If Australia is a continent, what is Oceania?

Question

And if Oceania is not a continent, what is New Zealand part of? Australia? Are they still liberal with citizenship between AUS and NZ (i.e. you can be legally emplyed in AUS if you are a NZ citizen)? And Australia is both a continent and a country, does it have states similar to the US? Or regions and citites? I feel so ignorant to the goings-on of that region of the Pacific, ever notice how it's pretty much the only place in the world we don't hear about in the news in the US? You don't need to answer that last one.

Answer 1

Australia isn't a continent, is a country.

Australia and New Zelland are part of Oceania, alongside a huge number of little islands, such as Tonga or Samoa, etc...

Answer 2

The answer may be in this quote:

"A large percentage of geography experts now consider the long-established continent of Australia to be more accurately defined as Australia/Oceania.

Collectively it then combines all of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, as well as the thousands of coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific Ocean, including the Melanesia and Polynesia groups."

However, by definition, a continent is "a large, continuous area of land on Earth".  This creates a conundrum, as the aboves countries are not connected.

Hence another quote: "The "continent" of Australia/Oceania is a somewhat artifical construct"

Australia itself has the following States & Territories:

ACT, New South Wales, Northern Territories, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, each of which has its own capital city.  They all also have their own State Governments, which create various State taxes etc.

The Australia & NZ ties are not as close as they were before, and NZ'ers do have various restrictions put on them these days.

Answer 3

No, Australia and New Zealand are seperate countries just like the US and Canada. They have very close ties and this is why they allow passage between the two countries as if they are one. Australia is the only country that comprises a single continent. The definition of Oceania is a little elastic, sometimes including Australia and but generally is divided into three regions called Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia (New Zealand is in Polynesia). Generally Australia is not classified as part of Oceania, rather being classed with New Guinea and New Zealand as 'Australiasia', although, Australiasia is considered part of Oceania so it's a bit confusing.  Australia has states like the US with each state having a capital city. New Zealand has no separately represented subnational entities such as provinces, states or territories, apart from its local government. Canberra is the capital city of Austalia, Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. I find it odd that there is never anything on the news about the pacific region, however the vast majority of American's know little to nothing about us, some even think we are part of their counrty.

Answer 4

Australia is a continent, d'oh!! is an idiot. hah.

Oceania are the islands that arent part of a continent isnt it?  

Answer 5

Oceania is an area in the Pacific.  It contains several countries including Australia, New Zealand and many Pacific Islands.  Here's a link to Wikipedia's article on Oceania:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania

A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are (from largest in size to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.

So, you're right in that Australia is both a continent and a country.  We also have six States: New South Wales; Victoria; Queensland; Tasmania; South Australia; and Western Austalia; and two Territories that are similar to States: Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory.  There are also many cities, large like Sydney and Melbourne, and smaller ones.  Check out http://www.australia.com for more information.

New Zealand is part of Oceania, but is not a continent or part of a continent, it's just two islands North Island and South Island.

Answer 6

As you are already aware Australia and New Zealand are separate countries and NZ is not part of continental Australia. NZ is part of Oceania which incorporates the island countries of the Pacific region such as Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Christmas Island, Fiji etc.

   Australia is broken up into States and Territorie which are as follows: Queensland, New South Wales,Victoria,Tasmania,South Australia,Western Australia,Australia Capital Territory (Canberra the Capital) and The Northern Territory.

You need aPassport to travel between Australia and NZ though no Visa needed. Reciprocal working rights exist between them. Different Governments and currency and laws. Both Countries are part of The British Commonwealth as is much of Canada,

  Hope this is answering your question ok??