Oceania

Oceania

Largest Countries:
Australia, Papua New Guinea
Number of Countries:
27
Land Area:
8.6M km² (5.77%)

Oceania is the smallest and least populous of Earth's continents, and is comprised of several islands in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Oceania comprises 5.77% of the world's land area, along with 0.57% of the world's current population. It also has the second-highest ranked growth rate today. The estimated population for Oceania is 47,118,951.

47,118,951
Total Population
5.48/km²
Density
0.57%
% of World Population
288K 0.61%
Annual Growth

Oceania Population by Country

< 1M
1M - 10M
10M - 50M
50M - 100M
100M - 300M
> 300M

23 countries

Country
Population
Density
Australia FlagAustralia27,227,1004
Papua New Guinea FlagPapua New Guinea10,947,80024
New Zealand FlagNew Zealand5,287,48020
Fiji FlagFiji937,28251
Solomon Islands FlagSolomon Islands858,28830
Vanuatu FlagVanuatu342,56428
New Caledonia FlagNew Caledonia297,89216
French Polynesia FlagFrench Polynesia283,07668
Samoa FlagSamoa220,52878
Guam FlagGuam170,185310
Kiribati FlagKiribati138,445171
Micronesia FlagMicronesia114,183163
Tonga FlagTonga103,291138
American Samoa FlagAmerican Samoa45,319228
Northern Mariana Islands FlagNorthern Mariana Islands42,91492
Marshall Islands FlagMarshall Islands35,075194
Palau FlagPalau17,61438
Cook Islands FlagCook Islands12,82653
Nauru FlagNauru12,101576
Wallis and Futuna FlagWallis and Futuna11,11341
Tuvalu FlagTuvalu9,362360
Tokelau FlagTokelau2,691224
Niue FlagNiue1,8227

Oceania Overview

Oceania, or Oceanica, is a continent that includes islands in the tropical Pacific Ocean. There is no precise definition of the exact range of the region, which may include at a minimum of three subregions of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia, or the entire region between the Americas and Asia, which includes Australasia and the Malay Archipelago. Many also use the term Oceania to refer to Australia and its nearby islands.

The wider Oceania has an estimated population of 38.82 million in 2014. The narrower definition that includes Micronesia, Island Melanesia, and Polynesia (not New Zealand) has a population estimated at 6 million in 2014. The total population of Oceania minus mainland Australia is about 18 million.

Largest Cities in Oceania

Using the most common definition of Oceania that excludes Indonesia and the Philippines, the top 4 largest cities in Oceania are all in Australia.

  • Sydney, Australia: 4.76 million. Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the largest city in Australia.
  • Melbourne, Australia: 4.35 million.
  • Brisbane, Australia: 2.24 million.
  • Perth, Australia: 1.97 million.
  • Auckland, New Zealand: 1.41 million. Auckland accounts for 32% of New Zealand’s total population.
  • Adelaide, Australia: 1.29 million.
  • Wellington, New Zealand: 397,000. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand.
  • Honolulu, Hawaii: 390,000.
  • Canberra, Australia: 381,000. Canberra is the capital of Australia.
  • Christchurch, New Zealand: 341,500.
  • Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: 365,000.

If Oceania is defined by its most broad borders, the largest city is Jakarta, Indonesia, which has a population of 9.8 million. It’s the most populous city in Southeast Asia and one of the largest urban agglomerations n the world with a metropolitan population of more than 28 million. The second-largest city is Manila, the Philippines with an urban population of more than 21 million.

Most Populous Countries in Oceania

Least Populous Countries in Oceania

Oceania's Population Growth

Oceania Population

Is Oceania a Continent?

Yes, Oceania is a continent. It is a comprised of several island territories located west of South America and south of Indonesia. There are four main sub-regions in Oceania.

Regions of Oceania

Australia and New Zealand

Some of the countries in this region include:

This area has a population size of 32.5M and covers about 8M square miles.

Melanesia

Some of the countries in this region include:

This area has a population size of 13.4M and covers about 540.8K square miles.

Micronesia

Some of the countries in this region include:

This area has a population size of 530.5K and covers about 3.2K square miles.

Polynesia

Some of the countries in this region include:

This area has a population size of 690K and covers about 84.2K square miles.

Sources

  1. World Population Prospects (2024 Revision) - United Nations population estimates and projections.

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