УПРАВЛЕНИЕ И ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ
TOM IX (4) 2013
MANAGEMENT AND EDUCATION
VOL. IX (4) 2013
A STUDY ON THE SOURCES OF COUNTRY, ARCHIPELAGO
AND ISLAND NAMES IN OCEANIA
Alaattin Kizilçaoğlu
ПРОУЧВАНЕ НА ПРОИЗХОДА НА ИМЕНАТА НА СТРАНИТЕ, АРХИПЕЛАЗИТЕ И
ОСТРОВИТЕ В ОКЕАНИЯ
Алаатин Кизилчаоолу
ABSTRACT: Oceania Continent is substantially comprised of archipelagos and islands in the Pacific
Ocean. Sources of the names of these islands are compiled in this study with the help of related work. Investigation of the sources of the island names has made it possible to obtain information about the geographical characteristics of the countries and islands, important geographical discoveries and native people and colony movements. The countries and islands in Oceania were generally named by European explorers who organized expeditions to these areas, by colonists or by the natives of the islands. Names of many countries and islands in Oceania carry the trace of colonialism since the majority of the islands were named after the explorers, the homelands of the explorers, European statesmen or exploration ships.
Key words: World Regional Geography, Oceania, Place names, Geography
about the geographical characteristics of the
countries and islands, important geographical
discoveries and native people and colony movements.
Introduction
Sources of place names are included among
the research topics of the science of geography
because place names are important to obtain
information about the geographical characteristics of locations (Alagöz, 1984). An interesting
topic related to place names is the investigation
of the sources of country names. Güner
(2001;23) states that sources of country names
are based on ethnic elements, historical processes, legends, religious elements, economic resources and geographical elements. Güner goes
on to say that etymological research is crucial in
obtaining information regarding the historical
development of political organizations, ethnic
situations, religious characteristics and the geography of the area. Current study presents the
sources of the names of countries, archipelagos
and islands in Oceania. There are 14 independent
countries, many overseas territories and archipelagos and islands under colony status. Meanings
of the country and islands names in Oceania have
been compiled by using various works (Room,
2006; Özey, 2001; Güner, 2001; AppletonAppleton, 1992; Everett-Heath, 2000; Matthews,
1972; Mills, 2003; Pawley et.al., 2007; Watts
2004). Investigation of the sources of the island
names has made it possible to obtain information
Pacific Ocean, Countries, Archipelagos and
Islands in the Continent of Oceania
Pacific Ocean, the largest ocean in the world,
lies between the east of Asia and the west of
America Continents. Pacific Ocean is different
from the other oceans in terms of geographical
formations. Although there are many islands in
the Indian and Atlas oceans, their surface areas
are not very large (Özey, 2001; 111). However,
Pacific Ocean hosts rather large land masses
such as Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand
and also consists of more than 300.000 large and
small islands (Map 1). Their total surface area is
about 8,9 million km2 (Güner-Ertürk, 2006; 375).
Surface area of the Pacific Ocean is 170,8 million km2. Therefore, this ocean has a total surface
area of 179,7 million km2 along with its islands
(Özey, 2001; 112). Portuguese sailor Ferdinand
Macellan called the ocean “Mar Pacifico” which
meant the calm sea since he did not observe any
storms in his voyage from Tierra Del Fuego to
Philippines in 1520. Later, this name was
changed to Pacific Ocean
14
(Room, 2006:284). Sailors such as Guillaume
Delisse and Buache called the Pacific Ocean
“The Big Ocean” since it is the largest of the
oceans in terms of surface area (Özey, 2001;
118).
Map 1. Countries, Archipelagos and Islands in the Continent of Oceania (Source:
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/au.htm )
Oceania is the common name for the seas and
the islands in the Pacific. The term was first used
in 1812 by Dutch geographer Conrad MalteBrun. The name Oceania comes from Oceanus,
one of the Greek Titan Gods (Room, 2006; 276).
