The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geological Pacific Ring of Fire.
The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geological Pacific Ring of Fire.
The term "Pacific Basin" includes both the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean, which are often ignored in Pacific Rim frameworks. [1] [2] The "Pacific Basin" has also been used to exclusively refer to the islands in the Pacific Ocean (sometimes including Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, the Philippines and other large landmasses), but not the mainland rims of Asia and the Americas, which are separately referred to as the Pacific Rim under this framework. [3] [4] The term "The Pacific" often takes on a similar meaning, with the mainland rims of Asia and the Americas being excluded, and other large landmasses sometimes being included depending on the context. [5] Some rare definitions of the Pacific Rim define it to exclude both the Asian and American mainlands and also the islands in the central Pacific. This defines the Pacific Rim as only including insular areas which are outside the main insular cultural zones of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, such as Australia, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Aleutian Islands and the Galápagos Islands. [6]
Various intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations focus on the Pacific Rim, including Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Association of Pacific Rim Universities, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the East-West Center, Sustainable Pacific Rim Cities, [7] the Pacific Basin Institute and the Institute of Asian Research. In addition, the RIMPAC naval exercises are coordinated by United States Pacific Command.
APEC and the CPTPP are the two largest economic-based Pacific Rim organizations, although in 2024, the CPTPP admitted the United Kingdom as its first non-Pacific Rim member, [8] with other non-Pacific Rim countries like Ukraine, Uruguay and the United Arab Emirates expressing interest in joining. [9] Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea are the only countries who are members of both APEC (an organization dedicated to large Pacific Rim countries) and the Pacific Islands Forum (an organization dedicated to smaller Pacific island countries). [10] [11] Australia and New Zealand are also CPTPP members.
In 1989, an Australian miniseries titled Man on the Rim: The Peopling of the Pacific debuted, focusing on the human origins of the Pacific Rim, including the islands. The series also had a book counterpart released, and was hosted by doctor Alan Thorne from the National University of Australia. [12] [13] In 1997, a British miniseries titled Full Circle premiered, hosted by Michael Palin. For the series, Palin traveled across many of the countries on the Pacific Rim, visiting Australia, Bolivia (which is landlocked but used to have Pacific access), Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, the United States and Vietnam. Palin also visited some of the outlying islands of these countries, including Chile's Juan Fernández Islands, and Kodiak Island and Little Diomede Island, which are part of the U.S. state of Alaska. Little Diomede Island was chosen as a location due to being the northernmost point of the Pacific Basin, as it is situated on the Bering Strait connecting Pacific waters to Arctic waters. [14]
This is a list of countries that are generally considered to be a part of the Pacific Rim or Pacific Basin, since they lie along the Pacific Ocean. [15] Arranging from north to south, west to east in directional order.
The Pacific has much international shipping. The top 10 busiest container ports, with the exception of Dubai's Port of Jebel Ali (9th), are in the Rim nations. They are home to 29 of the world's 50 busiest container shipping ports:
|
|
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)