Global Spotlight on Oceania by Evan McMahon

Place (Physical Features)

derek2017 — 2014-10-06 16:25:06 UTC

Oceania is different from other continents because it is only made of islands large and small. These islands consist of three types: continental, high, and low. The three biggest islands that belong to Papua New Guinea and Australia all share mountain ranges and are continental islands. A continental island is just a mostly submerged hill. The majority of small, oceanic islands have highly tropical conditions. Some of the islands are high, or volcanic islands, and others are low, or coral islands. High, or volcanic, islands form from cooled lava piling up and low, or coral, islands form from the skeletons and bodies of living animals. The expansive area of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean results in different climates and land forms. Notable landforms include the Great Divide in Eastern Australia, the Mauna Kea mountain in Hawaii, the western Australian desert, and certain islands like Guam, Tahiti, and Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Not to mention New Zealand, with the North and South Islands.

Place (Traditions in Oceania)

yumna2017 — 2014-10-06 16:34:58 UTC

Oceania is a very special place because of there many traditions. In Oceania there traditions are what you don't see in your everyday life. In Oceania men apply moko or tattoo on there face and the women apply the tattoos on there lips and chin. This is stated in the article "Expressive Traditions of Oceania". This region does very unique traditions and this tradition is an artistic way the people of Oceania expresses there culture. Another tradition in Oceania is the ceremonial gardening.The people there care about their home. While the people in this event are gardening they sing a chant that is:

The belly of my garden leavens, The belly of my garden rises, The belly of my garden reclines, The belly of my garden grows to the size of a bush-hen’s nest, The belly of my garden grows like an anthill; … The belly of my garden lies down, The belly of my garden swells, The belly of my garden swells as with a child, I sweep away

This chant is a song that the ancestors sang to make the plant grow healthy enough to grow fruits. I think that this is a very creative tradition. Another tradition in Oceania is the sun dance. The sun dance illustrates the expressive function of donation because some dancers give their flesh as a sacrifice to Wakan-Tanka for the sake of the people.This information was found in the article "Expressive Traditions of Oceania". The article also states why the people in Oceania do the sun dance the article states " illustrates the expressive function of donation because some dancers give their flesh as a sacrifice to Wakan-Tanka for the sake of the people". Wankan-Tanka is a god that the people of Oceania worshiped. The people thought that they had to show their gratitude and loyalty to Wakan-Tanka by doing this dance. This dance is not the people giving their flesh to Wankan-Tanka. This dance represents their ancestors doing this dance for the sake of Oceania.

Place (Climate)

sasha2017 — 2014-10-06 16:37:08 UTC

The Oceania conditions are mostly warm and humid throughout most of the year. The temperature in Australia is an average of 12.9 degrees Celsius, or 55 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that there temperature is cool and on windy day could be cold. Information found at WorldAtlas.com Oceania is divided into two climate zones, one of which is temperate and the other is tropical. This means that Oceania is a warm and tropical island. This information was found in geography.about.com.

Location (Latitude and Longitude)

evan2017 — 2014-10-06 16:55:50 UTC

Oceania is located between just north of the Tropic of Cancer and 42 degrees south. It covers a very wide longitudinal range from 110 degrees east to 110 degrees west.

Human-Environmental Interactions (Weather)

sasha2017 — 2014-10-06 17:01:22 UTC

Environmental forces pose a major threat to island communities. A typhoon can denude an atoll of living vegetation and ruin all sources of groundwater. In Fiji and Samoa, the damage from recent major storms to villages and national infrastructure will take years to rebuild. This means that the weather has a big impact on Oceania because they will destroy their food an water supply and it could cost many people their lives if they are not prepared. This information was found in the article Cultural urvival.

Region (Culture)

derek2017 — 2014-10-06 17:13:23 UTC

Oceania has an extremely diverse cultural heritage, arisen from its geographical expansiveness with many islands and colonial influence. Each archipelago has separate cultures. These cultures come from the people who originally lived there, hence, they are known as original cultures. There is also colonial culture, which is the culture of settlers who come there.

The original cultures that are present include worship of animals like the shark, burial procedures like wrapping someone in seaweed, ceremonial gardening, and more. Certain traits are found in different areas, but the chance of that is somewhat low, as most of the archipelagos have their own, developed traditions. This was found in the book The People of the Sea by Paul D'arcy.

The colonial cultures are as present as ever, and they are diverse as well. Examples of them include certain foods, sports, and building designs. Australia and New Zealand have a heavy British influence, shown by the fact they drink tea, play cricket, and even their jargon. French Polynesia has a very high French influence, with French being the official language of Tahiti. Hawaii is the 50th state to join the U. S. A. It is as American as any archipelago can get.

