List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Oceania
This is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in the geographical region of Oceania. Although it is mostly ocean and spans many tectonic plates, Oceania is occasionally listed as one of the continents.
Most of this list follows the boundaries of geopolitical Oceania, which includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. The main continental landmass of Oceania is Australia.
Boundaries of Oceania
The boundary between Southeast Asia and Oceania is not clearly defined. For political reasons, the United Nations considers the boundary between the two regions to be the Indonesian–Papua New Guinean border. Papua New Guinea is occasionally considered Asian as it neighbours Indonesia, but this is rare, and it is generally accepted to be part of Oceania. Geologically, the six Indonesian provinces in Western New Guinea and Aru Islands in Maluku Province are parts of the Australian continental shelf. Biogeographically, the Wallace line separates Asia from Wallacea, a transitional zone, while the Lydekker line separates it from Australia. Weber Line is the midpoint, at which Asian and Australian fauna and flora are approximately equally represented.Likewise, there is also no clearly defined boundary between Latin America and Oceania; the mostly uninhabited oceanic Pacific islands near Latin America have been considered by some as part of Oceania, both historically and in present-day times. Nearly all of these islands have become politically associated with the Americas, but none lie on the respective tectonic plates of those continents, nor were any inhabited by Indigenous peoples of the Americas during the pre-Columbian era. Some share strong biogeographical affinities to geopolitical Oceania. The Malay Archipelago has historically been associated with Oceania, however, very few present-day definitions include it as part of Oceania. The Malay Archipelago lies on the continental shelf of Asia; Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands lie on the Australian tectonic plate, and are not politically associated with Asia. The Bonin Islands, which have been politically integrated into Japan, are not geologically associated with the Asian continent, and are biogeographically within Micronesia.
Sovereign states
United Nations member states
This section includes all sovereign states located predominantly in Oceania that are member states of the United Nations. All 14 states are full members of the Pacific Islands Forum.| Flag | Coat of Arms / National Emblem | Map | English short, formal names, and ISO | Domestic short and formal name | Capital | Population | Area |
| Australia Commonwealth of Australia AUS | Canberra | ||||||
| Fiji Republic of Fiji FJI | Fiji Hindi फीजी/Fiji - रिपब्लिक ऑफ फीजी/ Ripablik ăph Phījī | Suva | |||||
| Kiribati Republic of Kiribati KIR | South Tarawa ----Bairiki | ||||||
| Marshall Islands Republic of the Marshall Islands MHL | Majuro | ||||||
| Federated States of Micronesia FSM | Palikir | ||||||
| Nauru Republic of Nauru NRU | No official Capital ----Government offices are in Yaren | 10,834 | |||||
| New Zealand NZL | Wellington | ||||||
| Palau Republic of Palau PLW | Ngerulmud | ||||||
| Papua New Guinea Independent State of Papua New Guinea PNG | Port Moresby | ||||||
| Samoa Independent State of Samoa WSM | Apia | ||||||
| Solomon Islands SLB | Honiara | ||||||
| Tonga Kingdom of Tonga TON | Nukuʻalofa | ||||||
| Tuvalu TUV | Funafuti | ||||||
| Vanuatu Republic of Vanuatu VUT | Port Vila |
Associated states
Two states, the Cook Islands and Niue, are in free association with New Zealand. While maintaining a political status of the [Cook Islands and Niue|close constitutional and political relationship] with New Zealand, both states have full treaty-making capacity and are members of several United Nations specialized agencies. Both independently engage in diplomatic relations with sovereign states under their own name, and are full members of the Pacific Islands Forum. Because of these features, both act in many ways as fully independent states.| Flag | Coat of Arms / National Emblem | Map | English short and formal names | Status | Domestic short and formal names | Capital | Population | Area |
| Cook Islands | Self-governing in free association with New Zealand. It shares a head of state with New Zealand as well as having shared citizenship, but is independent in its internal affairs. | Avarua | 11,124 | |||||
| Niue | Self-governing in free association with New Zealand. It shares a head of state with New Zealand as well as having shared citizenship, but is independent in its internal affairs. | Alofi | 1,311 |
Non-sovereign territories
The following are entities considered to be within Oceania that fall into one of these categories:1. Federal territories of sovereign states located outside these states' mainland.
2. Territories that constitute integral parts of sovereign states in some form other than as federal territories, where a significant part of the sovereign state's landmass is located outside Oceania or the territory is located outside the sovereign state's mainland. Many of these territories are often described as dependencies or autonomous areas by country|autonomous areas].
3. Dependent territories of sovereign states.
Two of these territories are associate members of the Pacific Islands Forum, while five others hold observer status within the organization.
Oceania-related
- List of Oceanian [countries by GDP (PPP)]
- List of Oceanian countries by population
- List of predecessors of sovereign states in Oceania
- List of sovereign states in Asia and Oceania by [Human Development Index]
Island countries
- List of Caribbean island countries by population
- List of island countries
- dependent territories in the Indian Ocean">dependent territory">dependent territories in the Indian Ocean
- List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Eurasia