Pacific Rim

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

The term "Pacific Basin" includes both the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean, which are often ignored in Pacific Rim frameworks. 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. 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. 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.