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Australia is situated in the Southern Hemisphere, south of Asia and Indonesia, and to the east of the Indian Ocean. It is bordered by the Pacific, Southern, and Indian Oceans, and is considered to be part of Oceania, a region that includes the Pacific Islands and the Australian continent. The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's oceanic divisions, extending from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean or Antarctica in the south. It is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. The western Pacific is known for its many marginal seas, including the Tasman Sea, which lies between Australia and New Zealand.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Is Australia in the Western Pacific? | No, Australia is not considered to be in the Western Pacific. The Pacific Ocean separates Asia and Australia from the Americas. |
| Number of Islands in the Pacific Ocean | There are over 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean, more than all the other major oceans combined. |
| Major Seas in the Western Pacific | The Western Pacific has many major marginal seas, including the Philippine Sea, South China Sea, East China Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of California, Mar de Grau, Tasman Sea, and the Coral Sea. |
| Pacific Islands | The Pacific Islands are a geographic region of the Pacific Ocean, comprising Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. |
| Oceania | The term Oceania is used to refer to the Pacific Islands, and it includes Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. |
| Trade and Exports | The Pacific Islands import machinery, transport equipment, mineral fuels, food, and manufactured goods, mainly from Australia, France, Japan, and the United States. Leading exports include frozen or canned fish, minerals, copra, cocoa, coffee, tea, and spices, exported mainly to Japan, France, the US, and Australia. |
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What You'll Learn
Australia is bordered by the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean has played a significant role in human migration, with modern humans first reaching the western Pacific in the Paleolithic era, around 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. They reached Australia by crossing the sea between Sundaland and Sahul, likely using large bamboo rafts. The Pacific Ocean was also instrumental in exploration and trade, with Dutch explorers like Willem Janszoon making the first documented European landing in Australia in 1606.
The Pacific Ocean is often referred to as a "continent of islands", with approximately 25,000 islands, more than all the other major oceans combined. The islands in the western Pacific include the Philippine Sea, South China Sea, East China Sea, Sea of Japan, Bering Sea, and the Coral Sea, among others. The Macquarie Ridge, extending southward from the Tasman Basin between New Zealand and eastern Australia, forms a significant boundary between the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The Pacific Ocean has a significant impact on the climate and geography of Australia. The eastern boundary of the Pacific is associated with the American cordilleran system, while the western or Asiatic boundary is irregular. The ocean's mountain systems lie parallel to the coast, and the great rivers of eastern Asia, such as the Yangtze and the Mekong, enter the Pacific indirectly through marginal seas. The Pacific Ocean's vast size and distances present challenges in viewing it as a single geographical unit.
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest of Earth's oceanic divisions
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It covers approximately 46% of the Earth's water surface and about 32% of the planet's total surface area, larger than the entire land area of the Earth. The Pacific Ocean extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south. It is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. The Pacific Ocean is home to more than 25,000 islands, large and small, that rise above its surface.
The Pacific Ocean has played a significant role in human migration throughout history. Modern humans first reached the western Pacific during the Paleolithic era, around 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. They migrated from Africa to East Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia, the Philippines, New Guinea, and eventually Australia. This migration involved sea crossings of at least 80 kilometres (50 miles) using large bamboo rafts or similar vessels. The Pacific Ocean was also integral to early exploration, with Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossing the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and naming the ocean Mar del Sur ("Southern Sea" in Spanish). During the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan encountered favourable winds and named it Mar Pacífico, meaning "peaceful sea" in Portuguese.
The Pacific Ocean has a mean depth of 4,000 meters (13,000 feet), and it is the site of the deepest known point on Earth—the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, which reaches a depth of 10,928 meters (35,853 feet). The Pacific is also the warmest ocean due to its surrounding tropical islands, with temperatures reaching as high as 31°C (88°F). The western Pacific is characterised by numerous marginal seas, including the Philippine Sea, South China Sea, East China Sea, Sea of Japan, Bering Sea, and the Gulf of Alaska, among others.
The Pacific Ocean is often referred to as a "continent of islands" due to its vast number of islands. The region of Oceania, which includes the subregions of Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, covers the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate, as well as minor plates such as the Nazca Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. Oceania encompasses a mixture of independent states, associated states, integral parts of non-Pacific Island countries, and dependent states. The Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking by approximately 2.5 cm per year due to the effects of plate tectonics, while the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size.
