Oceania

Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

 is a region

Region

Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...

 centered on the island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

s of the tropical Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania vary, with it being defined in various ways, often geopolitically

Geopolitics

Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....

 or geographically

Geography

Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

. In the geopolitical conception used by the United Nations, International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

, and many atlases, the Oceanic region includes Australia and the nations of the Pacific from Papua New Guinea east, but not the Malay Archipelago or Indonesian New Guinea.. The term is sometimes used more specifically to denote Australasia as a geographic continent

Continent

A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...

,
or biogeographically as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone (Wallacea

Wallacea

Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and...

 and Australasia

Australasia

Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...

) or the Pacific ecozone (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart either from New Zealand or from mainland New Guinea).

Although Christmas Island

Christmas Island

The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....

 and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

The Territory of the Cocos Islands, also called Cocos Islands and Keeling Islands, is a territory of Australia, located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Christmas Island and approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka....

 belong to the Commonwealth of Australia and are inhabited, they are nearer Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 than the Australian mainland, and are commonly associated with Asia instead of Oceania.

Demographics by territory

The demographic table below shows all inhabited states and territories of Oceania. The information in this chart comes from the CIA World Factbook or the United States Department of State

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

, unless noted otherwise or not available (NA); where sources differ, references are included.

Pos	Country	Population (July 2010 estimate)	Area (km2)	Population density (/km2)	Urban population	Life expectancy	Literacy Rate	Official language(s)	Top religion(s)	Ethnic groups
1		21,262,641	7,682,300	2.768	89%	81.63	99%	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...  78.5%	Christian Christian A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...  64.6%, none 18.7%	White White people White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...  92%, Asian Asian people Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...  7%, Aborigine Australian Aborigines Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...  and other <1%
2		5,940,775	462,840	12.835	12%	65.75	57.3%	Tok Pisin Tok Pisin Tok Pisin is a creole spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an official language of Papua New Guinea and the most widely used language in that country...  75%, English 1–2%, Hiri Motu <2%	Christian 96%	New Guinea Papuan 84%, New Guinea Melanesian 15%, other 1%
3		4,213,418	270,534	15.574	87%	80.36	99%	English 91.2%, Maori Maori language Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...  3.9%	Christian 55.6%, None 34.7%	Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... an 56.8%, Asian 8%, Maori 7.4%, Pacific Islander Pacific Islander Pacific Islander , is a geographic term to describe the indigenous inhabitants of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania: Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, these three regions, together with their islands consist of:Polynesia:...  4.6%, mixed 9.7%, other 13.5%
4		944,720	18,274	51.697	18%	70.73	93.7%	English, Fijian Fijian language Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken in Fiji. It has 450,000 first-language speakers, which is less than half the population of Fiji, but another 200,000 speak it as a second language... , Hindi Hindi Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...	Christian 64.5%, Hindu Hindu Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...  27.9%, Muslim Muslim A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...  6.3%	Fijian Fijian people Fijian people are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live in an area informally called Melanesia. The Fijian people are believed to have arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago, though the exact origins of the Fijian people are unknown...  57.3%, Indian India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...  37.6%, Rotuman Rotuman Rotuman may refer to:*anything related with the island Rotuma*Rotuman people*Rotuman language...  1.2%, other 3.9%