Movement (People)

evan2017 — 2014-10-06 23:53:03 UTC

The movement of unemployed people moving to Oceania trouble Pacific towns and cities.This means that people are moving there because in their old country the push factors were unemployed people. For example, Oceania: Islands, Land, People states that young gangs have caused trouble in the capital of Papua New Guinea which is Port Moresby. This means that a lot of people have moved to Papua New Guinea which is part of Oceania allowing young gangs to cause problems to the city. Also, Auckland has become the world's largest Polyesian city with many immigrants from the Samoa, Tonga and Cook Islands. This means that a lot of immigrants from the islands mentioned above are migrating to Auckland and other places in Oceania. Guam attracts increasing amounts of people from the Federated States of Micronesia and the Northern Marianas. This shows that a lot of other people are deciding that they should move to the islands of Oceania. Some people move back to where they came but also other people decide to stay permanently in Oceania. This means that people are willing to stay which means that maybe close friends or family members might come and live causing more migration to and from Oceania. I found this at Cultural Survival. Oceania has had a population of 33 million people since 2005. This place has many people for an island. This information was found on geography.about.com

Movement (Goods)

evan2017 — 2014-10-07 00:35:37 UTC

Some things that Australia which is part of Oceania import are machinery, transport equipment, computers and office machines, telecommunication equipment and parts, crude oil and petroleum products. This shows that Oceania mostly needs things involving electronic equipment and other human made equipment and do not need natural resources. Some things that Oceania export are coal, iron ore, gold, meat, wool, aluminum, which is found in different minerals such as corundum and sapphire, wheat, machinery, and transport equipment. This shows that they have mines for these things such as gold, iron ore and coal and they have other natural resources but they still have some technology. This was found at Economy Watch.e

Region (Language)

evan2017 — 2014-10-07 16:51:18 UTC

Australia speaks Mandarin, Italian, Arabic, Cantonese, Greek, Vietnamese, Filipino, Spanish, Hindu, and German. Most families in Australia speak English, but the other top languages are Mandarin and Italian.

Region (Vegetation)

sasha2017 — 2014-10-07 17:11:42 UTC

There are many different land types in Australia. According to the website "The Australian Environment", The island is mostly covered in shrub land and woodland. There is also a little bit of closed forests and open forests. This makes me think that Australia is kind of like a big dessert area. Vegetation is another word for plant life. According to the site, "Skwirk", the most common plant life is hummok grasslands. There are a lot of different land types in Australia, like grasslands, woodlands, and even rainforests.

Eucalypt woodland: This land type is almost like an open forest. It is also known as the dry sclerophyll land. But most people just call it "the bush". Just to make it simple. The trees have a lot of tropical leaves and fruits.

Acacia woodlands and shrublands: Acacia is a type of shrub or tree. The largest Acacia woodland is in Western Australia

Region (Religion)

evan2017 — 2014-10-07 23:33:37 UTC

The main religions of Australia are Christianity, Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church, Presbyterian and Reformed, Eastern Orthodox, and Baptist and Lutheran are all the religions. Catholic and Anglican are the main religions and make up 42.4 of the religions in Australia. However, this does not apply to the many archipelagos, as they each have their on beliefs for their religions.

Human Environment Interaction (Pollution)

evan2017 — 2014-10-08 16:33:14 UTC

The humans have done a lot of damage to the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia because of overfishing, global warming, and water pollution. People in Australia and the other islands near the Great Barrier Reef need food and money so they are killing the wildlife of the Great Barrier Reef. When we drive our cars daily to do our things like going to work and shopping we cause pollution which causes global warming which leads to climates that parts of the Great Barrier Reef not being able to survive because of the extreme temperatures. Water pollution spreads and the oil or whatever went into the water starts damaging the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is a very important site in Oceania. This information was found at Talking Science.

Place (Tourist Sites)

evan2017 — 2014-10-08 23:38:27 UTC

One tourist site of Australia is the Sydney Harbour Bridge which is one of the big sites is the Sydney Harbour Bridge is one most well known tourist sites in Australia and is the largest but not longest steel arch bridge in the world. I found this quite interesting that the largest bridge in the world is not the same as the longest bridge in the world. Another tourist side is Kadaku National Park is another place tourists go. It is the largest national park in the entire continent of Australia and covers 7,646 square miles. I found its suprising because New York State is 54,556 square miles so that means that that national park is pretty huge. One last tourist attraction is the Great Barrier Reef which is made up of 2,900 individual reefs and is 132,973 squaremiles long. This is suprising because it means that the Great Barrier Reef is larger than 45 states.

Human Environment Interaction (Economic Impact)

evan2017 — 2014-10-13 14:37:08 UTC

Economically, since it is largely desert there are a lot of uranium and coal production which is a large part of their export system. This make me think they are a large mining country. This information was found at Google maps.

Human Environment Interaction (Political Impact)

evan2017 — 2014-10-13 14:49:48 UTC

Also, in April it was said that a rise in temperature did widespread damage to the environment. This makes me think that the Great Barrier Reef must have been effected greatly because last year I read that said coal reefs are highly effected by the slightest change in temperature. Also, it said that it was hazardous to human health. This makes me think that if the temperature keeps rising the entire wold will be highly effected.

Map of Oceania

derek2017 — 2014-10-13 21:27:10 UTC