Oceania's countries are Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and eleven island nations: Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
The island groups are often taught as Melanesia (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji), Micronesia (Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Kiribati) and Polynesia (Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, New Zealand).
On this map the Pacific is centered rather than split at the edges, so the island nations sit together instead of being cut in half. Many of them are made of dozens or hundreds of islands spread over thousands of kilometers, so their dots mark the main island group, not every island.
Placing the Pacific islands
- Papua New Guinea shares the island of New Guinea with Indonesia; it's the eastern half.
- Nauru and Tuvalu are among the smallest countries on Earth; look for their dots.
- Kiribati's islands spread across the equator and over a vast area of ocean.
The 14 countries in this quiz
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
| Australia | Canberra |
| Fiji | Suva |
| Kiribati | South Tarawa |
| Marshall Islands | Majuro |
| Micronesia | Palikir |
| Nauru | Yaren |
| New Zealand | Wellington |
| Palau | Ngerulmud |
| Papua New Guinea | Port Moresby |
| Samoa | Apia |
| Solomon Islands | Honiara |
| Tonga | Nuku'alofa |
| Tuvalu | Funafuti |
| Vanuatu | Port Vila |
Questions people ask
Is Australia a continent or a country?
Both. Australia is a country, and the Australian continent includes it along with nearby land on the same continental shelf, such as New Guinea.
What is the smallest country in Oceania?
Nauru, by area.