
Australasia is a
region which comprises
Australia,
New Zealand, and some neighbouring islands. The term is used in a number of different contexts including geopolitically, physiogeographically, and ecologically where the term covers several slightly different but related regions.
Derivation and definitions
Charles de Brosses coined the term (as French ''Australasie'') in ''Histoire des navigations aux terres australes'' (1756). He derived it from the
Latin for "south of
Asia" and differentiated the area from
Polynesia (to the east) and the southeast Pacific (
Magellanica).
The ''New Zealand Oxford Dictionary'' gives two meanings of "Australasia". One, especially in Australian use, is "Australia, New Zealand,
New Guinea, and the neighbouring islands of the Pacific". The other, especially in New Zealand use, is just Australia and New Zealand.
Two Merriam-Webster dictionaries online (''Collegiate'' and ''Unabridged'') define Australasia as "Australia, New Zealand, and
Melanesia". The ''American Heritage Dictionary'' online recognizes two
senses in use: one more precise, being similar to the aforementioned senses, and the other broader, loosely covering all of
Oceania.
See also
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Asia-Pacific
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Australasia at the Olympics
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Austral-Asia Cup
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Down Under
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Sundaland
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Trans-Tasman
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Zealandia
Notes
References
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External links
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{{Early modern Netherlandish cartography, geography and cosmography
Category:Regions of Oceania
Category:Australasian realm
Category:Geography of Oceania
Category:Asia-Pacific