Oceania

Oceania is an island continent on Earth consisting of the continental shelf of Australia, the islands of New Guinea, New Zealand, and the coral and volcanic archipelagos of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Insulindia was historically considered to be part of Oceania as well. All of these islands are distributed throughout the Pacific Ocean. With an extension of 8 542 499 km²,  it is the smallest continent on planet Earth. The human settlement of Oceania occurred in several waves. The first settlers in Oceania were Homo sapiens from Southeast Asia. From them descend the current Papuan and Australian natives. The settlement of Australia and New Guinea dates back to 40,000 B.C.

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In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the desire for independence began in the British colonies of Australia and New Zealand, which in 1901 and 1907 respectively opened the way for other countries to independence. Oceania's weight in the world economy is very low, contributing just 1% of total production. Australia and New Zealand have a highly developed and diversified economy. Although today the majority of the population works in services, the primary sector is still key and provides a good part of exports.

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This region is the least populated in the world (with the exception of Antarctica) with approximately 34,300,000 inhabitants in 2010, this figure has increased considerably due to Oceania's high birth rate and low mortality. The traditional art of Oceania has a magical-symbolic sense, originated by religious concern and manifested in idols, masks, weapons, tattoos and ornaments. Polynesians make striking body tattoos; New Zealand Maori art is more evolved, with its richly decorated wooden architecture and large carved masks; their jade figurines (tikis) also stand out.