|
Abel Janszoon Tasman
Abel Janszoon Tasman , 1603?-1659, Dutch navigator. In the service of the Dutch East India Company from c.1632 to 1653, he made several trading and exploring voyages in the Pacific and Indian oceans. On a voyage (1639-42) in the N Pacific he visited the Philippines and Taiwan, followed the coast of ...
Read more
|
|
Anton van Diemen
Anton van Diemen , 1593-1645, Dutch colonial official. As governor-general for the Dutch East India Company in the East Indies after 1636, he captured Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Malacca from the Portuguese. He sent Abel Tasman on exploring voyages. Tasman called an island that he found (1642) Van Diem...
Read more
|
|
Tasmania
Tasmania , island state (1991 pop. 359,286), 26,383 sq mi (68,332 sq km), SE Commonwealth of Australia. It is separated from Australia by the Bass Strait and lies 150 mi (240 km) south of the state of Victoria. Tasmania includes many offshore islands, among which are Bruny, the Hunter Islands, the ...
Read more
|
|
exploration
exploration travel to a part of the earth that is relatively unknown to the traveler's culture, historically often motivated by a desire for colonization, conquest, or trade.
See also space exploration , geography , and articles on localities, e.g., Africa , Arctic, the , Australia .
...
Read more
|
|
Fiji
Fiji or Viti , officially Republic of the Fiji Islands, republic made up of a Melanesian island group (2005 est. pop. 893,000), c.7,000 sq mi (18,130 sq km), South Pacific. Suva is the capital.
Land
Fiji comprises c.320 islands, of which some 105 are inhabited. Viti Levu , the large...
Read more
|
|
New Zealand
New Zealand , island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington ; the largest city and leading port is Auckland .
Land and People
New Zealand comprises the North Island a...
Read more
|
|
Australia
Australia , smallest continent, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. With the island state of Tasmania to the south, the continent makes up the Commonwealth of Australia, a federal parliamentary state (2005 est. pop. 20,090,000), 2,967,877 sq mi (7,686,810 sq km). Australia's capital is Canberr...
Read more
|