Europeans explore Oceania -- in this context, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and other Pacific island nations -- from the 16th century onwards, when the Spanish, with the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, achieve the circumnavigation of the world for the first time, discovering the Marianas and other islands of Oceania.

Abel Tasman's voyages in the 1640s visits northwestern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Tonga and the Fijian islands.

James Cook explores the Pacific islands and the east coast of Australia in the 18th century.In 1789, the Mutiny on the Bounty against William Bligh leads to several of the mutineers escaping the Royal Navy and settling on Pitcairn Islands, which later become a British colony.The British follow with colonies in Australia in 1788, New Zealand in 1840 and Fiji in 1872, with much of Oceania becoming part of the British Empire.

Other European powers also control parts of Oceania, with French New Caledonia from 1853 and French Polynesia from 1889, while the Germans establish colonies in New Guinea in 1884, and Samoa in 1900.

The United States also expands into the Pacific, beginning with Baker Island and Howland Island in 1857, and with Hawaii becoming a U.S. territory from 1898.

Disagreements between the US, Germany and UK over Samoa lead to the Tripartite Convention of 1899.

Among the last islands to be colonized are Tonga and Niue (1900) and Manu'a (1904).During the First World War the German colonies in the Pacific are taken over by Allied powers.