Oceania

Oceania consists of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It is the world's fifth continent, after Europe, Asia, America and Africa. Geographically the region consist of the large Australian land mass and a very large number of islands spread over a wide area of the Pacific ocean. Oceania was first settled by Melanesian people, and later by Austronesian people. After the European discovery of Australia in the 17th century, Australia received a large number of European immigrants. Australia and New Zealand have highly developed economies, while most other countries in Oceania are much less developed.