With a territorial extension of 8,526,462 square kilometers, corresponding to 5.8% of continental areas, Oceania is the smallest continent on Earth. This region consists of 14 countries: Australia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Australia occupies about 90% of the continental portion, while the other countries are formed by islands and atolls in the Pacific Ocean, most of which are of volcanic origin. These islands are divided into three groups: Polynesia (in the far east), Melanesia (central portion) and Micronesia (northern portion).
The relief of Oceania is characterized by the great diversity of formations, where it is possible to detect geomorphological units such as, the Australian mountain range and mountain ranges. Australia has extensive areas of very old plateau formation. This country is also home to mountains (in the eastern and southeastern portions), known as the Alps.
Oceania is the only continent that has countries in the four hemispheres of the Earth – Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern. The main climatic zones that the continent occupies are the South Temperate Zone (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Glacial Zone) and the Intertropical Zone (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Cancer).
The main climates operating in Oceania are arid tropical, subtropical, tropical, Mediterranean, temperate ocean and equatorial. This continent presents a great diversity of landscapes, with emphasis on tropical forests, deserts, savannas, snowy hills, steppes, coastal areas. The fauna is represented by kangaroos, koalas, platypus, etc. Check abbreviationfinder for list of all acronyms related to Australia.
If you are looking for the international dialing code for a particular country of Oceania, you can check the following table. Oceania countries are listed in alphabetical order. Also included are capital cities are ISO codes. To find complete information about countries in Oceania, please look at Countryaah.com.
| # | Country Name | Capital | International Area Code | 2 Letter Code | 3 Letter Code |
| 1 | American Samoa | Pago Pago | 1 684 | AS | ASM |
| 2 | Australia | Canberra | 61 | AU | AUS |
| 3 | Cook Islands | Avarua | 682 | CK | COK |
| 4 | East Timor | Dili | 670 | TL | TLS |
| 5 | Fiji | Suva | 679 | FJ | FJI |
| 6 | French Polynesia | Papeete | 689 | PF | PYF |
| 7 | Guam | Hagåtña | 1 671 | GU | GUM |
| 8 | Kiribati | Tarawa | 686 | KI | KIR |
| 9 | Marshall Islands | Majuro | 692 | MH | MHL |
| 10 | Micronesia | Palikir | 691 | FM | FSM |
| 11 | Nauru | Yaren | 674 | NR | NRU |
| 12 | New Caledonia | Nouméa | 687 | NC | NCL |
| 13 | New Zealand | Wellington | 64 | NZ | NZL |
| 14 | Niue | Alofi | 683 | NU | NIU |
| 15 | Norfolk Island | Kingston | 672 | NF | NFK |
| 16 | Northern Mariana Islands | Saipan | 1 670 | MP | MNP |
| 17 | Palau | Melekeok | 680 | PW | PLW |
| 18 | Papua New Guinea | Port Moresby | 675 | PG | PNG |
| 19 | Pitcairn Islands | Adamstown | 870 | PN | PCN |
| 20 | Samoa | Apia | 685 | WS | WSM |
| 21 | Solomon Islands | Honiara | 677 | SB | SLB |
| 22 | Tokelau | 690 | TK | TKL | |
| 23 | Tuvalu | Funafuti | 688 | TV | TUV |
| 24 | Vanuatu | Port Vila | 678 | VU | VUT |
Climate
The tropical to subtropical Pacific islands in the east of Oceania offer little variety all year round and, thanks to their hot and humid climate, are home to a variety of forms of rainforest. The precipitation-rich winters in the east and the monsoons in the northwest (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea) raise the annual mean here significantly.
An exception is New Zealand, where a cool temperate climate is prevalent.
Flora and fauna
Oceania’s flora and fauna are divided into two parts. On the one hand, there is the Australian fauna and flora, with, for example, the marsupial and monastery, which extends as far as the so-called Wallace Line in the Malay Archipelago, and on the other hand there is the world of the small islands in the Pacific, where land plants and animals can only be found over the sea can be washed ashore. Adaptive radiation can be observed there, the diversification of a less specialized species to the existing environmental conditions into many more specialized species. Flightless birds are a common occurrence in the absence of large, ground-dwelling predators.
The marine fauna and flora is characterized by a great variety. Well-known natural areas are the Great Barrier Reef, the Coral Triangle, East Rennell, the Lord Howe Archipelago and the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
Many animal and plant species in Oceania are only native to small regions and are therefore considered endemic. These are often threatened with extinction by introduced animals such as dogs, cats, pigs or rats. An example of this is the New Caledonian kagu. This naturally lays few eggs as it originally had no enemies. When rats were brought in from Europe, they ate what was easy prey for them and the kagu population sank threateningly. Only strict protective measures saved the species.
Further threats are the deforestation of the forests in the interior of the islands, climate change with the rising sea levels and changes in habitats and illegal fishing methods.