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Oceania & South Pacific
credit: https://www.canva.com/design Facts
I S L A N D I B E A C H I M O U N T A I N I C U L T U R E
Australia and Oceania, the world's smallest continent, are have resulted in the formation of glaciers. The
encircled by the Indian, Southern, and Pacific Oceans. highland rain forests of Papua New Guinea are a
Oceania is the name of a region in the Central and South result of the island's high elevations, proximity to
Pacific Ocean made up of island groups. It covers an area tropical, moisture-bearing winds, and proximity to
of 3.3 million square miles (8.5 million sq km). Australia, the warm Equator.
New Zealand, Tuvalu, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea,
the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Palau, Micronesia, the Volcanic eruptions build up land over time,
Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Nauru are all part of Oceania. resulting in high islands, sometimes known as
Oceania also contains American Samoa, Johnston Atoll, volcanic islands. Melanesia's island region
and French Polynesia, among other dependencies and features numerous high islands because it is a key
territories. component of the "Ring of Fire," a chain of
volcanoes that runs around the Pacific Ocean's
Australia is the largest country in the region, accounting for edge. Mount Tomanivi in Fiji, Mount Lamington in
roughly 86 percent of the entire land area. The smallest Papua New Guinea, and Mount Yasur, Vanuatu in
independent country is Nauru, which is so small that driving Melanesia are all significant volcanic mountains in
around it takes less than an hour. Melanesia.
Continental islands, high islands, and low islands are the Coral islands are also known as low islands. Low
three types of islands found in Oceania. Each group's islands dominate the island regions of Micronesia
islands are made up of various materials and are produced and Polynesia. The Marshall Islands' Kwajalein
in various ways. Continental islands have a wide range of Atoll, for example, is made up of 97 islands and
physical characteristics, whereas high and low islands share islets. Kiribati is a Pacific island republic made up
a similar physical geography. The Outback, a region of of 32 atolls and one lone island spread out over
deserts and semi-arid plains, dominates Australia's 3.5 million square kilometres.
landscape. The high altitudes of New Zealand's islands, as
well as their proximity to cool, moisture-bearing winds,
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