Oceania: Oceania Agriculture Profile

Agriculture and natural resources constitutes only 5% to 10% of Oceania\'s total jobs, but contributes substantially to export performance. The majority populous two nations, Australia and New Zealand, are as well the majority developed and have majority service industries. This dilutes the data from the less developed Pacific Island nations who have major agricultural economies. Most of the Pacific nations (excluding Australia and New Zealand) the primary industry is agriculture. A lot of nations are still quintessentially agricultural; for example, 80% of the people of Vanuatu and 70% of the people of Fiji works in agriculture.

The major produce from the pacific is copra or coconut, but timber, beef, palm oil, cocoa, sugar and ginger are as well commonly grown across the tropics of the Pacific. Old increase logging is exploited on larger islands, inclunding the Solomons and Papua New Guinea. Fishing provides a major industry for a lot of of the smaller nations in the Pacific, although a lot of fishing areas are exploited by other larger nations, namely Japan. Natural Resources, such as lead, zinc, nickel and gold, are mined across the West of the region, in Australia and the Solomon Islands. Oceania\'s major export markets include Japan, China, the United States and South Korea.

Agriculture has been and continues to be the major export industry in New Zealand. In the year to June 2009, dairy products accounted for 21% of total merchandise exports, and the major company of the country, Fonterra, a dairy cooperative, controls almost one-third of the international dairy trade. Other agricultural items were meat 13.2%, wool 6.3%, fruit 3.5% and fishing 3.3%. New Zealand as well has a thriving wine industry, which had a bumper year in 2007; wine became New Zealand\'s \"12th most precious export\" in that year, overtaking wool exports.

Cows and sheep are rarely housed, but are sometimes fed supplements such as hay and silage, particularly in winter. Pigs are usually kept indoors, either in gestation crates, farrowing crates, fattening pens, or group housing.

Oceania is the name of the region consisting of island groups within the central and South Pacific Ocean. It spans over 3.3 million square miles (8.5 million sq km). Some of the nations included in Oceania are Australia, New Zealand, Tuvalu, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Palau, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Nauru. Oceania as well includes several dependencies and territories such as American Samoa, Johnston Atoll and French Polynesia.

Physical Geography of Oceania

In terms of its physical geography, the islands of Oceania are often divided into four different sub-regions based on the geologic processes playing a role in their physical development. The initial of these is Australia. It is separated because of its location among the Indo-Australian Plate and the fact that due to its location there was no mountain building during its development. Instead, Australia\'s current physical landscape features were formed by mainly by erosion.

The second landscape category in Oceania is the islands found on the collision boundaries between the Earth\'s crustal plates. These are found specifically in the South Pacific. For example at the collision boundary between the Indo-Australian and Pacific plates are places like New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The North Pacific portion of Oceania as well features these types landscapes along the Eurasian and Pacific plates. These plate collisions are responsible for the formation of mountains like those in New Zealand which climb to over 10,000 feet (3,000 m).

Volcanic islands such as Fiji are the third category of landscape types found in Oceania. These islands typically rise from the seafloor through hotspots in the Pacific Ocean basin. Most of these areas consist of very small islands with high mountain ranges.

Finally, coral reef islands and atolls such as Tuvalu are the last type of landscape found in Oceania. Atolls specifically are responsible for the formation of low-lying land regions, some with enclosed lagoons.

Climate of Oceania

Most of Oceania is divided into two climate zones. The initial of these is temperate and the second is tropical. Most of Australia and all of New Zealand are within the temperate zone and most of the island areas in the Pacific are considered tropical. Oceania\'s temperate regions feature high levels of precipitation, cold winters and warm to hot summers. The tropical regions in Oceania are hot and wet year round.

In addition to these climatic zones, most of Oceania is impacted by continuous trade winds and sometimes hurricanes (called tropical cyclones in Oceania) which have historically caused catastrophic damage to nations and islands in the region.

Flora and Fauna of Oceania

Because most of Oceania is tropical or temperate there is an abundant all of rainfall which produces tropical and temperate rainforests throughout the region. Tropical rainforests are common in some of the island nations located near the tropics, while temperate rainforests are common in New Zealand. In both of these types of forests there is a plethora of plant and animal species, making Oceania one of the world\'s most biodiverse regions.

It is significant to note however, that not all of Oceania receives abundant rainfall and portions of the region are arid or semiarid. Australia for example, features large areas of arid land which have little vegetation. In addition, El Niño has caused frequent droughts in recent decades in Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Oceania\'s fauna, like its flora is as well extremely biodiverse. Because much of the area consists of islands, incomparable species of birds, animals and insects evolved out of isolation from others. The presence of coral reefs such as the Great Barrier Reef and Kingman Reef as well represent large areas of biodiversity and some are considered biodiversity hotspots.

Humans and Oceania

Most recently in 2005, Oceania\'s people was around 33 million people, with the majority centered in Australia and New Zealand. Those two nations alone accounted for additional than 24 million people, while Papua New Guinea had a people of over five million. The remaining people of Oceania is scattered around the various islands making up the region.

Like its people distribution, urbanization and industrialization as well vary in Oceania. 89% of Oceania\'s urban areas are in Australia and New Zealand and these nations as well have the majority well established infrastructure. Australia in particular has a lot of raw minerals and energy sources, and manufacturing is a large part of its and Oceania\'s economy. The rest of Oceania and specifically the Pacific islands are not well developed. Some of the islands have rich natural resources, but the majority do not. In addition, some of the island nations do not even have enough clean drinking water or food to supply to their citizens.

Agriculture is as well significant in Oceania and there are three types which are common in the region. These include subsistence agriculture, plantation crops and capital intensive agriculture. Subsistence agriculture occurs on most of the Pacific islands and is done to support local communities. Cassava, taro, yams and sweet potatoes are the majority common products of this type of agriculture. Plantation crops are planted on the medium tropical islands while capital intensive agriculture is practiced mainly in Australia and New Zealand.

Finally, fishing and tourism are significant to Oceania\'s economy and its development. Fishing is a significant source of revenue because a lot of islands have maritime exclusive economic zones that extend for 200 nautical miles and a lot of small islands have granted permission to foreign nations to fish the region via fishing licenses. Tourism is as well significant to Oceania because a lot of of the tropical islands like Fiji offer aesthetic beauty, while Australia and New Zealand are modern cities with modern amenities. New Zealand has as well become an area centered on the growing field of ecotourism.