Where is Oceania?
Oceania is made up of Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and other islands.
It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the north and east, the Southern Ocean to the south and the Indian Ocean to the west.
Parts of Oceania can be very warm. Australia gets a lot of sun all year round. The middle of this country can be very hot and dry. The north of Oceania, such as Papua New Guinea, is a tropical climate.
What is in Oceania?
- The largest country in Oceania is Australia. It has the biggest population in Oceania.
- Australia is famous for its animals, including kangaroos and koalas.
- The highest mountain in Oceania is Mount Kosciuszko in Australia.
- The longest river in Oceania is the Murray River. It is 7 times longer than the UK’s River Severn!
- The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef. A coral reef is full of fish and underwater plants.
- Big cities in Oceania include Auckland (in New Zealand), Port Moresby (in Papua New Guinea), Sydney and Melbourne (in Australia).
Watch: What are children's lives like?
Let’s look at the lives of Reenie in Papua New Guinea and Judah in Wales
Narrator: Cardiff is the capital of Wales. It’s on the coast and is a port where cargo ships come to collect and deliver goods to other countries across the sea.
Far away in the Pacific Ocean, is the island of Papua New Guinea.
Port Moresby is the capital city. Here the climate is tropical, and the sandy beaches are lined with palm trees.
Reenie: Hello, my name is Reenie. I am ten years old. I live in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. I live with my grandma, my auntie, uncle and my three cousins.
Judah: Hi my name is Judah and I live in Cardiff. I’m ten years old and I live with my mum, dad, brother and my dog, called Mollie.
The beach is ten minutes away from my house. The trouble is that it rains a lot in Cardiff, and we’re just going to have to give up right now.
Reenie: It’s usually hot all year here, but we have two seasons: wet season and dry season. The wet season is when it rains a lot and the dry season is when it hardly rains at all. My house is about fifteen minutes’ walk from the beach. When it is really hot, we can go in the sea to cool off.
Judah: One of the best things about living by the sea is that at the beach you get ice-cream. When it’s windy on the beach, it’s quite nice, the feeling of it just going through your hair and everything. You can spin around.
Reenie: That’s where I go shopping with my grandma and we buy fish and vegetables for dinner.
Judah: My school is quite far away to walk. It usually takes about ten minutes or I go on the bus.
Reenie: I go to school a short walk from my home. Every morning we sing the national anthem.
Judah: It’s a Welsh school, so we do English and Welsh.
Reenie’s teacher: Ok class, we’ll be learning about clothes today. Reenie, can you read about the shirt?
Reenie: This is a red shirt…
There are thirty kids in my class. All our lessons are in English, and we have to talk in English.
Reenie’s friend: What are you doing this weekend?
Reenie: I’m playing marbles with my friends.
Judah: Helo fy enw i yw Jwda ac rwy’n byw yng Caerdydd. That means, ‘Hello my name is Judah and I live in Cardiff.’
I speak Welsh with my friends at school, but if I don’t know a word I say it in English.
Reenie: I usually speak Pidgin with my friends. At home I speak Motu with my grandmother.
Judah: Having a double language is hard, because sometimes you get mixed up.
Reenie: After school I collect wood for the fire to cook our dinner.
Judah: When I look out to sea it’s incredible.
Reenie: I think about the creatures that live under the water.
Judah: When I was little I used to imagine this island was filled with bamboo and all this tropical stuff.
Reenie: I wish to be a mermaid, to live under the water, and know the sea world, and spider fish.
- In Cardiff, Judah rides the bus to school. In Port Moresby Reenie walks to school. Both children wear a uniform and learn with a teacher.
- Judah in Cardiff speaks English and Welsh. In Port Moresby, Reenie speaks English and her lessons are in English. Reenie also speaks Pidgin and Motu.
- In Cardiff there are small shops, markets and supermarkets. In Port Moresby food like fish fresh from the sea and vegetables can be bought outside in a market. Reenie collects wood for a fire which might be used to cook outside.
- Papua New Guinea has big and busy cities and towns like the UK.
Let's compare Oceania and the UK
Cardiff is the capital city of Wales and Port Moresby is the capital city of Papua New Guinea. Cardiff is near the Irish Sea. Port Moresby is near the Pacific Ocean.
The climate in Port Moresby is tropical. It is sunnier and warmer than Cardiff. There are beaches and palm trees.
The UK has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Papua New Guinea has a wet season and a dry season. The rain can be very heavy in the wet season and it is warm.
People have to keep buildings cool in Papua New Guinea because it is so hot. In the UK, buildings are made for different sorts of weather.
Activity: Oceania quiz
Pirate Bunnies: World Adventures game! game
Hop on Captain Carrot’s ship and explore the world with the Pirate Bunnies.
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