A term used loosely to include Australia and the islands of Tasmania, New Zealand, New Guinea (including New Britain), New Caledonia, and Vanuatu; often described as equivalent to all of Oceania below the Equator and N of 47°S; the name is not commonly used in these areas.
Australasia is a term variably used to describe a region of Oceania – namely Australia, New Zealand, and neighboring islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Physical geography
Physiographically, Australasia includes the Australian landmass (including Tasmania), New Zealand, and Melanesia: New Guinea and neighbouring islands north and east of Australia in the Pacific Ocean.
Most of Australasia lies on the southern portion of the Indo-Australian Plate, flanked by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Southern Ocean to the south.
Human geography
Geopolitically, Australasia is sometimes used as a term for Australia and New Zealand together, in the absence of another word limited to those two countries.
In the past, Australasia has been used as a name for combined Australia/New Zealand sporting teams. Examples include tennis between 1905 and 1913, when Australia and New Zealand combined its best players to compete in the Davis Cup international tournament (and in fact won it in the years 1907, 1908, 1909 and 1911), and at the Olympic Games of 1908 and 1912.
Anthropologists, although disagreeing on details, generally support theories that call for a Southeastern Asian origin of indigenous island peoples in Australasia and neighboring subregions.
Ecological geography
From an ecological perspective the Australasia ecozone is a distinct region with a common evolutionary history and a great many unique flora and fauna. In this context, Australasia is limited to Australia, New Guinea, and neighbouring islands, including the Indonesian islands from Lombok and Sulawesi eastward.
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