Currently, people of European ancestry are active, as expatriates and residents throughout Oceania. Europeans arrived in Oceania starting with Spanish landings and shipwrecks in the Marianas Islands, east of the Philippines in the 16th century. Subsequently, rivalry between European nations, trade and Christian missions have driven contact, with Europeans settling Australia and New Zealand, both of which now have majority European descended populations. Easter Island, Hawaii, New Caledonia and French Polynesia also have large European populations.

European settlement in Australia and New Zealand

Main articles: European settlement of Australia and Immigration to New Zealand