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Oceania is not a continent but a geographical area that consists of the continent of Australia, the country of New Zealand and several Pacific Island groups which are located in the sub-regions of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Many of these island groups are overseas territories of other nations, mainly Australia, New Zealand, France and the U.K, so we have listed only island sovereign nations on this page.
Oceania is situated entirely in the southern hemisphere and consists of fifteen sovereign states and twenty five dependencies, which collectively cover a land area of 9,038,000 square kilometers, ranking the area the world's smallest continent, although officially Australia is the only continent in the area.
Oceania is home to the world's largest Atoll, the island of Kirimati, located in the island nation of Kiribati, the world's largest broad leaf forest, located on the island of Samoa, the world's largest coral reef, located on the Great Barrier Reef off the north, east coast of Australia, the world's largest marine park, located within the Phoenix Islands of Kiribati and the world's largest sand island, Fraser Island, located off the east coast of Australia.
Oceania is also home to the world's fourth, seventh and tenth largest deserts, the Great Victoria Desert, the Great Sandy Desert and the Gibson Desert, all located in Australia, the world's second largest barrier reef, the New Caledonia Barrier Reef and the world's third longest mountain range, the Great Dividing Range of Australia, at 3,500 kilometers long.
Oceania's largest country is Australia at 7.6 million square kilometers and it's smallest country is the island nation of Nauru at 21 square kilometers.
The highest peak situated within Oceania is Mount Cook in the Southern Alps Mountain Range located in New Zealand, at 3,745 meters high.
Oceania's lowest point is located at Lake Eyre in Australia at 16 meters below sea level.
The longest river situated within Oceania is the Murray River in Australia at 2,375 kilometers long.
Oceania's largest city, both by area and population, is Sydney in Australia, a city of 4.6 million people which covers an area of 12,145 square kilometers.
Oceania consists of just one monarchy, the island nation of Tonga, although Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands are all Commonwealth Realms which have Queen Elisabeth II as their head of state.
There are twenty eight official languages spoken within Oceania, the most predominant of which is English, followed by several dialects from the Polynesian language group and French and Spanish.
Oceania is also home to the country with the world's largest number of languages, Papua New Guinea, which has 820 regional and national languages.
The predominant religion within Oceania is Christianity, followed by Hindu, Buddhism and Islam.
Oceania spans eleven time zones - UTC + 8, UTC +, UTC + 10, UTC + 11, UTC + 12, UTC - 11, UTC - 10, UTC - 9, UTC - 8, UTC - 7 and UTC - 6.
Oceania covers eight climatic zones. (See map below)
The continent has it's own patron saint, St Peter Chanel whose feast day is held on the 28th of April.
Below are listed all the countries of Oceania along with their land area, population, capital city, official language, currency, internet TLD and telephone calling codes.
AUSTRALIA - 7,682,300 sq km - 18,054,000 - Canberra - English - Australian Dollar - .au - 61.
COOK ISLANDS - 240 sq km - 20,811 - Avarua - English / Maori - Dollar - .ck - 682.
FIJI - 18,330 sq km - 784,000 - Suva - Fijian - Dollar - .fj - 679.
KIRIBATI - 717 sq km - 79,000 - South Tarawa - Gilbertese - Dollar - .ki - 686.
MARSHALL ISLANDS - 181 sq km - 56,000 - Dalap Uliga Darrit - Marshallese - Dollar - .mh - 692.
FEDERAL STATES OF MICRONESIA - 701 sq km - 105,000 - Palikir - Trukese - Dollar - .fm - 691.
NAURU - 21 sq km - 11,000 - Yaren - Gilbertese - Dollar - .nr - 674.
NEW ZEALAND - 270,534 sq km - 3,542,000 - Wellington - English / Maori - NZ Dollar - .nz - 64.
PALAU - 459 sq km - 20,956 - Melekeok - English / Palauan - Dollar - .pw - 680
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - 462,840 sq km - 4,074,000. - Port Moresby - Tok - Kina - .pg - 675.
SAMOA - 2,831 sq km - 171,000 - Apia - English - Tala - .ws - 685.
SOLOMON ISLANDS - 28,370 sq km - 378,000. - Honiara - English - Dollar - .sb - 677.
TONGA - 748 sq km - 98,000 - Nuku'alofa - Tongan - Pa'anga - .to - 676 -
TUVALU - 25 sq km - 98,000 - Fongafale - Tuvaluan - NZ Dollar - .tv - 688.
VANUATU - 12,190 sq km - 169,000 - Port Vila - Bislama - Vatu - .vu - 678.
To learn More About The Area Check Out Our Page - The Pacific Ocean and its Islands.
You Can Read More About Australia and New Zealand By Visiting Our Sister Site And Checking Out These Pages - Countryfactsinc/Facts about Australia / Countryfactsinc/Facts about New Zealand.
For More Information About The South Pacific Islands Check Out Our Sister Site -
South Pacific Island Travel/home.
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