Australia And Oceania.

Main economic-geographical regions of the world.

A complex set of social, economic, cultural, political criteria is usually used to classify the geographical regions. The regions are distinct in terms of size, population, development, potential of growth. Some are representative for the recent industrialization (south East Asia), others for economic and human backwardness (sub-Saharan Africa), others for economic supremacy and political hegemony (North America) or others for profound and radical transformations in the recent years (Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union). Due to the macro-scale of analysis, the most important criterion is general functionally; the uniqueness and homogeneity come second. The typology of main regions of the world is based on a macro-economic indicator, GDP per capita, that sets apart eight regions: North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Russian Federation, North Africa and Southwest Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeastern and Pacific Asia, Australia and Oceania.

Australia and Oceania represent an economic region made of Australia, New Zealand, and the archipelagos of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia, characterized by a relative isolation from the major cores of the world economy. Despite this, Australia, although populated mainly along the shores is developed country. Mineral and energetic resources are important: coal, iron, copper, zinc, gold, silver, uranium lie at the basis of the performing and diversified industry.

Agriculture in Australia and New Zealand is dominated by intensive animal breeding (especially sheep) placing these countries in the top of the world producers of dairy products, meat and wool.

Australian metropolises Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, and Brisbane are remarkable due to their huge concentrations of population, economic activities and capital and information flows. The islands are dominated by agricultural and tourist activities, less by industrial ones. There are some offshore financial centers aiming to attract investments and capital, the best example is that of Vanuatu, New Hebrides, where about 50 million US $ passes through its bank every day.

GEOGRAPHY.

Oceania is a geographical, often geopolitical, region consisting of numerous lands--mostly islands and usually including Australia--in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The exact scope of Oceania is defined variously, with interpretations normally including Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and various islands of the Malay Archipelago. The term is also used by many authors and in many languages to define one of the continents.

Originally coined by the French explorer Dumont d'Urville in 1831, Oceania has been traditionally divided into Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Australasia. As with any region, however, interpretations vary; increasingly, geographers and scientists divide Oceania into Near Oceania and Remote Oceania.

Most of Oceania consists of small island nations. Australia is the only continental country; by some definitions, Indonesia has land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia.

Australia.

Australia's 7,686,850 square kilometers (2,967,909 sq. mi) landmass is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the Indian, Southern and Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas. Australia has a total 25,760 kilometers (16,007 mi) of coastline and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometers (3,146,057 sq. mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.

The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 kilometers (1,250 mi). The world's largest monolith, Mount Augustus, is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 meters (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland, although Mawson Peak on the remote Australian territory of Heard Island is taller at 2,745 meters (9,006 ft).

By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid. Australia is the driest inhabited continent, the flattest, and has the oldest and least fertile soils. Only the south-east and south-west corners of the continent have a temperate climate. The majority of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline. The northern part of the country, with a tropical climate, has a vegetation consisting of rainforest, woodland, grassland, mangrove swamps and desert. Climate is highly influenced by ocean currents, including the El Niño southern oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia.

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent and a number of islands in the Southern, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Neighboring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency of New Caledonia to the northeast, and New Zealand to the southeast.

The mainland of Australia has been inhabited for more than 42,000 years by Indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and by European explorers and merchants starting in the seventeenth century, the eastern half of the mainland was claimed by the British in 1770 and officially settled through penal transportation as the colony of New South Wales on 26 January 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were successively established over the course of the 19th century.

On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a Federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth Realm. The capital city is Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory. The current national population is around 20.6 million people, and is concentrated mainly in the large coastal cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.

Demographics.

Australia.

Most of the estimated 20.6 million Australians are descended from nineteenth- and twentieth-century settlers, the majority from Great Britain and Ireland. Australia's population has quadrupled since the end of World War I, spurred by an ambitious immigration program. In 2001, the five largest groups of the 23.1% of Australians who were born overseas were from the United