One dream in a hand : Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean.

Oceania was originally conceived as the lands of the Pacific Ocean, stretching from the Straits of Malacca to the coast of the Americas. It comprised four regions: Polynesia, Micronesia, Malaysia (now called the Malay Archipelago), and Melanesia (now called Australasia).

The states that occupy Oceania that are not included in geopolitical Oceania are Indonesia, Malaysia (through Malaysian Borneo), Brunei, the Philippines, and East Timor.

The Oceania ecozone includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand.

The predominant religion in Oceania is Christianity. Traditional religions are often animist and prevalent among traditional tribes is the belief in evil spirits, which are blamed for "poisoning" people, causing calamity and death.  

Rugby league is a popular sport throughout Oceania, and is the national sport of Papua New Guinea (the second most populous country in Oceania after Australia) and is very popular in Australia and attracts significant attention across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

Rugby union is one of the region's most prominent sports. Rugby union being the national sport of New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga.

This region has a diverse mix of economies from the highly developed and globally competitive financial markets of Australia  and New Zealand  boasting parity with much of Western Europe, to the much less developed economies that belong to many of their island neighbours.

Tourism has become a large source of income for many in the Pacific; tourists come from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the United Kingdom and the USA. Fiji currently draws almost half a million tourists each year; more than a quarter from Australia.