Where We Are

Oceania is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of 8,525,989 square kilometres (3,291,903 sq mi) and a population of around 44.4 million as of 2022. Oceania is the smallest in land area and the second least populated after Antarctica. The first settlers of Australia, New Guinea, and the large islands just to the east arrived more than 60,000 years ago. Oceania was first explored by Europeans from the 16th century onward. Most Oceanian countries are multi-party representative parliamentary democracies.

Regional Population: 44.4 million or less than 0.6% of global total.

Geographic area: 8,525,989 sq km or the 7th largest continental region on the globe.

Independent nations: 14 independent United Nation member sovereignties plus 22 dependent territories (does not possess full sovereignty as a sovereign state, yet remains politically outside the controlling state’s integral area)

Languages spoken: A controversial and unclear set of definitions exist on languages in Oceania. It is estimated that more than 1,000 languages are spoken in Oceania. Melanesian Pidgin, Hawaiian, Polynesian languages, Tahitian, Māori, are all languages spoken throughout island nations in the South Pacific Ocean. Some 150 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages exist in Australia There are two major language groups in the Pacific islands, Papuan with about 750 languages, spoken on some of the East Indonesian islands, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.

Language reflects many aspects of a community and is a significant cultural indicator. The number of living languages is a pointer to the cultural diversity of a community and the dominant language a further pointer to the history of cultural dominance or dispossession. This is important information for a conflict resolution body given that the root of enduring disputes in these regions can be traced to cultural appropriation or dispossession.

Micronesia

Micronesia, which lies north of the equator and west of the International Date Line, includes the Mariana Islands in the northwest, the Caroline Islands in the center, the Marshall Islands to the west and the islands of Kiribati in the southeast.

Federated States of Micronesia
Guam (United states)
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Nauru
Northern Mariana Islands (United States)
Palau

Melanesia

Melanesia, to the southwest, includes Papua New Guinea, the world’s second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the Pacific islands. The other main Melanesian groups from north to south are the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia.

Fiji
New Caledonia (France)
Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands
Vanuatu

Polynesia

Polynesia, stretching from Hawaii in the north to New Zealand in the south, also encompasses Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoa, Tonga, and to the west the Cook Islands, Society Islands and Easter Island to the east.

American Samoa (United States)
Cook Islands (New Zealand)
Easter Island (Chile)
French Polynesia (France)
Hawaii (United States)
Niue (New Zealand)
Pitcairn Islands (United Kingdom)
Samoa
Tokelau (New Zealand)
Tonga
Tuvalu
Wallis and Futuna (France)

Australasia

Australasia comprises Australia, New Zealand, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. Along with India most of Australasia lies on the Indo-Australian Plate with the latter occupying the Southern area. It is flanked by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Southern Ocean to the south.