Oceania

Physical Map of Australia and Oceania

Regions of Australia and Oceania

Political map of Australia and Oceania

Oceania is the world's largest cluster of islands located in the southwestern and central parts of the Pacific Ocean, between the subtropical latitudes of the Northern and temperate Southern Hemispheres ^[3] . When all land is divided into parts of the world, Oceania is usually united with Australia into a single part of the world, Australia and Oceania ^[3] , although it is sometimes allocated to an independent part of the world ^[4] .

Geographically, Oceania is divided into several regions: Micronesia (in the northwest), Melanesia (in the west), and Polynesia (in the east); New Zealand is sometimes distinguished ^[4] .

The total area of ​​the islands of Oceania, the largest of which is New Guinea , is 1.26 million km² (together with Australia 8.52 million km²), the population is about 10.7 million people. (together with Australia 32.6 million people). Excluding Australia, Oceania in terms of total area and total population is comparable to the African state of Chad .

The islands of Oceania are washed by numerous Pacific seas ( Coral Sea , Tasman Sea , Fiji Sea, Koro Sea , Solomon Sea , New Guinea Sea , Philippine Sea ) and Indian Oceans ( Arafura Sea ).

Across Oceania runs the equator and the international date line . It is a broken line , most of which runs along the 180 ° meridian .

Sea currents

Through the whole of Oceania, along the equator, warm North Passat and South Passat currents and the Passat countercurrent flow. In the southwestern part of Oceania, a warm East Australian Current passes. Characteristic of Oceania is the absence of cold sea currents (with the exception of the Pacific Ocean region southeast of New Zealand), which largely determines the climate of this region.

From the point of view of geology, Oceania is not a continent: only Australia , New Caledonia , New Zealand , New Guinea and Tasmania are of continental origin, having formed on the site of the hypothetical mainland of Gondwana . In the past, these islands constituted a single land, however, as a result of rising sea levels , a significant part of the surface was under water. The relief of these islands is mountainous and strongly dissected. For example, the highest mountains of Oceania, including Mount Jaya (5029 m), are located on the island of New Guinea .

Most of the islands of Oceania are of volcanic origin: some of them are the peaks of large submarine volcanoes, some of which still exhibit high volcanic activity (for example, the Hawaiian Islands ).

Other islands are of coral origin, being atolls that formed as a result of the formation of coral buildings around volcanoes submerged under water (for example, Gilbert Islands , Tuamotu ). A distinctive feature of such islands are large lagoons , which are surrounded by numerous islands, or motu , whose average height does not exceed three meters. In Oceania there is an atoll with the largest lagoon in the world - Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands archipelago ^[24] . Despite the fact that its land area is only 16.32 km² (or 6.3 square miles), the lagoon area is 2174 km² (or 839.3 square miles) ^[25] . The largest atoll in terms of land area is Christmas Island (or Kiritimati ) in the Line archipelago (or Central Polynesian Sporades ) - 322 km² ^[26] . However, among the atolls there is also a special type — the elevated (or elevated) atoll, which is a limestone plateau up to 50-60 m above sea level. This type of island has no lagoon or there are traces of its past existence. Examples of such atolls are Nauru , Niue , Banaba .

The relief and geological structure of the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in the region of Oceania has a complex structure. From the Alaska Peninsula (which is part of North America ) to New Zealand, there are a large number of hollows of the marginal seas, deep-sea oceanic trenches ( Tonga , Kermadek , Bougainville ), which form a geosynclinal belt characterized by active volcanism , seismicity, and a contrasting relief ^[27] .

There are no minerals on most islands of Oceania, only the largest of them are under development: nickel ( New Caledonia ), oil and gas ( New Guinea island, New Zealand ), copper ( Bougainville island in Papua New Guinea ), gold (New Guinea , Fiji ), phosphates (on most islands, deposits are almost or already developed, for example, in Nauru , on the islands of Banaba , Makatea ). In the past, active development of guano , decomposed seabird droppings, which was used as nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer, was carried out on many islands of the region. On the ocean floor of the exclusive economic zone of a number of countries, there are large accumulations of iron-manganese nodules , as well as cobalt , however, at the moment, no development is being carried out due to economic inexpediency.

Oceania is located within several climatic zones: equatorial , subequatorial , tropical , subtropical , temperate . Most of the islands have a tropical climate. The subequatorial climate dominates the islands near Australia and Asia, as well as east of 180 meridian in the equatorial zone, the equatorial climate west of 180 meridian , subtropical — north and south of the tropics, temperate - on most of the South Island in New Zealand ^{[3 ]} .

