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Countries in Oceania

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Countries in Oceania

The continent Oceania includes 14 countries located in the South Pacific areas of Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Despite being the world's smallest continent (excluding Antarctica) in terms of both area and population, Oceania still covers some 3,291,903 square miles and is home to more than 40 million inhabitants. Australia alone is a huge country—the sixth largest in the world (and technically the world's largest island), covering five time zones and an area of 7.7 million km² (3 million mi²).

Sources disagree upon the precise boundaries of Oceania. The broadest definitions consider everything between mainland Asia and the Americas to be part of Oceania, including Japan and the Aleutian Islands. By comparison, the narrowest definitions consider even Australia to be a separate continent and include only the islands of the South Pacific. The most widely accepted definition places the countries of not only Japan but also Indonesia, Taiwan, and the Philippines in Asia (for both cultural and geographical regions), and collects the remaining fourteen countries of the South Pacific region as Oceania.

Countries of Oceania

CountryPopulation 2022Total Area (km²)Total Area (mi²)
Australia26,297,8467,692,0242,969,907
Fiji932,66818,2727,055
Kiribati132,683811313
Marshall Islands41,56918170
Micronesia114,164702271
Nauru12,668218.1
New Zealand5,205,602270,467104,428
Palau18,055459177
Papua New Guinea10,229,679462,840178,700
Samoa223,8332,8421,097
Solomon Islands731,52828,89611,157
Tonga106,858747288
Tuvalu11,3122610
Vanuatu329,64212,1894,706

The countries of Oceania display a wide variety of life expectancies, economic standings, financial markets, overall quality of life, and scores on the Human Development Index released by the United Nations. The most developed nations in Oceania are inarguably Australia and New Zealand, which the World Bank ranks as high-income countries. In contrast, countries such as Tuvalu and Kiribati are considered middle-income countries that have much further to go in terms of sustaining a healthy economy and population.

The three most populous countries of Oceania are Australia (24.7 million), Papua New Guinea (8.4 million), and New Zealand (4.7 million). Population numbers drop quite dramatically after these three countries, as most of the remaining countries are small islands and archipelagos. Fiji and the Solomon Islands are relatively well-known and have fairly substantial populations of 912,241 and 623,281, respectively, but other island nations, such as New Caledonia (279,821), Tonga (109,008) and Palau (21,964), are much smaller in scale. The smallest islands in Oceania are Niue, which lies around 2400 km northeast of New Zealand, and Tokelau, a remote group of atolls located between Hawaii and New Zealand, with a tiny population of just 1,319.

Oceania also includes a number of territories which are not recognized as full countries by the United Nations.

Territories of Oceania

TerritoryParent CountryPopulation 2022Total Area (km²)Total Area (mi²)
American SamoaUnited States45,44319977
Cook IslandsNew Zealand17,60323691
French PolynesiaFrance284,8764,1671,609
GuamUnited States172,396549212
New CaledoniaFrance292,19818,5757,172
NiueNew Zealand1,653260100
Norfolk IslandsAustralia1,74834.613.4
Northern Mariana IslandsUnited States58,398464179
Pitcairn IslandsUnited Kingdom474718
TokelauNew Zealand1,398124.6
Wallis and FutunaFrance10,75914255

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Country
Status
Parent Country
Area (km²)
Area (mi²)
American SamoaTerritoryUnited States19977
Cook IslandsTerritoryNew Zealand24093
French PolynesiaTerritoryFrance4.2K1.6K
GuamTerritoryUnited States549212
New CaledoniaTerritoryFrance18.6K7.2K
NiueTerritoryNew Zealand261101
Northern Mariana IslandsTerritoryUnited States464179
TokelauTerritoryNew Zealand125
Wallis and FutunaTerritoryFrance274106
showing: 9 rows

How many countries are in Oceania?

There are 12 countries that make up the Oceania area, which includes all the countries and territories surrounding Australia.

Frequently Asked Questions

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