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In the political sense, the term has little utility, as although Australia and New Zealand are both relatively wealthy, predominantly English-speaking countries and alike in many ways, they share little in common with the other nations in the area. The term is unpopular in New Zealand because it is seen to emphasise Australia; instead, the term Oceania is preferred, although this has a rather different meaning.
From a biological point of view, however, Australasia is a distinct region with a common evolutionary history and a great many unique plants and animals, some of them common to the entire area, others specific to particular parts but sharing a common ancestry.
The biological dividing line from Asia is the Wallace line, which represents the boundary between the two continental plates. Sulawesi and Lombok lie on the eastern, Australasian side of the line and Borneo and Bali lie on the western, Asian side.
In the past, Australasia has been used as a name for a combined Australia and New Zealand team. Examples include in 1905, when Australia and New Zealand combined its best tennisTennis is a racquet sport played between either two players ("singles") or two teams of two players ("doubles"). It is officially called lawn tennis to distinguish it from real tennis (also known as royal tennis or court tennis , an older form of the game players to compete in the Davis CupThe Davis Cup is the international team event in men's tennis. The largest annual team competition in sport, the Davis Cup is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from the competing countries in a knock-out international tournament, and at the Olympic GamesThe Summer Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event held every four years, organised by the International Olympic Committee. The Olympics are the most prestigious of such events in the world, featuring a larger range of sports than others. of 1908The Games of the IV Olympiad originally scheduled to be held in Rome, were instead held in 1908 in London, England. Games of the IV Olympiad Nations participating22 Athletes participating2,035 (1,999 men, 36 women) Events110 in 22 sports Opening ceremonie and 1912The Games of the V Olympiad were held in 1912 in Stockholm, Sweden. For the first time, competitors in the Games came from all five continents symbolized in the Olympic rings. A winter sports week for the 1912 Games featuring figure skating were rejected.