Pacific Rim - Wikipedia

Land area comprising the rim of the Pacific Ocean For Pacific earthquake and volcanic activity, see Ring of Fire. For the film, see Pacific Rim (film). For other uses, see Pacific Rim (disambiguation).

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.

Definition and organizations

[edit]

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]

A national park in Canada's Vancouver Island was named after the Pacific Rim, while in mainland Vancouver, there is a hotel named Fairmont Pacific Rim.[7] Whidbey Island in the U.S. state of Washington also has an organization named the Pacific Rim Institute for Environmental Studies.[8] 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,[9] the Pacific Basin Institute and the Institute of Asian Research. In addition, the RIMPAC naval exercises are coordinated by United States Pacific Command. Japan's Okinawa Pan-Pacific International Film Festival is a film festival exclusively dedicated to films from the 46 countries in the Pacific Rim/Basin.[10][11]

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,[12] with other non-Pacific Rim countries like Ukraine, Uruguay and the United Arab Emirates expressing interest in joining.[13] 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).[14][15] Australia and New Zealand are also CPTPP members.

In media

[edit]

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.[16][17] 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.[18]

List of countries on the Pacific Rim

[edit]

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.[19] Arranging from north to south, west to east in directional order.

East Asia Russian Federation[20]  Japan  North Korea  South Korea  China  Hong Kong  Macau  Taiwan Southeast Asia  Vietnam  Cambodia  Thailand  Malaysia  Singapore  Brunei  Indonesia  Philippines  Timor-Leste

Oceania (Sovereign states)  Australia  Palau  Federated States of Micronesia  Papua New Guinea  Solomon Islands  Nauru  Marshall Islands  Vanuatu  New Zealand  Tuvalu  Fiji  Kiribati  Tonga  Samoa  Niue  Cook Islands

Oceania (Dependent territories) External territory of Australia  Norfolk Island Realm of New Zealand  Tokelau French overseas collectivities  New Caledonia Wallis and Futuna  French Polynesia British Overseas Territory  Pitcairn Islands United States insular areas  Northern Mariana Islands  Guam  American Samoa United States Hawaii Insular Chile Easter Island

North America  Canada  United States  Mexico Central America  Guatemala  El Salvador  Honduras  Nicaragua  Costa Rica  Panama South America  Colombia  Ecuador  Peru  Chile

Commerce

[edit]

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:

South Korea Busan (5th) Japan Yokohama (36th) Tokyo (25th) Nagoya (47th) Kobe (49th) Taiwan Kaohsiung (12th) Hong Kong Hong Kong (3rd)

China Shanghai (1st) Shenzhen (4th) Ningbo (6th) Guangzhou (7th) Qingdao (8th) Tianjin (10th) Xiamen (19th) Dalian (21st) Lianyungang (30th) Yingkou (34th)

Philippines Manila (37th) Vietnam Saigon (28th) Thailand Laem Chabang (22nd) Malaysia Port Klang (13th) Tanjung Pelepas (16th) Singapore Singapore (2nd)

Indonesia Jakarta (24th) Surabaya (38th) Canada Vancouver (50th) United States Los Angeles (17th) Long Beach (18th) Seattle/Tacoma (48th) Panama Balboa (43rd)

See also

[edit]

• Pacific Asia, the Asian portion of the Pacific Rim
• Pacific Century
• Pacific coast

Bibliography

[edit]

