Oceania Countries List: All 14 Countries, Capitals & Population

Oceania is made up of 14 independent countries spread across the Pacific Ocean, ranging from Australia a continent-sized nation of roughly 27 million people down to Pacific microstates with populations under 15,000. Below is the complete list, organized by subregion, with capitals and population figures for quick reference.

Complete List of Oceania Countries

Country	Capital	Subregion	Approx. Population
Australia	Canberra	Australasia	27 million
Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	Melanesia	10.3 million
New Zealand	Wellington	Australasia	5.2 million
Fiji	Suva	Melanesia	940,000
Solomon Islands	Honiara	Melanesia	740,000
Vanuatu	Port Vila	Melanesia	335,000
Samoa	Apia	Polynesia	226,000
Kiribati	South Tarawa	Micronesia	134,000
Micronesia (Federated States of)	Palikir	Micronesia	115,000
Tonga	Nuku’alofa	Polynesia	108,000
Marshall Islands	Majuro	Micronesia	42,000
Palau	Ngerulmud	Micronesia	18,000
Nauru	Yaren (de facto)	Micronesia	13,000
Tuvalu	Funafuti	Polynesia	11,000

Population figures are approximate and rounded for readability see Worldometer’s Oceania data for current, precise figures. For active practice rather than a static list, try the random Oceania country generator, or test yourself with our Oceania countries quiz.

Oceania’s Four Subregions

The 14 countries above split into four subregions, and knowing which group a country belongs to makes the list easier to hold in memory:

• Australasia (2 countries): Australia, New Zealand
• Melanesia (4 countries): Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
• Micronesia (5 countries): Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau
• Polynesia (3 countries): Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu

A useful pattern to notice: Melanesia and Micronesia together account for 9 of the 14 countries, while Polynesia despite covering an enormous stretch of ocean has only 3 independent nations. Most of the Polynesian islands you might expect to see on this list, like French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, are territories or associated states rather than fully independent countries, which is why they don’t appear here. For a deeper look at how the total of 14 is calculated and why some sources cite different numbers see how many countries are in Oceania.

Which Oceania Countries Are Island Nations?

All 14 are island nations in the sense that none of them share a land border with a country outside the region — but there’s a distinction worth knowing. Papua New Guinea shares a land border with Indonesia (part of Asia) on the island of New Guinea, making it the only Oceania country with a land border to another continent. Every other country in the region is fully surrounded by ocean, whether it’s a single island (like Nauru) or a scattered group of islands (like Kiribati, which spans 33 atolls across three island groups).

A Note on Population Scale

The population gap across this list is worth sitting with for a moment: Australia alone accounts for well over half of Oceania’s total population, while the eight smallest countries on this list from Marshall Islands down to Tuvalu have a combined population smaller than a single mid-sized city elsewhere in the world. That scale difference is part of why these smaller nations tend to be underrepresented in general geography education, and why they’re worth deliberate practice rather than passive exposure.

Frequently Asked Questions