Australasia
Australasia comprises Australia, New Zealand, and some neighbouring islands (see the section Derivation and definitions). It is used in a number of different contexts including geopolitically, physiogeographically, and ecologically where the term covers several slightly different but related regions.
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Derivation and definitions
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Charles de Brosses coined the term (as French Australasie) in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes[1] (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).[2]
In Australia, "Australasia" is considered to be Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and the neighbouring islands of the Pacific.
In New Zealand, it means Australia, New Zealand[3] and former New Zealand dependencies.
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
Notes
- de Brosses, Charles (1756). Histoire des navigations aux terres Australes. Contenant ce que l'on sçait des moeurs & des productions des contrées découvertes jusqu'à ce jour; & où il est traité de l'utilité d'y faire de plus amples découvertes, & des moyens d'y former un établissement [History of voyages to the Southern Lands. Containing what is known concerning the customes and products...] (in French). Paris: Durand. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
- Douglas, Bronwen (2014). Science, Voyages, and Encounters in Oceania, 1511-1850. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 6.
- "Australasia". New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2005. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001. ISBN 9780195584516.
References
- Richards, Kel (2006). "Australasia". Wordwatch. ABC News Radio. Archived from the original on 2007-03-18. Retrieved 2006-09-30.
External links
Media related to Australasia at Wikimedia Commons