Welcome to The Pacific Centre

The Australian National University offers excellent resources and facilities for research in the Pacific Islands region. Since the foundation of the University, the area has been a major focus of interest, and the University has achieved international renown through its research and publications.

The Pacific Islands, scattered across a quarter of the earth's surface, are diverse. Pacific Islanders speak a quarter of the world's languages, were formerly administered by a half dozen imperial powers, and run the gamut from formal colonial dependencies through 'associated state' conditions to states with full political independence. Environmental diversity matches cultural and demographic variety: yet Island governments cherish a sense of common destiny, expressed in technical cooperation and political collaboration through several regional organisations including the University of the South Pacific, the South Pacific Forum, the Pacific Community, and the Forum Fisheries Agency.

Australia has been involved in island affairs for most of the past two hundred years, and remains a major power in a region of strategic significance and considerable political volatility. The formation of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at ANU expressed the need for accurate research, policy discussion, and technical services for the region. ANU has the world's largest and most diverse concentration of scholars with research commitment and practical experience relating to the Pacific Islands region.

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