Why do people use the term 'Australia', for Oceania?

Australia (also called Sahul, Australinea or Meganesia) is geologically a continent and the term used in physical geography. The continent ... Some people refer to this "continent" as Australia or Australasia but as these terms exclude most of the countries in the region they are even more incorrect than using Oceania. read more

” Australia is the primary landmass of the continent of Sahul that includes New Guinea and nearby islands including Tasmania and Bougainville. read more

Oceania thus has the most to lose, culturally speaking, from the pressures of global political and economic change. Due to colonial neglect and historical isolation, the Pacific Islands, home to the world's most diverse range of indigenous cultures, continue to sustain many ancestral life-ways. read more

The term Oceania is used because, unlike the other continental groupings, it is the ocean that links the nations together. Biogeographically, as a synonym for the Australasian ecozone and the Pacific ecozone (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia), with New Zealand forming the south-western corner of the Polynesian Triangle. read more