The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean.
The "Pacific Islands" is a term broadly referring to the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Depending on the context, it may refer to countries and islands with common Austronesian origins, islands once or currently colonized, or Oceania.
Contents
Name ambiguity
In English, the umbrella term Pacific Islands may take on several meanings. Sometimes it refers to only those islands covered by the geopolitical concept of Oceania.[1][2] In some common uses, the term "Pacific Island" refers to the islands of the Pacific Ocean once colonized by the British, French, Dutch, United States, and Japanese, such as the Pitcairn Islands, Taiwan, and Borneo.[3] In other uses it may refer to islands with Austronesian heritage like Taiwan, Indonesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, Myanmar islands, which found their genesis in the Neolithic cultures of the island of Taiwan.[4] There are many other islands located within the boundaries of the Pacific Ocean that are not considered part of Oceania. These islands include the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador; the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, United States; Vancouver Island in Canada; the Russian islands of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands; the island nation of Taiwan and other islands of the Republic of China; the Philippines; islands in the South China Sea, which includes the disputed South China Sea Islands; most of the islands of Indonesia; and the island nation of Japan, which comprises the Japanese Archipelago.
List of islands
This is a list of many of the major Pacific islands, organized by archipelago or political unit. In order to keep this list of moderate size, links are given to more complete lists for countries with large numbers of small or uninhabited islands.
Note: many Polynesian languages have a glottal stop, which in most of them is seldom written, however. If a name with a < ʻ > cannot be found, try to rewrite it without it. See 'okina for more info.
- Aleutian Islands (United States)
- American Samoa (eastern part of the Samoa Islands, United States territory)
- Aunuʻu
- Ofu
- Olosega
- Rose Atoll
- Swains Island (Olosenga, Olohega) (disputed)
- Taʻu
- Tutuila
- Baker Island (United States)
- British Columbia, Canada (many islands). All of Canada's Pacific islands are located in the province of British Columbia. Vancouver Island is Canada's largest Pacific island.
- Caroline Islands (Federated States of Micronesia; Palau)
- Clipperton Island (France)
- Desventuradas Islands (Chile)
- Easter Island/Rapa Nui (Chile)
- Isla Salas y Gómez (Chile)
- Juan Fernández Islands (Chile)
- Fiji Islands
- Principal islands:
- Significant outliers:
- Archipelagos:
- French Polynesia (Autonomous Overseas Territory of France)
- Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
- Gilbert Islands (Kiribati)
- Hawaiian Islands (United States)
- Howland Island (United States)
- Indonesia
- Maluku Islands
- New Guinea / Papua
- Japan (the Japanese Archipelago of 6,852 islands)
- Johnston Atoll (United States)
- Kermadec Islands (New Zealand)
- Kuril Islands (Russia)
- Line Islands
- Caroline Island
- Flint Island (Kiribati)
- Jarvis Island (United States)
- Kingman Reef (United States)
- Kiritimati/Christmas Island (Kiribati)
- Malden Island (Kiribati)
- Palmyra Atoll (United States)
- Starbuck Island (Kiribati)
- Tabuaeran/Fanning Island (Kiribati)
- Teraina/Washington Island (Kiribati)
- Tongareva/Penhryn Island (Cook Islands)
- Vostok Island (Kiribati)
- Lord Howe Island (Australia)
- Marcus Island (Japan)
- Marianas Islands (United States)
- Norfolk Island (Australia)
- New Caledonia (France)
- New Zealand ("Aotearoa", see also Islands of New Zealand)
- Niue (Savage Island)
- Okinotori Islands (Japan)
- Phoenix Islands (Kiribati)
- Revillagigedo Islands (Mexico)
- Rocas Alijos (Mexico)
- Guadalupe Island (Mexico)
- Sakhalin (Russia)
- Solomon Islands (see also Islands of the Solomon Islands)
- Taiwan
- Tuparatu (see Andrew Knight)
- Tonga (only main islands or groups, on north-south order. See also complete list of islands in Tonga)
- Torres Strait Islands (Australia)
- Tuvalu (see also Islands of Tuvalu)
- Vanuatu (New Hebrides; see also Islands of Vanuatu)
- Ambae
- Ambrym
- Aneityum
- Aniwa
- Banks Islands
- Efate
- Erromango
- Espiritu Santo
- Futuna
- Hunter (claimed by France and Vanuatu)
- Lopevi
- Maewo
- Malakula
- Matthew (claimed by France and Vanuatu)
- Paama
- Pentecost
- Shepherds Islands
- Tanna
- Torres Islands
- Wake Island (United States)
- Wallis and Futuna (France)
- Willis Island (Australia)
Pacific islands by area (over 10,000 square kilometers)
This list includes all Islands found in the geographic Pacific Ocean, with an area larger than 10,000 square kilometers.