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The Pacific Ocean has many marginal seas
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions, covering approximately 46% of the Earth's water surface and about 32% of the planet's total surface area. It extends from the Antarctic region in the south to the Arctic in the north and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.
The western Pacific has many major marginal seas. Marginal seas differ from each other in terms of their connection with the open ocean due to their morphological features. They are highly sensitive to changes in both the continent and ocean and play an important role in affecting global climate change. Some of the marginal seas of the western Pacific include the Philippine Sea, South China Sea, East China Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, and the Bering Sea. The Gulf of Alaska is another marginal sea located in the North Pacific Ocean.
The Coral Sea, located in the southwestern Pacific, is another marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is bounded by the Australian continental shelf to the west, southeastern Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to the north, the Vanuatu archipelago to the east, and the Tasman Front to the south. The Coral Sea is home to the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef system, which is made up of almost 3,000 individual corals and is one of Australia's most popular tourist destinations.
The Pacific Ocean also has marginal seas at the coasts of the Americas and Oceania. The Salish Sea in western North America is one such example, as is the Sea of Chiloe, located off the coast of Chile.
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Humans first reached the western Pacific in the Paleolithic
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions, covering approximately one-third of the Earth's surface. It extends from the Antarctic region in the south to the Arctic in the north and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. The Pacific Ocean has been labelled a "continent of islands", with over 25,000 islands, large and small, rising above its surface.
The Mololo excavation has helped clarify the timing of human movement into the Pacific. This timing is significant because it has implications for how rapidly our species dispersed out of Africa to Asia and Oceania, as well as for the role of humans in the extinction of Oceanic megafauna. Archaeologists have proposed two hypothetical seafaring corridors: a southern route into Australia and a northern route into West Papua. Excavations in northern Australia indicate that humans settled the ancient continent of Sahul, which connected West Papua to Australia, by 65,000 years ago.
The Pacific Ocean has been an important facilitator of human migration, with significant human migrations occurring in the region in prehistoric times. The precise timing, location, and nature of these maritime dispersals have long been unclear, but new research provides direct evidence that seafarers travelled along the equator to reach islands off the coast of West Papua more than 50 millennia ago.
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The Pacific Ocean is labelled a continent of islands
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions, covering approximately one-third of the Earth's surface. It is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. The Pacific Ocean has been labelled a "continent of islands", with approximately 25,000 islands, which is more than all the other major oceans combined.
The Pacific Ocean is divided into two major physiographic regions by island type: continental and oceanic. Deep ocean trenches form the Andesite Line along the eastern borders of Japan, the Marianas, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and New Zealand. The line separates the basaltic volcanic islands of the central and eastern Pacific from the islands of the broad western Pacific margin, which are formed mainly of metamorphosed rocks, sediment, and andesitic volcanic material. The continental islands are generally larger and include the Marianas, New Guinea, the Bismarcks, the Solomons, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
The oceanic islands are of two types: high islands and low coral islands and atolls. The high islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Examples include Bougainville, Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. The low coral islands and atolls are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean's surface. Examples include the Marshalls, Banaba (formerly Ocean Island), and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia.
The Pacific Islands region covers more than 300,000 square miles (800,000 square km) of land and millions of square miles of ocean. It is a mixture of independent states, associated states, integral parts of non-Pacific Island countries, and dependent states. The Pacific Islands are often grouped into three ethnogeographic groupings: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. However, the term conventionally excludes the neighbouring island continent of Australia, the Asia-related Indonesian, Philippine, and Japanese archipelagoes, and the Ryukyu, Bonin, Volcano, and Kuril island arcs that project seaward from Japan.
The broader term Oceania is often used to refer to the Pacific region, including all the islands and archipelagos mentioned above. It is derived from the Latin word "oceanus" and the Greek word "ōkeanós", meaning "ocean". The term Oceania is used because, unlike the other continental groupings, it is the ocean that links the parts of the region together.
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Frequently asked questions
Australia is not considered to be in the Western Pacific. It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east and sits to the west of this ocean.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.
The Western Pacific is known for its many marginal seas, including the Philippine Sea, South China Sea, East China Sea, Sea of Japan, and the Bering Sea.
