<P> How the world evolved into the three states is vague . They appear to have emerged from nuclear warfare and civil dissolution over 20 years between 1945, the end of World War II, and 1965 . Eurasia was likely formed first, followed closely afterwards by Oceania, with Eastasia emerging a decade later, possibly in the 1960s . </P> <P> Oceania is the superstate in which protagonist Winston Smith dwells . It is believed to be composed of the Americas, the British Isles (called "Airstrip One" in the novel), Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, and Southern Africa below the River Congo . It also controls, to different degrees and at various times during the course of its perpetual war with either Eurasia or Eastasia, the polar regions, India, Indonesia, and the islands of the Pacific . Oceania lacks a single capital city, but London and apparently New York City may be regional capitals . In the novel, Emmanuel Goldstein, Oceania's declared public enemy number one, describes it in the fictional book The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism as a result of the United States having absorbed the British Empire . Goldstein's book also states that Oceania's primary natural defence is the sea surrounding it . </P> <P> The ruling doctrine of Oceania is Ingsoc, the Newspeak neologism for English Socialism . Its nominal leader is Big Brother, believed by the masses to have been the leader of the revolution and still used as an icon by the Party . The cult of personality is maintained through Big Brother's function as a focal point for love, fear, and reverence, more easily felt towards an individual than towards an organization . </P> <P> The unofficial language of Oceania is English (officially called Oldspeak), and the official language is Newspeak . The restructuring of the language is intended to eliminate unorthodox political and social thought by eliminating the words needed to express it . </P>

What type of government is oceania in 1984