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Oceania is the name given to a group of many thousands of islands scattered across the Pacific Ocean. Some islands, like New Guinea, the second largest island in the world, cover thousands of square kilometres and have massive mountain ranges, while others are no more than tiny piles of rock or sand that barely rise above the water. New Zealand's two main islands are the second and third largest islands in Oceania. Together with New Guinea, they make up more than four-fifths of the total land area of the Pacific Islands. The pacific Ocean itself is, with 165 246 000 square kilometres, the largest ocean in the world.
The islands of the Asian nations of Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia are considered part of Asia while the islands adjoining the American mainland are parts of those nations. Australia is itself a continent and strictly speaking not considered partof Oceania. All these areas, however, are part of the Pacific Rim.
Oceania is usually divided into three main areas:
1) Melanesia ("black islands"), including New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji;
2) Micronesia ("small islands") consists of Guam, the Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands (Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia), the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Nauru;
3) Polynesia ("many islands") occupies the largest area in the South Pacific and stretches from Midway Island in the north to New Zealand, 8 000 kilometres to the south. The easternmost island in Polynesia, Easter Island, lies about 6 500 kilometres east of New Zealand.
These areas are based on the geography of the islands and on the culture and ethnic background of the native peoples.
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