Oceania is called Australia in some sources but
Australia is only one of the islands in this continent albeit the biggest one. Many of the experts
in geography accept Oceania or Australia/Oceania instead of Australia Continent. The
continent is called Oceania since it does not constitute only a land mass but forms a unity with
the Pacific Ocean which includes many islands.
Oceania is the name of all the large and small
islands that are distributed throughout the Pacific
Ocean (Özey, 2001; 112). Oceania consists of
the islands in the west, south and central of the
Pacific Ocean. The archipelagos that are in close
proximity to America and Asia can’t be held
separate from these continents. Therefore, Kuril,
Philippines and Indonesia archipelagos are accepted in connection with Asia and Galapagos
and Aleut Islands are regarded as American.
Hawaii, Midway Islands and Johnston Atoll is
considered outside Oceania.
There are 14 independent states in Oceania.
Out of these 12 continent countries excluding
Australia and New Zealand, 4 are located in
Melanesia Islands (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji), 5 are in Micronesia
Islands (Palau, Federated States of Micronesia,
Marshall Islands, Nauru, Kiribati) and 3 are in
Polynesia Islands (Tuvalu, Tonga and West Samoa) (Güner-Ertürk, 2006:400). There are
archipelagos and islands in Oceania which are
dependent on USA, New Zealand, Australia,
United Kingdom and France.
The continent of Oceania consists of
thousands of volcanic islands and coral atolls in
the South Pacific Ocean that includes Melanesia
and Polynesia groups. Oceania also consists of
Micronesia that are the island groups scattered in
a wide area alongside the north and south sides
of the Ecuador.
The group of islands in the southwest of Oceania and in east of Australia between New Guinea and New Zealand are called Melanesia. The
Greek words “black” and “nesoi-islands” were
combined to mean “black islands” (Room, 2006,
244). The island is called black islands since the
skin of the natives that live in these islands are
much darker compare to the inhabitants in the
other islands (Özey, 2001; Güner-Ertürk, 2006).
The main islands in Melanasia are Papua New
Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu (New
Hebrides) and Solomon Islands.
15
There are island chains called Micronesia
(small islands) between the International Date
Line and Japan and in the east of Melanesia Islands. Most of the Micronesia islands are coral
islands (Güner, 2001; 43). The main islands of
Micronesia are Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau, Caroline Islands, Wake Island,
Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan, Guam and
Micronesia.
Polynesia islands are located in the central
Pacific and in the east of Oceania. They are the
island groups scattered in a wider area in the east
of the line from New Zealand to Hawaii through
Western Samoa Islands (Özey, 2001; 113). The
word Polynesia comes from the Greek “polus
nesoi” which meant many islands (Güner-Ertürk,
2006; 376, Room, 2006; 298). The main islands
in Polinesia are West Samoa, Tonga, French
Polynesia, American Samoa, Cook Islands,
Pitcairn Islands, Tokelau Islands, Niue Islands,
Phoenix (Kiribati), Line Islands (Kiribati) and
Pascalia Islands.
were called pua-pua in the Malay language
which means curly (Room, 2006; 287).
4-Fiji: It is a country of islands that consists
of 330 islands in the southernmost part of Melanesia Islands in the South Pacific. It was previously known as the Cannibal Islands since barbarous natives used to live there (Web-2). It was
first discovered in 1643 by Dutch explorer Abel
Tasman but he did not attempt to get on the island due to the existence of the cannibals (Web3). Fiji was named after the native people of the
islands, the Fijians (Güner, 2001; 43). The term
Fiji was officially used by James Cook first and
was accepted in time (Web-3).
5-Kiribati: It is a country of islands located
between Hawaii and Australia. It has islands on
the sides of both the Ecuador and the prime meridian. The island was discovered by English
Admiral John Byron in 1765. Captain Thomas
Gilbert reached the island in 1788 after he released the inmates in Australia. The islands were
started to be called Gilbert Islands in 1820s. The
name was changed to Kiribati after the island
obtained independence in 1979. The name originates form native dialect (Gilbertese) (Room,
2006; 197).
