirely in  the southern hemisphere and the seasons of all are similar.

- Spring - September, October, November
- Summer - December, January, February
- Autumn - March, April, May
- Winter - June, July, August

Demography

Australasia/Oceania is the least populated continent after Antarctica. It contains around 0.5% of the World's population with a growth rate of approximately 1.3% per year.

The total population of Australasia is around 32,000,000 (2005). Eastern and south-eastern Australia, northern New Zealand and the Pacific islands are the most populated while the desert region of Australia is the least populated.

The countries with the highest populations (to the nearest million) are:

Australia - 20 million
Papua New Guinea - 5 million
New Zealand - 4 million
Fiji - 1 million


Australia and New Zealand are the most economically developed countries.

Country List

There are 28 countries and Island groups in Australasia/Oceania

Australia, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, French Polynesia, American Samoa, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna


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