• Clausen, A. W. The Pacific Asian Countries: A Force For Growth in the Global Economy. Los Angeles: World Affairs Council, 1984. ED 244 852.
• Cleveland, Harlan. The Future of the Pacific Basin: A Keynote Address. New Zealand: Conference on New Zealand's Prospects in the Pacific Region, 1983.
• Gibney, Frank B., Ed. Whole Pacific Catalog. Los Angeles, CA: 1981.
• "The Pacific Basin Alliances, Trade and Bases." GREAT DECISIONS 1987. New York: Foreign Policy Association, 1987. ED 283 743.
• Palin, Michael (1997). Full Circle. BBC Books. ISBN 0-563-37121-8.. A travelogue of a complete journey around the Pacific Rim accompanying the 1997 TV series Full Circle with Michael Palin.
• Rogers, Theodore S., and Robert L. Snakenber. "Language Studies in the Schools: A Pacific Prospect." EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVES 21 (1982): 12–15.
• Wedemeyer, Dan J., and Anthony J. Pennings, Eds. Telecommunications—Asia, Americas, Pacific: PTC 86. "Evolution of the Digital Pacific." Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Pacific Telecommunications Council: Honolulu, Hawaii, 1986. ED 272 147.
• West, Philip, and Thomas Jackson. The Pacific Rim and the Bottom Line. Bloomington, Indiana, 1987.

References

[edit]

1. ^ https://www.jstor.org/stable/4229709?casa_token=peDseQhX5ZsAAAAA:39DTf2rx1GyfcvZ8NE02sNPousIbuRONGxuqu4f_dLhO0vFM3sBQy5AWsxl7kqegWQ0q5RcVZrIINIT_XFOjjbOXo9xjNURF9CX_IjbVBvvSoa69AW0LpQ
2. ^ Wojtan, Linda S. (December 1987). "Teaching about the Pacific Rim. ERIC Digest No. 43". ERIC. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
3. ^ Renshaw, Jean R. (September 5, 1986). "Women in Management in the Pacific Islands: Exploring Pacific Stereotypes". International Studies of Management & Organization. 16 (3–4): 152–173. doi:10.1080/00208825.1986.11656438 – via CrossRef.
4. ^ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Philip-Hughes-4/publication/288737452_Implications_of_expected_climate_changes_in_the_South_Pacific_region_an_overview/links/5eae4d30a6fdcc7050a49a56/Implications-of-expected-climate-changes-in-the-South-Pacific-region-an-overview.pdf#page=23
5. ^ "Validate User".
6. ^ Huq, A. M. A. (1995). World Librarianship: Its International and Comparative Dimension : an Annotated Bibliography, 1976-1992. Bangladesh: Academic Publishers.
7. ^ https://www.fairmont.com/en/hotels/vancouver/fairmont-pacific-rim.html
8. ^ "Firm hired to do appraisal of Greenbank Farm for conservation easement". October 12, 2012.
9. ^ "Sustainable Pacific Rim Cities". www.sustainablepacific.org. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
10. ^ Sanders, Jason (March 31, 2025). "The Tides that Bind: Cinema At Sea Okinawa Pan-Pacific International Film Festival 2025". Filmmaker Magazine.
11. ^ "Cinema at Sea - Okinawa Pan-Pacific International Film Festival". FilmFreeway.
12. ^ Webb, Dominic. "The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)" – via commonslibrary.parliament.uk. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
13. ^ "Explainer | The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership: Past, present, future". www.ussc.edu.au.
14. ^ "The Pacific Islands Forum | Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat". forumsec.org.
15. ^ "About APEC". APEC.
16. ^ "Man On The Rim (1988) - The Screen Guide - Screen Australia". www.screenaustralia.gov.au.
17. ^ "Making sure you're not a bot!".
18. ^ Goodman, Walter (September 15, 1997). "TELEVISION REVIEW ; Have Concept, Will Travel: Palin Packs His Bags Again" – via NYTimes.com.
19. ^ "Countries of the Pacific Rim". About.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
20. ^ Only the Russian Far East, which is partly located on the Pacific Rim

Sources

[edit]