6-Micronesia: Micronesia is the group of islands in the north of Ecuador in the Western
Pacific. The name Micronesia was given to the
island in the beginning of 19th century. The
meaning of Micronesia originating from Greek
“mikros nesoi” is “small islands” (Room, 2006;
248). It is formed of smaller islands compared to
the Melanesia Islands. Micronesia gained independence from USA in 1991.
7-Marshall Islands: It is a group of islands
between Hawaii and Australia in the Western
Pacific. The islands were discovered in 1788 by
English Captain John Marshall and Thomas Gilbert (Room, 2006; 239). The name of the island
originates from the name of the English Captain
John Marshall who first set foot in the island in
1788 (Güner, 2001; 43). Marshall Islands gained
independence from USA in 1986.
8-Nauru: It is an island country in the southernmost part of Ecuador in Southwest Pacific.
The origin of the island’s name is unknown. The
island was called Pleasant Island since English
sailor John Frean was greeted warmly by the
natives when he set foot on the island in 1798
(Room, 2006; 263).
9-Palau: It is a country of islands in the
Western Pacific in the north of the Ecuador and
in the southeast of Philippines. The islands
gained independence in 1994. Islands form the
Sources of Names of Independent Countries in Oceania
1-Australia: The name of Australia originates
from Latin “terra australis incognita” which
means “unknown Southern country”. This name
was given to the continent because in the old
world maps, Australia and Antarctica was confused and mixed with each other. While the
western part of Australia has been known as
“New Holland” since the 17th century, the eastern
coastline was named as “New South Wales” by
James Cook (1770). When it was understood that
the two sections were really the parts of a whole,
the name “Australia” was started to be used”
(Güner, 2001; 42).
2-New Zealand: It is the country of islands in
the southwestern Pacific. It was discovered by
Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman in 1642
(Web-1). Thinking that he found a continent,
Tasman called the island “New Zealand” (Nieuw
Zeeland) by associating the name with his country Zeeland (which means the sea country)
(Güner, 2001; 42).
3-New Guinea and Papua New Guinea:
New Guinea Island is located in the north of
Australia in South Pacific. Spanish explorer I.
Ortiz de Retes called the island New Guinea
since he thought the people living there resembled the people living in Guinea. Papua New
Guinea named after the Papuans, the native nation, is situated in the east of New Guinea Island.
Since the natives have dense and curly hair, they
16
westernmost part of Caroline Islands (Web-4).
The origin of the islands’ name is unknown
10-Samoa: It is located in South Pacific
among the Polynesia Islands Group. It is the first
Polynesia nation who gained independence in
1962 while under the rule of New Zealand. It
was previously called Western Samoa. It is believed that the word Samoa originates from a
native word meaning “the place of Moa” or the
name of a native tribe chief (Room, 2006; 330).
11-Solomon Islands: Solomon Islands, the
country of islands in Southwest Pacific, are located in the north of Papua New Guinea and in
the south of Ecuador. Spanish explorer Alvaro de
Mendana de Neira was the first person to reach
Solomon Islands in 1568. According to the legend, Neira met the natives wearing golden jewels
when he reached the islands (Room, 2006; 353).
Neira, believing that the islands had substantial
natural wealth, named the islands Solomon, king
of the Jews famous with his wealth (Güner,
2001; 42). Solomon Islands gained independence
form the United Kingdom in 1978.
12-Tonga: They are the archipelagos ruled by
monarchy in the east of Fiji in Southwest Pacific.
The word “Tonga” means “island” in the native
language. The islands were discovered by the
Dutchmen in 1616. Since Captain Cook was
greeted pleasantly when he visited the islands in
1773, he used the term Friendly Islands. The
term Friendly Islands is still used in some
sources and some of the modern atlases as an
alternative name for Tonga (Room, 2006; 378).