The climate of the islands of Oceania is determined mainly by the trade winds , therefore, most of them have heavy rainfall. The average annual rainfall varies from 1,500 to 4,000 mm, although on some islands (in particular, due to the topography and on the leeward side), the climate may be more arid or more humid. Oceania has one of the wettest places on the planet ^[28] : up to 11 430 mm of precipitation falls annually on the eastern slope of Mount Viaaleale on the island of Kauai (the absolute maximum was reached in 1982 : then 16 916 mm fell ^[29] ). Near the tropics, the average temperature is about 23 ° C, at the equator - 27 ° C, with a slight difference between the hottest and coldest months.

The climate of the islands of Oceania is also greatly affected by such anomalies as the El Niño and La Niña currents. During El Niño, the intertropical convergence zone moves north towards the equator, while at La Niña it moves south towards the equator. In the latter case, the islands experience severe drought; in the former, heavy rains.

Most islands in Oceania are subject to the devastating effects of natural disasters: volcanic eruptions (Hawaiian Islands, New Hebrides ), earthquakes , tsunamis , cyclones , accompanied by typhoons and heavy rains, droughts. Many of them lead to significant material and human losses. For example, the tsunami in Papua New Guinea killed 2200 people in July 1999 ^[30] .

There are glaciers high in the mountains on the South Island in New Zealand and on the island of New Guinea , however, due to the process of global warming , their area is gradually decreasing ^[30] .

Due to different climatic conditions, the soils of Oceania are very diverse. The soils of the atolls are highly alkaline, of coral origin, and very poor. Usually they are porous, which is why they retain moisture very poorly, and also contain very little organic and mineral substances with the exception of calcium , sodium and magnesium . Soil of volcanic islands, as a rule, are of volcanic origin and are characterized by high fertility. On large mountainous islands, red-yellow, mountain laterite, mountain meadow, yellow-brown soils, yellow soils, and red soils are found ^[3] .

There are large rivers only on the South and North Island of New Zealand, as well as on the island of New Guinea , on which the largest rivers of Oceania, Sepik (1126 km) and Fly (1050 km) are located. The largest river in New Zealand is the Waikato (425 km). River nutrition is predominantly rainy, although in New Zealand and New Guinea, rivers are also fed by waters from melting glaciers and snow. On the atolls, the rivers are completely absent due to the high porosity of the soils. Instead, rainwater seeping through the soil forms a lens of slightly brackish water, which can be reached by digging a well. On larger islands (usually of volcanic origin) there are small streams of water that flow towards the ocean.

The largest number of lakes, including thermal ones, is located in New Zealand, where there are also geysers . On other islands of Oceania, lakes are a rarity.

Oceania is part of the Paleotropic region of vegetation, while there are three subregions: Melanesian-Micronesian, Hawaiian and New Zealand ^[3] . Among the most widespread plants of Oceania, there are coconut palm tree and breadfruit , which play an important role in the life of local residents: the fruits are used for food, wood is a heat source, building material, from the oily endosperm of coconut palm nuts they produce copra , which forms the basis of export of countries of this region. A large number of epiphytes ( ferns , orchids ) also grow on the islands. The largest number of endemic species (both representatives of the flora and fauna) is registered in New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands, while the number of species, genera and families of plants decreases from west to east ^[3] .

The fauna of Oceania belongs to the Polynesian faunistic region with a subregion of the Hawaiian Islands. The fauna of New Zealand stands out as an independent region, New Guinea - in the Papuan subregion of the Australian region ^[3] . The greatest diversity are New Zealand and New Guinea. On the small islands of Oceania, primarily the atolls, mammals are almost never found: only a small rat lives on many of them. But the local avifauna is very rich. Most atolls are home to bird markets where seabirds nest . Of the representatives of the fauna of New Zealand, the most famous are the kiwi birds, which have become the national symbol of the country. Other endemic countries of the country are kea ( lat.Nestor notabilis , or Nestor ), cacapo ( lat.Strigops habroptilus , or owl parrot ), takache ( lat.Notoronis hochstelteri , or wingless sultanka ). All islands of Oceania are home to a large number of lizards, snakes and insects.

During the European colonization of the islands, foreign species of plants and animals were brought to many of them, which negatively affected the local flora and fauna.

