Pacific Islands

Refers to a geographic region of the Pacific Ocean, including all the islands in the Pacific that are collectively referred to as Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. This usage excludes the Australian island, the Asia-related Indonesian, Philippine, and Japanese archipelagoes, and the Ryukyu, Bonin-Volcano, and Kuril island arcs that project seaward from Japan. The term also generally excludes the Aleutian chain connecting Kamchatka and Alaska isolated isolated islands of the Pacific Ocean, such as Juan Fernández off the coast of South America. Although the Pacific Ocean makes up nearly one-third of the Earth's surface, the Pacific Islands add up to a little less than 500,000 square miles. The term is sometimes considered synonymous with "Oceania" or "South Sea Islands," both of which are defined differently in TGN.