13-Tuvalu: It is a county of islands located in
the Southwest Pacific. The previous name of the
islands was Gilbert and Ellice Islands. Spanish
explorer Mendana reached the islands in 1568
(Web-5). The islands were called Ellice when
Canadian cruise line owner Alexander Ellice
visited the islands in 1819. The name Tuvalu was
given to the island when the country gained independence in 1978. The country is composed of
9 archipelagos. The name Tuvalu is the combination of the native word “valu” (that means eight)
and native word “Tu” (to refer to the other island) (Room, 2006; 386).
14-Vanuatu: It is a country of islands located
in the west of Fiji in the Southwest Pacific. Captain Cook called the islands New Hebrides in
1744 by statişng that they resembled the Hebrides Islands in the northwest of Scotland (Web-6).
The island was called New Hebrides until 1980
when the country gained independence (Güner,
2001; 43, Room, 2006; 392). The current name
of the country originates from Bismala, one of
the official languages in the country and the root
“vanua” means “our land, our soil” (Room,
2006; 392).
Sources of Names of Dependent Islands in
Oceania
Many of the countries and islands were
named after the explorers who organized voyages to Oceania. There are dependent islands in
Oceania that were named after English and
Dutch explorers (Table 1). The independent
Marshall Island was named after European John
Marshall who first set foot on the island.
Explorers named some of the islands in Oceania (Table 2) after the shios that arrived at those
islands.
Individuals who organized expeditions named
some of the islands after statesmen, public organizations and ship owners (Table 3). By doing so,
they wanted to show commitment to the management and honor the individuals who provided
financial support for the expedition.
Table 1: Oceania Islands named after the explorers
Name of Island and Dependency
Furneaux Islands (Australia)
Cook Islands (New Zealand)
Stewart Island (New Zealand)
Schouten Islands (Papua New Guinea)
Rennell Island (Solomon Islands)
Tasmania (Australia)
Gambier Islands (French Polynesia-France)
Starbuck Island (Kiribati)
Wake Island (USA)
Wallis and Futuna* Island (France)
Pitcairn Island (United Kingdom)
Date of
Exploration
1773
1773
1809
1616
1793
1642
1797
1823
1796
1767
1767
Explorer and His Country
English Tobias Furneaux
English James Cook
English William Stewart
Dutch Willem Schouten
English James Rennell
Dutch Abel Janszoon Tasman
English James Gambier
English Vincent Starbuck
English William Wake
English Samuel Wallis
Scottish Robert Pitcairn
*The origion of the name Futuna is unknown
Some of the island names in Oceania were
given by the natives (Table 4). These names are
still used without any changes. Some of the island names in the Pacific Ocean come from the
17
names of the natives that live in those islands
(Güner, 2001; 23). For example, the name of
Papua New Guinea was inspired from the Papuans, the name of the Fiji islands take their name
form the Fijians. Some of the islands in Oceania
(Vanuatu, Guam, Tongatabu, Bora Bora) were
named by using different words used in the native languages. Samoa Islands were named after
a native tribe chief. The previous name of the Fiji
Islands was Cannibal Islands based on the existence of barbarous natives in the islands.
Table 2: Oceania Islands named after the exploration ships/vessels
Name of Island and Dependency
Bounty Islands (New Zealand)
Chatham* Islands (New Zealand)
Palmyra Island (USA)
Date of
Exploration
1788
1791
1802
Explorer and His Country
English Captain William Bligh
English William Robert Broughton
American Captain Sawle
*Name of the ship originates from the Chatnam Port of England (Room, 2006:85).