The region has a large number of protected areas, many of which occupy significant areas. For example, the Phoenix Islands in the Republic of Kiribati since January 28, 2008 have been the largest marine reserve in the world (the area is 410,500 km²) ^[31] .

Pre-Colonial Period

The island of New Guinea and the nearby islands of Melanesia were presumably settled by people from Southeast Asia who sailed by canoe about 30-50 thousand years ago ^[32] . About 2–4 thousand years ago, most of Micronesia and Polynesia was inhabited. The colonization process ended around 1200 AD ^[32] . By the beginning of the XVI century, the peoples of Oceania were experiencing a period of decomposition of the primitive communal system and the formation of an early class society ^[3] . Crafts, agriculture, navigation actively developed.

Russian Mariners in Oceania

В Российской Империи после открытия В. Берингом в 1741 году северо-западного побережья Америки, купеческие компании при поддержке сибирской администрации до конца XVIII века организовали около 90 промысловых экспедиций в Тихий океан. Государством была учреждена Российско-американская компания (1799—1867 гг.), занимавшаяся административными вопросами и торговлей на Аляске и в Тихом Океане. В мае 1804 года к Гавайским островам подошли два корабля «Надежда» и «Нева». Это были первые корабли русских, совершавшие кругосветные плавания ^[34] . В сердце тропической части Тихого океана есть атоллы и острова Россиян, Суворова , Кутузова , Лисянского , Беллинсгаузена , Барклай-де-Толли , риф Крузенштерна и многих других. Ещё одна отличительная сторона всех состоявшихся путешествий — взаимная дружелюбность в истории встреч русских и народов Тихого океана.

На правах первого европейца, поселившегося на берегу залива Астролябия в Новой Гвинее и исследовавшего этот район, Н. Н. Миклухо Маклай неоднократно вносил предложение мирно занять или взять под покровительство России ряд островов в Тихом океане. Русский учёный отправлял письма в Морское Министерство, Министерство иностранных дел, лично Императору Александру III .

Колониальный период

В период с XVI по XVIII века продолжался период изучения Океании европейцами , которые постепенно начали заселять острова. Однако процесс европейской колонизации шёл очень медленно, так как регион не вызывал особого интереса у чужеземцев из-за отсутствия природных богатств, и негативно сказался на местном населении: было завезено множество болезней, которых никогда не было в Океании, а это приводило к эпидемиям , в результате которых гибла значительная часть туземцев. Одновременно шла христианизация жителей, которые поклонялись многочисленным божествам и духам.

В XVIII—XIX веках происходил раздел островов Океании между колониальным державами, прежде всего, Британской империей , Испанией и Францией (впоследствии к ним присоединились США и Германская империя ). Особый интерес у европейцев вызывала возможность создания плантаций на островах ( кокосовой пальмы для производства копры , сахарного тростника ), а также работорговля (так называемая «охота на чёрных дроздов» , предполагавшая вербовку островитян для работы на плантациях).

В 1907 году Новая Зеландия стала доминионом , но формально она стала полностью самостоятельным государством лишь в 1947 году . После Первой мировой войны стали зарождаться первые политические организации («May» на Западном Самоа, «Фиджийская молодёжь» на Фиджи), боровшиеся за независимость колоний. В годы Второй мировой войны Океания была одним из театров военных действий, где произошло множество сражений (в основном между японскими и американскими войсками).

После войны в регионе произошли некоторые улучшения в экономике, однако в большинстве колоний она носила однобокий характер (преобладание плантационного хозяйства и практически полное отсутствие промышленности). С 1960-х годов начался процесс деколонизации: в 1962 году независимость получило Западное Самоа , в 1963 году — Западный Ириан , в 1968 году — Науру . Впоследствии большая часть колоний стала независимой.

Постколониальный период

После обретения независимости основная часть стран Океании сохранила серьёзные экономические, политические и социальные проблемы, решение которых осуществляется при участии международных организаций (в том числе, ООН ) и в рамках регионального сотрудничества. Несмотря на процесс деколонизации в XX веке , некоторые острова до сих пор остаются в той или иной мере зависимыми: Новая Каледония , Французская Полинезия и Уоллис и Футуна от Франции , острова Питкэрн от Великобритании , Острова Кука , Ниуэ , Токелау от Новой Зеландии , множество островов (все внешние малые острова , кроме острова Навасса ) от США .