Oceania : Australasia

Australasia

Australasia is often defined as being composed primarily of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea as well as the adjacent islands. Most of Australasia is also considered part of Oceania, but is sometimes excluded for being too "continental".

Countries

Other territories

Kermadec Islands - Active volcanic islands, recently disinhabited as being too dangerous even for scientists to stay on. Managed as a nature preserve by New Zealand.
Lord Howe Island - Part of the Australian state of New South Wales.
New Caledonia - A French territory.
Norfolk Island - A special Australian territory. Many of the inhabitants are descendants of the Bounty mutineers that had previously settled (hidden) on Pitcairn Island.

Understand

Australia and New Zealand are both former British colonies. At one time it was envisaged that the two colonies would become a single country and the Australian constitution still permits New Zealand to join as another state. The two countries enjoy a Closer Economic Relationship (CER) with free trade and relatively unrestricted travel. Both countries are working on joint national standards, with notable progress being made in unified food legislation.

Although these two countries work closely together in many respects, they have differing political directions, both internally and externally, and present sometimes opposing outlooks on the world. The prospect of a stronger political union seems unlikely at present, though both countries co-operate readily across a wide range of issues.

Papua New Guinea was, at one time, an Australian dependency.

Ecologically, Australasia also includes East Timor and the eastern parts of Indonesia as far as Lombok and Sulawesi.

Talk

English is the official language spoken in Australia and New Zealand. While formal British or American English will be easily understood by the locals, some of their slang and colloquial terms may cause unexpected problems for the traveller. There are numerous guides available for understanding the finer points of Strine (Australian English) and Newzilid (New Zealand English). The best guide is probably the person you're are talking to at the time. If in doubt, ask! The American habit of using euphemistic terms or trying to be too polite can cause confusion and misinterpretation. Also do not be offended by some of the Australian or New Zealand slang words used. Their colloquial usage and cultural context means they have lost some of their apparent offensiveness -- though in international English slang should be avoided if possible because some words have acquired other offensive meanings in the local version of English.

Maori is an official language in New Zealand. Many New Zealand placenames are of Maori origin. Mispronouncing these names is easily done by English speakers unfamiliar with Maori and will often render the name unintelligible to New Zealanders. While relatively few New Zealanders speak Maori conversationally, (though many are learning), almost all of them cringe when Maori placenames are mispronounced.