Table 3: Oceania Islands named after statesmen*
Name of Island and Dependency
Norfolk Islands (Australia)
Admiralty Islands (Papua
New Guinea)
Caroline Islands (Micronesia)
Marquesas Islands (French
Polynesia-France)
Date of
Exploration
1774
1616
Explorer and His Country
English James Cook
Dutch Willem Schouten
1686
-
1595
Spanish Alvaro de Mendana
de Neira
In the Name of/in ….’s honor
9. Norfolk Duke Edward Howard
Royal English Army which provided financial support for the exploration **
Spanish King Charles II
Spanish Governor Marguis Antonio de Mendoza who provided financial support for the
exploration
Northern Mariana Islands
1668
Austrian Queen Mariana
(USA)
Banks Islands (Vanuatu)
1793
English William Bligh
Bligh’s boss, Sir Joseph Banks
*Source: Compiled from Room, 2006
**The name was given by English marine Philip Carteret (Everett-Heath, 2000:5).
Table 4. Oceania Islands named by the native people*
Name of Island and Dependency
Guam (USA)
Tongatabu (Tonga)
Bora Bora Island (French Polynesia-France)
Niue (New Zealand)
*Source: Compiled from Room, 2006
Name of the
Native Tribe
Chamorro
Polynesian
Niue
Explorers named some of the islands in Oceania after their homelands or regions in their own
countries (Table 5). Resemblance of the discovered land to the homeland or colonial thoughts
played a role in this approach. This type of nam-
Words that They
Used
Guahan
Tabu
Bora Bora
Niue
Meaning of the
Word
We have
Holy Tonga
First born
-
ing was generally done by adding the word
“new” at the beginning of the specific locations
such as New Britain, New Ireland, New Caledonia, New Holland, New South Wales, New Zealand, New Guinea and New Hebrides.
Table 5: Islands in Oceania named after place names in Europe*
Name of Island and Dependency
New Britain (Papua New Guinea)
Date of
Exploration
1699
1616**
New Ireland (Papua New Guinea)
New Caledonia (France)
1774
1568
Guadalcanal Island (Solomon Islands)
Explorer and
His Country
English William
Dampier
English Philip
Carteret
(1767’de)
English James
Cook
Spanish Alvaro
de Mendana de
Neira
The reason of selecting the particular name
Similarity to Britannia
Proximity to New Britannia Island,
closeness and being smaller than the
New Britannia Island
Similarity to Caledonia in Scotland
which consists of high plateaus
The explorer named it after Guadalcanal settlement in Andalusia region
of Spain which was his homeland
*Source: Compiled from Güner, 2001 and Room, 2006
**Discovered by Dutchmen but was not named
The geographical characteristics (natural and
human) of the islands sometimes played a role in
naming some of the islands in Oceania. The
countries, archipelagos and islands that have the
18
word “island” in its body are Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, Tonga, Tuvalu, Tahiti and Tuamotu Islands. Coral Sea Islands are named after
the coral reefs and Pohnpei Island was named
after the existence of the rocky areas. Tokelau
Island where northern winds are dominant was
named Tokealu which meant northern wind in
the native language. The quiet island of the USA,
Saipan was called Saipan by using the native
language to emphasize the solitude. Some of the
islands were named after teh geographical characteristics that they have. Antipodes Islands were
named after the fact that it is opposite the
Greenwich. Sudest Island (which means southeast in French) located in the southeast of Papua
New Guinea were named sudest due to its location.
The direction that the islands lay in Oceania
was also a factor in island names. Line Islands
were called Line Islands since they lay along a
line in the north and south of the Ecuador. Animals, one of the bio-geographical elements, were
also used in island names. Islands that have an
abundance of kangaroos in the south of Australia
are called Kangaroo Islands.
The numbers of islands whose names are
based on legends are limited. Solomon Islands
can be given as an example for legend-based
naming. Spanish explorer Neira’s observations in
the island caused him to name the island after a
legendary character.
The responses of the natives to the explorers
during expeditions were also important in island
names. John Frean, Nauru’da and James Cook,
called the island Tonga as “Pleasant Island” and
“Friendly Islands” since they were greeted
warmly.
