Australasia

Australasia is a term variably used to describe a region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, and neighbouring islands 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 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).

Australasia can also be regarded by some experts as a region of Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Australia and New Zealand are the largest countries in this region. Papua New Guinea is the third country.

See also Oceania, regarded by us as a separate continental region.

OER pages

For a map of OER initiatives in Australasia see Australasia/OER

For a tabulation of OER initiatives in Australasiasee Open Education Initiatives in Australasia

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