5		595,613	28,896	20.612	52%	73.69	76.6%	English 1–2%	Christian 95%	Melanesian 94.5%, Polynesian Polynesians The Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that speak Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic languages within the Austronesian languages, and inhabit Polynesia. They number approximately 1,500,000 people...  3%, Micronesian Micronesia Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....  1.2%, other 1.3%
–	(France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... )	287,032	4,167	68.882	52%	76.71	98%	French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...  61.1%, Polynesian 31.4%	Protestant 54%, Roman Catholic 30%, other 10%, no religion 6%	Polynesian 78%, Chinese Chinese people The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....  12%, local French French people The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...  6%, metropolitan French 4%
–	(France)	227,436	18,575	12.244	65%	74.98	96.8%	French	Roman Catholic 60%, Protestant 30%, other 10%	Melanesian 44.1%, European 34.1%, Wallisian & Futunian Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands , is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between Tuvalu to the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the west, the main part of Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast,...  9%, Tahitian Tahitians The Tahitians, or Maohis, are indigenous peoples of Tahiti and thirteen other Society Islands, as well as the modern population of these lands of mixed ancestry . The Tahitians are one of the most significant indigenous Polynesian peoples of Oceania....  2.6%, Indonesian Indonesia Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...  2.5%, Vietnamese Vietnamese people The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...  1.4%, Ni-Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu is a demonym used to refer to all Melanesian ethnicities originating in Vanuatu.It also refers, more generally, to nationals and citizens of Vanuatu, whatever their ethnicity....  1.1%, other 5.2%
6		221,552	12,189	18.176	25%	64.33	74%	English 23.1%, French 1.9%	Christian 82%, indigenous beliefs 5.6%, other 10.9%, none 1%	Ni-Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu is a demonym used to refer to all Melanesian ethnicities originating in Vanuatu.It also refers, more generally, to nationals and citizens of Vanuatu, whatever their ethnicity....  98.5%, other 1.5%
7		192,001	2,831	67.821	23%	72.13	99.7%	Samoan Samoan language Samoan Samoan Samoan (Gagana Sāmoa, is the language of the Samoan Islands, comprising the independent country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. Samoan, a Polynesian language, is the first language for most...	Christian 98.9%	Samoan 92.6%, Euronesians 7%, Europeans 0.4%
–	(United States)	180,865	1,478	122.371	93%	78.18	99%	English 38.3%, Chamorro Chamorro language Chamorro is a Malayo-Polynesian language, spoken on the Mariana Islands by about 47,000 people Chamorro (Chamorro: Fino' Chamoru or simply Chamoru) is a Malayo-Polynesian (Austronesian) language, spoken on the Mariana Islands (Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan) by about 47,000 people Chamorro...  22.2%	Roman Catholic 85%	Chamorro 37.1%, Filipino Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...  26.3%, other Pacific islander 11.3%, white 6.9%, other 8.6%, mixed 9.8%
8		122,580	747	164.096	25%	71.03	98.9%	Tongan Tongan language Tongan is an Austronesian language spoken in Tonga. It has around 200,000 speakers and is a national language of Tonga. It is a VSO language.-Related languages:... , English	Christian	Tongan 98%
9		107,154	702	152.641	22%	71.23	89%	English	Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 47%, others 3%	Chuuk Chuuk Chuuk — formerly Truk, Ruk, Hogoleu, Torres, Ugulat, and Lugulus — is an island group in the south western part of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia , along with Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. Chuuk is the most populous of the FSM's... ese 48.8%, Pohnpei Pohnpei Not to be confused with Pompeii, the ancient city destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79.Pohnpei "upon a stone altar " is the name of one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia , situated among the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group... an 24.2%, Kosrae Kosrae Kosrae , formerly known as Kusaie, is an island in Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes, besides the island of Kosrae, about a dozen satellite islands and islets, the most significant of which is Lelu Island.-Geography:With a... an 6.2%, Yap Yap Yap, also known as Wa'ab by locals, is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It is a state of the Federated States of Micronesia. Yap's indigenous cultures and traditions are still strong compared to other neighboring islands. The island of Yap actually consists of four... ese 5.2%, Yap outer islands 4.5%, Asian 1.8%, Polynesian 1.5%, other 7.8%
10		99,482	811	122.666	44%	64.03	92%	English, Gilbertese (de facto)	Roman Catholic 55%, Protestant 36%	Micronesian 98.8%
–	(United States)	66,432	199	872.005	92%	73.97	97%	English, Samoan	Christian Congregationalist Congregational church Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....  50%, Roman Catholic 20%, Protestant and other 30%	native Pacific islander 91.6%, Asian 2.8%, white 1.1%, mixed 4.2%, other 0.3%