Name | Area (km2) | Country or Countries | Population | Population Density | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Guinea | 785,753 | Indonesia & Papua New Guinea | 7,500,000 | 9.544 | |
Honshu | 227,960 | Japan | 103,000,000 | 451.8 | |
Sulawesi | 174,600 | Indonesia | 18,455,000 | 105.7 | |
South Island | 145,836 | New Zealand | 1,038,600 | 7.122 | |
North Island | 111,583 | New Zealand | 3,393,900 | 30.42 | |
Luzon | 109,965 | Philippines | 48,520,000 | 441.2 | |
Mindanao | 104,530 | Philippines | 25,281,000 | 241.9 | |
Tasmania | 90,758 | Australia | 514,700 | 5.671 | |
Hokkaido | 77,981 | Japan | 5,474,000 | 70.2 | |
Sakhalin | 72,493 | Russia | 580,000 | 8.001 | |
Taiwan | 35,883 | Republic of China | 23,000,000 | 641 | |
Kyushu | 35,640 | Japan | 13,231,000 | 371.2 | |
Hainan | 35,400 | People's Republic of China | 8,900,000 | 251.4 | |
New Britain | 35,145 | Papua New Guinea | 513,926 | 14.62 | |
Vancouver Island | 31,285 | Canada | 759,366 | 24.27 | |
Shikoku | 18,800 | Japan | 4,141,955 | 220.3 | |
New Caledonia | 16,648 | France | 208,709 | 12.54 | |
Palawan | 12,189 | Philippines | 430,000 | 35.28 | |
Viti Levu | 10,531 | Fiji | 600,000 | 56.97 | |
Hawaii | 10,434 | United States of America | 185,079 | 17.74 |
See also
- List of islands (islands around the world)
- List of island countries
Pacific islands by continent
Antarctica
Asia
Central America
North America
- List of islands of North America
- List of islands of Canada, section British Columbia
- List of islands of Mexico
- List of islands of the United States
Oceania
- List of islands of Maluku Islands
- List of islands of Australia
- List of islands of Kiribati
- List of islands of New Zealand
- List of islands of the Marshall Islands
- List of islands of the Solomon Islands
- List of islands in Tonga
- List of islands of Tuvalu
- List of islands of Vanuatu
- List of islands administered by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans#Pacific Islands
- Pitcairn Islands#Geography
- List of islands of Hawaii
- List of islands of the United States#Insular areas
South America
- List of islands of South America
- List of islands of Chile
- List of islands of Colombia
- List of islands of Ecuador
- List of islands of Peru
Islands of adjacent oceans
- List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
- List of islands in the Arctic Ocean
- List of islands in the Atlantic Ocean
- List of islands in the Indian Ocean
Footnotes
- ^ D'Arcy, Paul (March 2006). The People of the Sea: Environment, Identity, and History in Oceania. University Of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3297-1. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ Rapaport, Moshe (April 2013). The Pacific Islands: Environment and Society, Revised Edition. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-6584-9. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
This is the only contemporary text on the Pacific Islands that covers both environment and sociocultural issues and will thus be indispensable for any serious student of the region. Unlike other reviews, it treats the entirety of Oceania (with the exception of Australia) and is well illustrated with numerous photos and maps, including a regional atlas.
– via JSTOR (subscription required) - ^ Wright, John K. (July 1942). "Pacific Islands". Geographical Review 32 (3): 481–486. doi:10.2307/210391. Retrieved 14 December 2014. – via JSTOR (subscription required)
- ^ Blundell, David (January 2011). "Taiwan Austronesian Language Heritage Connecting Pacific Island Peoples: Diplomacy and Values" (PDF). IJAPS 7 (1): 75–91. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
References
- William Collins Sons & Co Ltd (1983), Collins Atlas of the World (revised 1995 ed.), London W6 8JB: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-448227-1
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