Geography Research Paper - Hurricane Wilma

Professor Albright

GEOG – 1303

4 page geography report

Date

Oceania

Oceania, sometimes called Oceanica, is the collective name for most of the islands residing in the Pacific Ocean. Oceania includes over roughly ten thousand islands, which is approximately 317,700 square miles of land. Oceania is divided into a few regions: Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and a few other smaller areas including Australia, New Zealand, and Papa New Guinea. Oceania has been, in recent times, more accurately called Oceania/Australasia. Australasia used to be considered one of the many regions that make up Oceania, but is now considered to be a separate offshoot of Oceania that is classified in the same region and therefore still a part of Oceania.

Oceania is in the Eastern hemisphere and is generally considered to have a sub-tropical climate. The region includes around twenty-five thousand islands if all the smaller offshooting islands are included, these islands range from a sub-tropical rainforest to grassland plains stretching for miles. There are hundreds of volcanic islands, of which a few are still active. Twenty-five thousand islands gives this region on of the most diverse climates in the world.

Along with a vast and diverse climate, Oceania has one of the most rich and beautiful cultural backgrounds of any region in the history of the world.

Micronesia

The official name for Micronesia is The Federated states of Micronesia, this region is located in the Western portion of the Pacific Ocean and is roughly 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. The main island group of Micronesia is the Caroline Islands which include: Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap islands. Within these groups are several thousand smaller islands and island groups. Although Micronesia is composed of thousands of islands, the land is only 271 square miles in total land mass.

Of all the islands in Micronesia, around 600 of them are volcanic and uninhabitable, only about 70 of thousands of islands are actually populated. Many of the islands are coral atolls, which is coral that has grown so large it peaks above the water to such an extent it is considered an island, and therefore uninhabitable along with the volcanic ones.

Micronesia, being part of Oceania, has a sub-tropic to tropic climate with very high humidity and warm air all year round. Pohnpei, which is an island belonging to part of the Caroline islands, is reported to be one of the wettest places on earth by Planet Earth Magazine; Pohnpei has over 300 inches of rainfall per year, which is around 7,600 millimeters, making it into the top ten in annual rainfall. Because of the tropical climate, typhoons are a major risk to every island in this region – and other regions of Oceania- especially for the islands lying near sea level.

The population of Micronesia is one hundred and eleven thousand as of a study in 2010; not including the many tourists who come to enjoy the coral reef diving and snorkeling. One of the main islands in Micronesia, Chuuk, has some of the best wreck diving in the world, there are many World War II wrecks under the water here and most of them are fairly close the surface.

The most prominent religions in the diverse area of Micronesia are Catholic and Protestant; a few groups of islands claim no dominant religion and were excluded from the religious census.

New Zealand

The geographic features of New Zealand include two main islands; there are a few smaller islands as well near the edges of the two main islands. New Zealand has an area of 103,738 square miles, which includes all of the smaller islands off-shooting from the edges. The southern island is the largest of the two and they are divided along their length by the southern alps. New Zealand is mainly mountainous; the highest point in the Southern Alps is Mount Aoraki, which stands at 12,218 feet tall. The capital of New Zealand is Wellington and is located near the southern tip of the north island.

The climate of New Zealand can be described as subtropical, much like Micronesia; it is typically warm and wet but can be somewhat cold during winter months. It rains very often in new Zealand due to the subtropical climate, and the least amount of rainfall is in the winter months. Because of the many beautiful places in New Zealand, this is the location chosen to film several scenes in Lord of the Rings. New Zealand is located at latitude: 41°17.1984′ S and longitude: 174°46.5342′ E.

The population in New Zealand as of 2015 was recorded at 4.6 million people, which is an increase of 94 percent since 1960 when it was recorded at 2.4 million, not including tourists. Due to the many scenic areas in New Zealand it has become a huge tourist attraction for many people, from frat houses to honeymooning couples New Zealand is a popular location. A favorite thing for most people to so there is bungee jumping, due to the mountainous landscape New Zealand has some of the best locations for bungee jumping.

The culture of New Zealand is a mixture of British/European customs and Maori/Polynesian customs. New Zealand was originally Maori only but became a mixture when European settlers decided to live there. The culture of New Zealand is rich and vibrant and loud in a way, the people enjoy dancing to drums and the food is excellent.

Australia

Australia is, debatably, one of the most beautiful places on earth. Often referred to as “The Land Down Under” due to its position on the planet, the name comes from the Latin word australis, which means southern.

In 1688 the British explorer, William Dampier, was the first European man to set foot on Australia, then called New Holland. He landed in Shark Bay. In the 18th century Great Britain had an overpopulation of convicts and needed a place to keep them, they brought 1,400 people to “New South Wales” – as it was now called- and kept them in a penal colony in Australia. For the next 80 years roughly 150,000 convicts were sent to the Australian penal colony. Australia is no longer a penal colony, but the history still remains.

The current population of Australia is twenty-three million in residential population as of a 2013 study, not including the thousands of tourists who come to visit this beautiful place. Interestingly, there are more kangaroos in Australia than there are humans; the human population being twenty-three million and the kangaroo population being sixty million, which is nearly three times as many kangaroos as humans.

Australia is made up of two major regions: Australia and Tasmania. Australia is said to be one of the driest places on earth and is also the flattest continent on earth. The highest point in Australia is Mount Kosciuszko and is located on the mainland; it is 2,228 meters above sea level. The lowest point is the dried Lake Eyre and that is 15 meters below sea level. Due to the fact that it is an island, Australia has over ten-thousand beaches. A person could visit a new beach in Australia every day for 27 years. Melbourne used to be the capital of Australia, but in 1927 the government offices were moved to Canberra, which is the capital to this day. Australia is located between latitudes 10°41' and 43°39'S and longitudes 113°9' and 153°39'E.

Australia

New Zealand

Oceania divisions

Works Cited

Marston, S. A., Knox, P. L., & Liverman, D. M. (2016). World regions in global context: Peoples, places, and environments (Sixth ed.). United States: Pearson.

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