Total Countries in Oceania: 14
There are 14 countries in Oceania today, according to United Nations official statistics. The full list is shown in the table below, with current population totals.
- The Cook Islands and Niue, both states in free association with New Zealand which are members of several UN specialized agencies and have been recognized “full treaty-making capacity”, but are neither member states nor non-member observer states.
- Dependencies (or dependent territories, dependent areas) or Areas of Special Sovereignty (autonomous territories)
The smallest continent in the world, called Australia and Oceania, is surrounded by the Indian, Southern and Pacific Oceans. It includes the entire Australian mainland, such big islands as New Zealand, Tasmania, New Guinea (only its eastern half), and many thousands of tiny, tropical islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia regions, scattered throughout the South Pacific.
There are 14 independent countries and 12 dependent overseas territories. The largest sovereign state is Australia, occupying about 86% of the region’s total area. The smallest independent country is Nauru, which is so tiny that you need less than an hour to drive around it.
The most visited tourist destinations in this part of the world are the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne, the famous beach resorts of the Gold Coast. The best natural attraction is the Great Barrier Reef, and popular island holiday destinations are Fiji and Bora Bora.
| # | Country | Population (2020) | Subregion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 25,499,884 | Australia and New Zealand |
| 2 | Papua New Guinea | 8,947,024 | Melanesia |
| 3 | New Zealand | 4,822,233 | Australia and New Zealand |
| 4 | Fiji | 896,445 | Melanesia |
| 5 | Solomon Islands | 686,884 | Melanesia |
| 6 | Vanuatu | 307,145 | Melanesia |
| 7 | Samoa | 198,414 | Polynesia |
| 8 | Kiribati | 119,449 | Micronesia |
| 9 | Micronesia | 115,023 | Micronesia |
| 10 | Tonga | 105,695 | Polynesia |
| 11 | Marshall Islands | 59,190 | Micronesia |
| 12 | Palau | 18,094 | Micronesia |
| 13 | Tuvalu | 11,792 | Polynesia |
| 14 | Nauru | 10,824 | Micronesia |
Dependencies or other territories
| # | Territory | Population (2020) | Dependency of |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Caledonia | 285,498 | France |
| 2 | French Polynesia | 280,908 | France |
| 3 | Guam | 168,775 | U.S.A. |
| 4 | Northern Mariana Islands | 57,559 | U.S.A. |
| 5 | American Samoa | 55,191 | U.S.A. |
| 6 | Cook Islands | 17,564 | (partly New Zealand) |
| 7 | Wallis & Futuna | 11,239 | France |
| 8 | Niue | 1,626 | (partly New Zealand) |
| 9 | Tokelau | 1,357 | New Zealand |
