Location: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the
way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Language: Samoan (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages),
English

Currency: 1 US dollar (US$) = 100 cents

Population: 63,786

Natural Hazards: typhoons common from December to March

Import: materials for canneries 56%, food 8%, petroleum products
7%, machinery and parts 6%

Export: canned tuna 93%

Industries: tuna canneries (largely dependent on foreign fishing vessels), handicrafts

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 350 km
paved: 150 km
unpaved: 200 km

Ports & Harbors: Aunu'u (new construction), Auasi, Faleosao, Ofu, Pago Pago, Ta'u

Location: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Language: English (official), Maori

Currency: 1 New Zealand dollar (NZ$) = 100 cents

Population: 20,200

Natural Hazards: typhoons (November to March)

Import: foodstuffs, textiles, fuels, timber, capital goods

Export: copra, fresh and canned citrus fruit, coffee; fish; pearls
and pearl shells; clothing

Industries: fruit processing, tourism

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 187 km
paved: 35 km
unpaved: 152 km (1980 est.)

Ports & Harbors: Avarua, Avatiu

Location:Oceania, island group in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Language: English (official), Fijian, Hindustani

Currency: 1 Fijian dollar (F$) = 100 cents

Population: 812,918

Natural Hazards: cyclonic storms can occur from November to January

Import: machinery and transport equipment, petroleum
products, food, chemicals

Export: sugar 32%, clothing, gold, processed fish, lumber

Industries: sugar, tourism, copra, gold, silver, clothing, lumber, small cottage industries

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 597 km; note—belongs to the government-owned Fiji Sugar Corporation
narrow gauge: 597 km 0.610-m gauge (1995)

Highways:
total: 3,440 km
paved: 1,692 km
unpaved: 1,748 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 203 km; 122 km navigable by motorized craft and 200-metric-ton
barges

Ports & Harbors: Labasa, Lautoka, Levuka, Savusavu, Suva

Location: Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from South America to Australia

Language: French (official), Tahitian (official)

Currency: 1 Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (CFPF) = 100 centimes

Population: 242,073

Natural Hazards: occasional cyclonic storms in January

Import: fuels, foodstuffs, equipment

Export: cultured pearls 53.8%, coconut products,
mother-of-pearl, vanilla, shark meat (1992)

Industries: tourism, pearls, agricultural processing, handicrafts

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 792 km
paved: 792 km (1995 est.)

Ports & Harbors: Mataura, Papeete, Rikitea, Uturoa

Location: Oceania, group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia; note—on 1 January 1995, Kiribati unilaterally moved the International Date Line from the middle of the country to include its easternmost islands and make it the same day throughout the country

Language: English (official), Gilbertese

Currency: 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents

Population: 85,501

Natural Hazards: typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; occasional tornadoes

Import: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous
manufactured goods, fuel

Export: copra 62%, seaweed, fish

Industries: fishing, handicrafts

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 670 km (1996 est.)
paved: NA km
unpaved: NA km

Waterways: small network of canals, totaling 5 km, in Line Islands

Ports & Harbors: Banaba, Betio, English Harbor, Kanton

Location: Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands

Language: Nauruan (official, a distinct Pacific Island language), English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes

Currency: 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents

Population: 10,605

Natural Hazards:

Import: food, fuel, manufactures, building materials, machinery

Export: phosphates

Industries: phosphate mining, financial services, coconut products

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 3.9 km; note—used to haul phosphates from the center of the island to
processing facilities on the southwest coast

Highways:
total: 30 km
paved: 24 km
unpaved: 6 km

Ports & Harbors: Nauru

Location: Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia

Language: French, 28 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects

Currency: 1 Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (CFPF) = 100 centimes

Population: 197,361

Natural Hazards: typhoons most frequent from November to March

Import: foods, transport equipment, machinery and electrical
equipment, fuels, minerals

Export: ferronickels, nickel ore

Industries: nickel mining and smelting

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 5,562 km
paved: 975 km
unpaved: 4,587 km

Ports & Harbors: 

Location: Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Tonga

Language: Polynesian closely related to Tongan and Samoan, English

Currency: 1 New Zealand dollar (NZ$) = 100 cents

Population: 2,103

Natural Hazards: typhoons

Import: food, live animals, manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, lubricants, chemicals, drugs

Export: canned coconut cream, copra, honey, passion fruit
products, pawpaw, root crops, limes, footballs, stamps, handicrafts

Industries: tourism, handicrafts, food processing

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 234 km
paved: 0 km
unpaved: 234 km

Ports & Harbors: none; offshore anchorage only

Location: Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia

Language: English (official), Norfolk a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian

Currency: 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents

Population: 1,905

Natural Hazards: typhoons (especially May to July)

Import: NA

Export: postage stamps, seeds of the Norfolk Island pine and Kentia palm, small quantities of avocados

Industries: tourism

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 80 km
paved: 53 km
unpaved: 27 km

