How Many Countries Are in Oceania? 14, 16 or 24 — the Full List by Region

By Serdar Freimoser · Updated 26 October 2026 · Guide · 6 minute read · Auf Deutsch lesen

Oceania has 14 states with a UN seat: Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and eleven island states. With the Cook Islands and Niue, which are in free association with New Zealand, it is 16; the Pacific Islands Forum counts 18 members. On our globe there are 24 shapes, because territories such as Guam, New Caledonia or French Polynesia get stamps of their own. Every country by region:

The number: 14, 16 or 24?

Oceania is the continent with the fewest people and the most flags that belong to no state: territories of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Chile, Australia and New Zealand lie between the 14 states. The numbers you will meet:

For everyday use: 14 countries, 16 with the Cook Islands and Niue. Whoever says "every country in Oceania" faces one of the hardest collections in the world: hardly any direct flights, a few flights a week, and Nauru has a single airline.

Every country in Oceania by region

The grouping follows the UN Statistics Division (M49) with four regions and is the same as on our globe. Territories without UN membership are marked.

Australia and New Zealand (2 states + Norfolk Island (not a UN member))

• 🇦🇺 Australia
• 🇳🇿 New Zealand
• 🇳🇫 Norfolk Island – not a UN member

Melanesia (4 states + New Caledonia (not a UN member))

• 🇫🇯 Fiji
• 🇳🇨 New Caledonia – not a UN member
• 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea
• 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands
• 🇻🇺 Vanuatu

Micronesia (5 states + Guam, Northern Mariana Islands (not a UN member))

• 🇬🇺 Guam – not a UN member
• 🇰🇮 Kiribati
• 🇲🇭 Marshall Islands
• 🇫🇲 Micronesia (Federated States)
• 🇳🇷 Nauru
• 🇲🇵 Northern Mariana Islands – not a UN member
• 🇵🇼 Palau

Polynesia (3 states + American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Wallis and Futuna (not a UN member))

• 🇦🇸 American Samoa – not a UN member
• 🇨🇰 Cook Islands – not a UN member
• 🇵🇫 French Polynesia – not a UN member
• 🇳🇺 Niue – not a UN member
• 🇵🇳 Pitcairn Islands – not a UN member
• 🇼🇸 Samoa
• 🇹🇴 Tonga
• 🇹🇻 Tuvalu
• 🇼🇫 Wallis and Futuna – not a UN member

The edge cases

• Hawaii – geographically Polynesia, politically a US state since 1959. Part of the United States in country counts; on our map too.
• Easter Island (Rapa Nui) – the easternmost end of Polynesia, Chilean since 1888. Whoever has been there has been to Chile – and to Oceania.
• New Guinea – the second-largest island in the world, divided: the east is Papua New Guinea (Oceania), the west Indonesia (Asia). The same island, two continents.
• New Caledonia and French Polynesia – French overseas collectivities with their own governments. New Caledonia voted against independence in 2018, 2020 and 2021. Own ISO codes NC and PF, own shapes, not states.
• Cook Islands and Niue – self-governing, with their own foreign relations; their citizens are New Zealanders. Not in the UN, but in the WHO and UNESCO. Our map: separate shapes.
• Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa – US territories in the Pacific. Guam is the westernmost corner of the United States, with the date line just beyond.
• Kiribati – the only state lying in all four hemispheres: the equator and the 180th meridian cross its territory. Since 1995 it has moved the date line so that the whole country lives on the same day – and is the first to greet the new year.
• Timor-Leste – geographically on the edge of both worlds, politically Southeast Asia and in ASEAN since 2025. Counts as Asia.

Oceania in numbers

What counts as visited – and how to really "have" Oceania

The rule is the same as everywhere: under the strict rule a country counts after a night's stay, under the middle rule once you have left the transit area, under the loose rule even on a layover – the three rules in detail. Oceania is the continent where the rule costs the most: there is no direct flight between Nauru and Tuvalu, United's "Island Hopper" serves five island states with a single flight – and whoever lands only to refuel has collected nothing under the strict rule.

In Love the World the titles for it are called "Oceania Sailor" (two countries in Oceania) and "Pacific Pro" (four), plus "Island Nation Collector" for five island states, which are easier to collect here than anywhere else. Each of the 24 shapes above gets its own entry stamp in the passport – Guam, Niue and Pitcairn with its roughly 50 inhabitants included, because maps show territories, not memberships. See how the app works, or go back to the start of the series: How many countries are there at all?

Sources (retrieved 26 October 2026): UN member states · UN Statistics Division M49 · Pacific Islands Forum: members · Natural Earth

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