• Phillips, Douglas A. and Steven C. Levi. The Pacific Rim Region: Emerging Giant. Hillside, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1988. ISBN 0-89490-191-5

v t e Earth's primary regions and subregions
Worlds	Down Under New World Old World Three/Four Worlds First World Second World Third World Fourth World
Hemispheres	Eastern Hemisphere Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere Western Hemisphere Land and water hemispheres
Landmasses	Africa-Eurasia Eurasia America Antarctica Australia Zealandia submerged
Continents	Africa North Maghreb Sub-Saharan Central East Horn Great Lakes Southern West Antarctica East Antarctica Antarctic Plateau Transantarctic Mountains West Antarctica Antarctic Peninsula Asia East Northeast Southeast Mainland Maritime Central Aral Sea Aralkum Desert Caspian Sea North Siberia Ural Russian Far East Northeast South Indian subcontinent Subregions West Arabian Peninsula Caucasus South Caucasus Levant Dead Sea Levantine corridor Levantine Sea Near East Otherregions Himalayan Himalayan states Indian region Inner Asia Greater Central Asia Europe Eastern Balkans Caucasus North Caucasus South Caucasus Southern Russia European Russia Southeastern Northern Baltic British Isles Nordic Northwestern Scandinavia Scandinavian Peninsula Southern Mediterranean Middle East Italy Italian Peninsula South-eastern Balkan Peninsula South-western Iberian Peninsula Western Atlantic Low Countries Northwestern Otherregions Central Europe By language Celtic Germanic Romance Slavic Macaronesia NorthAmerica NorthernAmerica Californias Greenland Great Lakes Pacific Northwest Western North America United States Appalachia Bible Belt Eastern East Coast Northern Southeast Southwest U.S. Censusregions South South Atlantic West South Central East South Central Northeast Middle Atlantic New England West Pacific Mountain Midwest East North Central West North Central Canada Atlantic Canadian Prairies Central Eastern Northern Western MiddleAmerica Aridoamerica Northern Mexico Mesoamerica Bajío Huasteca Tierra Caliente Valley of Mexico Caribbean Greater Dutch Western West Indies CentralAmerica Northern Triangle Mosquito Coast Oceania Australasia Australia Mainland Australia New Guinea Tasmania Zealandia Melanesia Island Melanesia Micronesia Near Oceania Polynesia Remote Oceania SouthAmerica Amazon Plain Amazon Basin Amazon Rainforest Andean States Brazilian Highlands Caribbean South America Colombian Venezuelan The Guianas Southern Cone Patagonia Tierra del Fuego
Geopoliticalregions	Global East Heartland North Northeast Northwest South Southeast Southwest West Asia-Pacific Far East Pacific Asia Sinosphere Greater China Indosphere Greater India Europe,the Middle Eastand Africa Mediterranean GreaterMiddle East Middle East and North Africa Middle East Arab world Mashriq Maghreb Greater Iran Iranian Plateau Americas Anglo Dutch French Latin Americaand the Caribbean Latin Ibero Hispanic Portuguese
Islands	By continent Africa Americas North America Caribbean Central America South America Antarctica Asia Europe by area by population Oceania Australia New Zealand By ocean Arctic Atlantic Baltic Sea Black Sea Caribbean Sea Irish Sea Mediterranean Sea Adriatic Sea Aegean Sea Ionian Sea Indian Persian Gulf Pacific East China Sea South China Sea Southern
Oceans	Antarctic/Southern Antarctic Convergence Arctic Atlantic Indian Pacific Great Barrier Reef Mariana Trench Challenger Deep Ring of Fire World Ocean
Otherwaterbodies	Lakes lists Rivers Seas
Rim	Arctic Atlantic Indo-Mediterranean Indian Ocean Mediterranean Pacific
Polar	Antarctic Arctic
Tectonicplates	African Plate Antarctic Plate Arabian Plate Caribbean Plate Cocos Plate Eurasian Plate Indo-Australian Plate Australian Plate Indian Plate Juan de Fuca Plate Nazca Plate North American Plate Pacific Plate Philippine Sea Plate Scotia Plate Somali Plate South American Plate
Continents of Earth / List of seas / Physical Earth