What’s the difference between Australasia and Oceania?

Question

I just had my cat microchipped and the paperwork reads ‘Australasian Microchip Registry’, which got me wondering.

I’ve always thought of Australasia as Australia, New Zealand and our closest neighbours like Indonesia, Singapore, PNG and Fiji. But what does Oceania include then, and how is it different?

Random thoughts on a Monday afternoon.

In: Other

Answer 1

Oceania is the broader term encompassing a vast region of islands and continents in the Pacific Ocean.

This includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, and consists of Australia, New Zealand, and the island of New Guinea.

An example would be the difference between Europe and France.