Countries in Oceania

There are 14 sovereign countries in Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. This page lists 27 entries in total because it also includes 13 territories such as Guam, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands and Norfolk Island.

Nauru is the smallest by land area at 21 km², and Tuvalu is the smallest by population at roughly 9,600 people. Both are among the smallest countries in the world. The smallest entry of any kind on this page is Tokelau at 12 km², a New Zealand territory of three atolls with no airport.

Pitcairn Islands, with 47 residents — the smallest permanently inhabited jurisdiction in this entire dataset. Its population descends from the mutineers of HMS Bounty, who arrived in 1790. There is no airstrip, and the only regular access is a shipping service from French Polynesia that takes several days.

None. Every one of the 27 entries here has a coastline, and 26 of them have no land border at all. Papua New Guinea is the sole exception, sharing a long north-south border with Indonesia through the island of New Guinea. It is the only region on this site with zero landlocked entries.

Because Oceania is the standard geographic region that contains the Australian continent along with the Pacific island groups of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Australia is both a country and a continent, which is why it is often listed separately, but for regional statistics it sits inside Oceania. It accounts for about ninety per cent of the region's land area and 58% of its population.

Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands are the most exposed, because they are made almost entirely of coral atolls with average elevations of two to three metres. Tuvalu's highest natural point is under five metres above sea level. All three have become prominent voices at climate negotiations for the straightforward reason that the outcome determines whether their territory remains habitable.

This wheel is loaded only with countries from this region, so every spin lands inside it. The wheel on the main spin page carries all 250 countries and territories on the site. Use the regional wheel when you are studying one part of the world and the global one when you want a genuine surprise.

They come from the same dataset that powers every country guide on this site, built on public country data and the most recent published estimates for population and land area. Population figures in particular are estimates and move constantly, so treat them as accurate to within a percent or two rather than to the last person.

Because they are real places with flags, capitals and residents, and leaving them out would hide some of the most interesting entries on the map. Every guide states plainly whether a place is a sovereign state or a territory, and the sovereign count is given separately in the statistics above so you can use whichever number you need.

Yes, and it is worth citing the date you looked them up, because population estimates change. If your project needs one authoritative source, cross-check the headline numbers against the UN World Population Prospects or the country's own statistics office. The rankings here — largest, smallest, most populous — are stable and safe to quote.