11		65,859	181	363.862	71%	71.48	93.7%	Marshallese Marshallese language The Marshallese language is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Marshall Islands, and the principal language of the country...  98.2%, English	Protestant 54.8%, other Christian 40.6%	Marshallese Marshall Islands The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...  92.1%, mixed Marshallese 5.9%, other 2%
–	(United States)	48,317	464	104.131	91%	76.9	97%	English	Christian	Asian 56.3%, Pacific islander 36.3%, White 1.8%, other 0.8%, mixed 4.8%
12		20,879	459	45.488	81%	71.51	92%	Paluan Palauan language Palauan is one of the two nationally recognized official languages spoken in the Republic of Palau...  64.7%, English	Roman Catholic 41.6%, Protestant 23.3%	Palau Palau Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a... an 69.9%, Filipino 15.3%, Chinese 4.9%, other Asian 2.4%, white 1.9%, Carolinian 1.4%, other Micronesian 1.1%, other 3.2%
–	(France)	15,343	142	108.049	0%	78.83	50%	Wallisian 58.9%, Futunian 30.1%, French 10.8%	Roman Catholic 99%	Polynesian
–	(New Zealand)	11,488	236	48.678	74%	74.47	95%	Maori Maori language Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand... , English	Cook Islands Christian Church Cook Islands Christian Church The Cook Islands Christian Church is the largest religious denomination in the Cook Islands. The CICC is a Christian Congregationalist church and has approximately 18,000 members, including 56% of the residents of the Cook Islands...  55.9%, other Christian 30.5%	Cook Island Maori 87.7%, part Cook Island Maori 5.8%, other 6.5%
13		10,472	26	401.615	49%	64.39	93%	Tuvalu Tuvaluan language Tuvaluan is a Polynesian language of or closely related to the Ellicean group spoken in Tuvalu. It is more or less distantly related to all other Polynesian languages, such as Hawaiian, Maori, Tahitian, Samoan, and Tongan, and most closely related to the languages spoken on the Polynesian Outliers... , English	Church of Tuvalu Church of Tuvalu The Christian Church of Tuvalu, in Tuvaluan - Te Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu - is the national church of Tuvalu. It comprises 92% of the 12,000 inhabitants of the archipelago....  (Congregationalist) 97%	Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4%
14		9,267	21	441.286	100%	64.99	99%	Nauruan Nauruan language The Nauruan language is an Austronesian language spoken in Nauru. It is estimated that it has 7,000 speakers. Almost all speakers are bilingual in English....	Nauru Congregational Church Nauru Congregational Church The Nauru Congregational Church is the largest religious denomination in Nauru, claiming as members approximately 60% of Nauru's population of about 9000....  35.4%, Roman Catholic 33.2%, Nauru Independent Church (Protestant) 10.4%	Nauruan Nauruan people The indigenous peoples of Nauru are an ethnicity, which inhabit the Pacific island of Nauru. They are most likely a blend of other Pacific peoples....  58%, other Pacific Islander 26%, Chinese 8%, European 8%
–	(Australia)	2,155	36	59.861	NA	NA	NA	English, Norfuk	Anglican 31.8%, other Christian 30,9%, none 19.9%	European, Tahitian, Australian, New Zealander, Polynesian
–	(New Zealand)	1,400	12	116.667	0%	69	NA	Tokelauan Tokelauan language Tokelauan is a Polynesian language closely related to Tuvaluan.-Speakers:It is spoken by about 1,500 people on the atolls of Tokelau, and by the few inhabitants of Swains Island in neighbouring American Samoa. It is a member of the Samoic family of Polynesian languages. It is, alongside English,... , English	Congregational Christian Church 70%, Roman Catholic 28%	Polynesian
–	(New Zealand)	1,354	260	5.208	39%	69.5	NA	Niuean Niuean language The Niuean language or Niue language is a Polynesian language, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian languages. It is most closely related to Tongan and slightly more distantly to other Polynesian languages such as Māori, Sāmoan, and Hawaiian... , English	Ekalesia Niue (Protestant) 61.1%, other Christian 11%, Latter Day Saints 8.8%	Niue Niue Niue , is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the "Rock of Polynesia", and inhabitants of the island call it "the Rock" for short. Niue is northeast of New Zealand in a triangle between Tonga to the southwest, the Samoas to the northwest, and the Cook Islands to... an 78.2%, Pacific islander 10.2%, European 4.5%, mixed 3.9%, Asian 0.2%, unspecified 3%
–	(United Kingdom)	48	47	1.021	NA	NA

} || English, Pitkern

Pitkern

Pitkern is a creole language based on an 18th century dialect of English and Tahitian. It is a primary language of Pitcairn Island with fewer than 100 speakers worldwide. However, the closely related Norfuk language has a few thousand native speakers...

 || Seventh-Day Adventist 100% || European, Tahitian
|- class="sortbottom"
| –
! Total
! 34,648,283 !! 8,506,427 !! 4.073 !! 71% !! 77.87 !! 91%!! !! !!
|- class="sortbottom"
| –
! Total minus mainland Australia
! 13,385,642 !! 824,127 !! 16.242 !! 43% !! 71.89 !! 78%!! !! !!
|}