Australasia 113550 223579029 2008-07-04T18:32:32Z Cuchullain 196153 rm unsourced lameness {{dablink|This article is about the geographical term. For the Pelican album, see [[Australasia (album)]].}} [[Image:Ecozone Australasia.svg|thumb|250px|right|Australasia]] '''Australasia''' is a [[region]] of [[Oceania]]: [[New Zealand]], [[Australia]], [[Papua New Guinea]], and neighbouring [[island]]s in the [[Pacific Ocean]]. The term was coined by [[Charles de Brosses]] in ''Histoire des navigations aux terres australes'' ([[1756]]). He derived it from the [[Latin language|Latin]] for "south of [[Asia]]" and differentiated the area from [[Polynesia]] (to the east) and the southeast Pacific (''[[Magellanica]]''). It is also distinct from [[Micronesia]] (to the northeast). ==Human geography== [[Geopolitics|Geopolitically]], Australasia is sometimes used as a term for New Zealand and Australia together, in the absence of another word limited to those two countries. Sometimes Papua New Guinea is encompassed by the term. There are many organizations whose names are prefixed with "(Royal) Australasian Society" that are limited to just New Zealand and Australia. [[Image:Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg|thumb|200px|Australasian Olympic Flag]] In the past, Australasia has been used as a name for combined Australia/New Zealand sporting teams. Examples include [[tennis]] between 1905 and 1915, when New Zealand and Australia combined its best players to compete in the [[Davis Cup]] international tournament (and won it in 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911 and 1914), and at the [[Summer Olympic Games|Olympic Games]] of [[1908 Summer Olympics|1908]] and [[1912 Summer Olympics|1912]]. Australasia also competed in the 1911 Festival of Light in London, the precursor of the Commonwealth Games. ==Ecological geography== {{ main|Australasia ecozone}} From an [[ecology|ecological]] perspective the [[Australasia ecozone]] is a distinct region with a common evolutionary history and a great many unique [[plant|flora]] and [[animal|fauna]]. In this context, Australasia is limited to Australia, New Guinea, and neighbouring islands, including the [[Indonesia]]n islands from [[Lombok]] and [[Sulawesi]] eastward. The biological dividing line from [[Asia]] is the [[Wallace line]] – [[Borneo]] and [[Bali]] lie on the western, Asian side. [[Biodiversity of New Zealand|New Zealand]] comprises another ecological zone altogether, as it had been isolated from the rest of the world, including the rest of Australasia, for even longer. == See also == * '''[[Near Oceania]]''' * [[Sundaland]] * [[Oceania]] * [[Australia-New Guinea]] * [[New Zealand]] * [[ANZAC]] - Australia and New Zealand {{Regions of the world}} == References == <!--<nowiki> See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref> and </ref> tags, and the template below. </nowiki>--> {{reflist}} *{{cite web | last = Richards | first = Kel | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2006 | url = http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1587644.htm | title = Australasia | work = Wordwatch | publisher = ABC News Radio | accessdate = 2006-09-30}} *[http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Australasia Australasia] [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition]] ==External links== {{commons-inline}} [[Category:Oceania]] [[af:Australasië]] [[frp:Ôstralasia]] [[bcl:Australasya]] [[bs:Australazija]] [[bg:Австралазия и Океания]] [[ca:Australàsia]] [[cy:Awstralasia]] [[de:Australasien]] [[el:Αυστραλασία]] [[es:Australasia]] [[eo:Aŭstralazio]] [[fa:استرالزی]] [[fr:Australasie]] [[ga:An Astraláise]] [[ko:오스트랄라시아]] [[hr:Australazija]] [[id:Australasia]] [[is:Ástralasía]] [[it:Australasia]] [[lv:Austrālāzija]] [[lt:Australazija]] [[ms:Australasia]] [[nl:Australazië]] [[ja:オーストララシア]] [[jv:Australasia]] [[no:Australasia]] [[nn:Australasia]] [[pl:Australazja]] [[pt:Australásia]] [[ru:Австралазия]] [[scn:Australasia]] [[simple:Australasia]] [[sk:Australázia (geografia)]] [[sl:Avstralazija]] [[sr:Аустралазија]] [[sh:Australazija]] [[fi:Australaasia]] [[sv:Australiska regionen]] [[th:ออสตราเลเซีย]] [[vi:Australasia]] [[uk:Австралоазія]] [[zh-yue:澳大拉西亞洲]] [[zh:澳大拉西亞]]