New Guinea Travel Guide

North of Australia in the western Pacific Ocean is the island of New Guinea. This is the largest of the Pacific Island and the second largest island in the entire world after Greenland. New Guinea is essentially divided into two countries. The western half is made up of the Indonesian province of Papua and the eastern portion is made up of the independent state of Papua New Guinea which also includes many smaller islands. In 1995 the estimated population of New Guinea was over five million.

Melanesia Travel Guide

Melanesia is one of three subdivisions of the Pacific Islands along with Micronesia and Polynesia. These three subdivisions encompass all of the islands in the western Pacific Ocean south of the equator. The westernmost island of Melanesia is New Guinea which is the largest of all the Pacific Islands and second in the world only to Greenland. Western New Guinea also has the province of Papua. East and south of New Guinea is the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the nation of Fiji Islands. The region was named Melanesia by the European explorers. It is Greek for dark islands because of the inhabitant's dark complexion. Nearly seven hundred languages are spoken in this region.

Micronesia Travel Guide

Micronesian Beautiful Sunset

Micronesia is one of three subdivisions which combine to encompass more than two thousand islands in the Pacific Ocean just east of the Philippines and north of the equator. The other two subdivisions include Melanesia and Polynesia. Micronesia is Greek for small islands, which is because Micronesia is largely made up of small coral islands and atolls. Guam is the largest of the islands. The other islands that make up Micronesia include Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and Wake Island.

Sydney Travel Guide

Sydney Australia

The first European settlement in Australia was Sydney and today it is the largest metropolitan area with about four million residents. Sydney has a dynamic cultural center with a diverse economy that focuses on the service industries, tourism, manufacturing and international commerce. The port at Sydney is one of the leading ports for intercontinental trade in the Asia-Pacific region.

Sydney is located along the southeastern coast of Australia in a large, sheltered, deep-water inlet off the Tasman Sea. It enjoys a temperate, oceanic climate which means warm summers and cool winters. Rainfall occurs throughout the year. The weather is kept moderate because of the cities proximity to the ocean. The most extreme temperatures are recorded towards the inland western suburbs. The warmest month is January with an average temperature of 65 to 78 degrees. Winters are mildly cool with temperatures rarely going below 41 degrees.