Table 6: Islands in Oceania named after their geographical characteristics*
Name of Island and Dependency
Coral Sea Islands (Australia)
Tokelau (New Zealand)
Antipodes (New Zealand)
Sudest (Papua New Guinea)
Pohnpei Island (Micronesia)
Saipan Island (USA)
Bikini Island (Marshall Islands)
Tahiti Island (French Polynesia-France)
Tuamotu Island (French Polynesia-France)
Kangaroo Island (Australia)
Line Islands (Kiribati)
Geographical Characteristics that inspired the name
Islands are formed of coral reefs
Tokelau, which means north winds in the native language was used
to name the islands where northern winds are strong (Pawley et.al.,
2007)
Since the island is opposite the prime meridian and is located in the
farthest point around the 180 east meridian, it was named “anti”
Since it is located in the southeast of Papua New Guinea, it was
named “Sudest” which means southeast in French
Pohnpei is dependent on the Karolin Islands of Micronesia and the
name of the island means rocky islands in the native language
“Saipan” means desolate or uninhabited
Name of the island comes from the word “Pikinni”, a combination of
native word “pik” that means “formation” and native word “ni” that
means coconut
The meaning of the name of the island is small island, originating
from the native word “otahiti”
Word “Tuamotu” means far islands in Tahiti language
The name was given to the island since a copious amount of kangaroos live in the south of Australia
The term Line was used since the islands lay along a line on the
north and south of Ecuador
*Source: Compiled from Room, 2006
or the natives of these islands. Many of the islands were named after the explorers, homelands
of the explorers and European statesmen. Place
names in the continent provide us with information about the geographical characteristics of
the countries and the islands.
Religious elements and economic sources
were not generally taken into account when naming the countries, archipelagos and islands in
Oceania.
Discussion
As we all know, the geographical explorations and discoveries after the 16th century made
it possible to discover and colonize Oceania by
the Europeans. Many country and island names
carry the traces of colonization period. Names of
the countries and islands in Oceania were generally given by the European explorers, colonists
References
1. Alagöz, C.A., (1984), Some Thoughts on
Placenames in Turkey, Turkish Placenames
Communiqué Symposium, 11-13 September,
Başbakanlık Basımevi, p.11-23, Ankara.
19
2. Appleton, R.; Appleton B., (1992), The
Cambridge Dictionary of Australian Places,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3. Everett Heath, J. (2000), Place Names of
the World, Oxford University Press Inc. New
York.
4. Güner, İ., (2001), “A Study on Country
Names” Turkish Geography Journal, Issue:37,
p.23-46, Istanbul.
5. Güner, İ.; Ertürk, M., (2006), Geography
of the Continents and the Countries, Nobel Yayın
Dağıtım, Nobel Yayın No:775, Social Sciences
Series:57.
6. Matthews, C.M., (1972), Place Names of
the English-speaking World, Charles Scribner’s
Sons, 1st Edition.
7. Mills, A.D., (2003), A Dictionary of
British Place-Names, Oxford University Press.
8. Özey, R., (2001), Geography of the
World and the Countries, Aktif Yayınevi.
9. Pawley, A.; Osmond, M.; Ross, M.,
(2007), The Lexicon of Proto Oceanic: The Culture and Environment of Ancestral Oceanic Society, ANU E Press, Australia.
10. Room, A., (2006), Placenames of the
World, Second Edition.
11. Watts V., (2004), The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press.
12. Web-1:
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/o
ceania/nz.htm 30 December 2012
13. Web-2:
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/o
ceania/fj.htm 30 December 2012
14. Web-3:
http://www.fiji.gov.fj/index.php?option=com_co
ntent&view=article&id=645&Itemid=196
1
January 2013
15. Web-4:
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/o
ceania/pw.htm 1 January 2013
16. Web-5:
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/o
ceania/tv.htm 2 January 2013
17. Web-6:
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/o
ceania/vu.htm 2 January 2013
Associate Prof. Dr. Alaattin Kızılçaoğlu
Balıkesir University
Necatibey Faculty of Education
Social Sciences Teaching Department
Balıkesir-Türkiye
[email protected]
20