Ports & Harbors: none; loading jetties at Kingston and Cascade

Location: Southeastern Asia, group of islands including the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, east of Indonesia

Language: English spoken by 1%-2%, pidgin English widespread, Motu spoken in Papua region 715 indigenous languages

Currency:1 kina (K) = 100 toea

Population: 4,705,126

Natural Hazards: active volcanism; situated along the Pacific "Rim of Fire"; the country is subject to frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides

Import: machinery and transport equipment, manufactured
goods, food, fuels, chemicals

Export: gold, copper ore, oil, logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa,
crayfish and prawns

Industries: copra crushing, palm oil processing, plywood production, wood chip production; mining of gold, silver, and copper; crude oil production; construction, tourism

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 19,600 km
paved: 686 km
unpaved: 18,914 km

Ports & Harbors: Kieta, Lae, Madang, Port Moresby, Rabaul

Location: Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Peru to New Zealand

Language: English (official), Pitcairnese, Tahitian, 18th century English dialect

Currency: 1 New Zealand dollar (NZ$) = 100 cents

Population: 49

Natural Hazards: typhoons (especially November to March)

Import: fuel oil, machinery, building materials, flour, sugar, other foodstuffs

Export: fruits, vegetables, curios

Industries: postage stamps, handicrafts

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 6.4 km
paved: 0 km
unpaved: 6.4 km

Ports & Harbors: Bounty Bay

Location: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Language: Samoan (Polynesian), English

Currency: 1 tala (WS$) = 100 sene

Population: 229,979

Natural Hazards: occasional typhoons; active volcanism

Import: intermediate goods, food, capital goods

Export: coconut oil and cream, copra, fish, beer

Industries: timber, tourism, food processing, fishing

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 790 km
paved: 332 km
unpaved: 458 km

Ports & Harbors: Apia, Asau, Mulifanua, Salelologa

Location: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea

Language: : Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca, English spoken by 1%-2% of population
120 indigenous languages

Currency: 1 Solomon Islands dollar (SI$) = 100 cents

Population: 455,429

Natural Hazards: typhoons, but they are rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earth tremors; volcanic activity

Import: plant and equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals, fuel

Export: timber, fish, palm oil, cocoa, copra

Industries: copra, fish (tuna)

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 1,360 km
paved: 34 km
unpaved: 1,326 km (includes about 800 km of private plantation roads)

Ports & Harbors: Aola Bay, Honiara, Lofung, Noro, Viru Harbor, Yandina

Location: Oceania, group of three islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Language: Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English

Currency: 1 New Zealand dollar (NZ$) = 100 cents

Population: 1,471

Natural Hazards: lies in Pacific typhoon belt

Import: foodstuffs, building materials, fuel

Export: stamps, copra, handicrafts

Industries: small-scale enterprises for copra production, wood work, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: NA km
paved: NA km
unpaved: NA km

Ports & Harbors: offshore anchorage only

Location: Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Language: Tongan, English

Currency: 1 pa'anga (T$) = 100 seniti

Population: 109,082

Natural Hazards: cyclones (October to April); earthquakes and volcanic activity on Fonuafo'ou

Import: food products, live animals, machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, fuels, chemicals

Export: squash, fish, vanilla, root crops, coconut oil

Industries: tourism, fishing

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 680 km
paved: 184 km
unpaved: 496 km

Ports & Harbors: Neiafu, Nuku'alofa, Pangai

Location: Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia

Language: Tuvaluan, English

Currency: 1 Tuvaluan dollar ($T) or 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents

Population: 10,588

Natural Hazards: severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones

Import: food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods

Export: copra

Industries: fishing, tourism, copra

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 8 km
paved: NA km
unpaved: NA km

Ports & Harbors: Funafuti, Nukufetau

Location: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia

Language: English (official), French (official), pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama)

Currency: 1 vatu (VT) = 100 centimes

Population: 189,036

Natural Hazards: tropical cyclones or typhoons (January to April); volcanism
causes minor earthquakes

Import: machines and vehicles, food and beverages, basic manufactures, raw materials and fuels, chemicals

Export: copra, beef, cocoa, timber, coffee

Industries: food and fish freezing, wood processing, meat canning

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 1,070 km
paved: 256 km
unpaved: 814 km

Ports & Harbors: Forari, Port-Vila, Santo (Espiritu Santo)

Location: Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Language: French, Wallisian (indigenous Polynesian language)

Currency: 1 Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (CFPF) = 100 centimes

Population: 15,129

Natural Hazards: NA

Import: foodstuffs, manufactured goods, transportation
equipment, fuel, clothing

Export: copra, handicrafts

Industries: copra, handicrafts, fishing, lumber

Transportation:
Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 120 km (Ile Uvea 100 km, Ile Futuna 20 km)
paved: 16 km (all on Ile Uvea)
unpaved: 104 km (Ile Uvea 84 km, Ile Futuna 20 km)

Waterways: none

Ports & Harbors: Leava, Mata-Utu