The decolonisation of Oceania occurred after World War II when nations in Oceania achieved independence by transitioning from European colonial rule to full independence.
While most of the countries of Oceania have a specific independence day, the independence of Australia and the independence of New Zealand were a gradual process and cannot be associated clearly with a specific date. Most of the British colonies in Australia gained responsible government in the 1850s, as did New Zealand in 1856. This was formalised into Dominion status in the 1900s, but with the United Kingdom retaining certain (disused) powers de jure. Although they were de facto sovereign states by the 1920s, Australia and New Zealand refused the formal recognition of their full sovereignty when offered through the Statute of Westminster in 1931, before accepting it respectively in 1942 and 1947.
Oceania continues to include a number of dependent territories controlled by colonial powers. The United Nations list of non-self-governing territories includes six Oceanian territories – the French dependencies of French Polynesia and New Caledonia, the American territories of American Samoa and Guam, the British dependency of Pitcairn Islands, and the New Zealand territory of Tokelau.
| Country | Date of current form of government | Birth of current form of government | Date of acquisition of sovereignty | Acquisition of sovereignty | Date of territorial modification | Most recent significant territorial modification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Australia [4] | 1 January 1901 | Commonwealth of Australia established as a federation. | 1 January 1901 | Federation of Australia – Formation of the Commonwealth of Australia by six separate British self-governing colonies | 16 September 1975 | Papua New Guinea becomes formally independent from Australia |
| 9 October 1942 | Statute of Westminster adopted – Britain loses the power to legislate for Australia except by request | |||||
| 3 March 1986 | Australia Act 1986 – Remaining legal ties between Britain and Australia are abolished, including the ability for the UK to legislate with effect in Australia | |||||
 Fiji | 10 October 1970 | Independence from the United Kingdom | ||||
 Kiribati | 12 July 1979 | Independence from the United Kingdom | 1 October 1975 | Separation of the Gilbert Islands (later Kiribati) and the Ellice Islands (later Tuvalu) | ||
 Marshall Islands | 1 May 1979 | Constitution and a local government established | 21 October 1986 | Compact of Free Association with the United States | ||
 Federated States of Micronesia | 10 May 1979 | Constitution ratified | 3 November 1986 | Compact of Free Association with the United States | 10 May 1979 | Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae unite to form the Federated States of Micronesia |
 Nauru | 31 January 1968 | Independence from UN Trusteeship (Australian, British and New Zealand administration ends) | ||||
 New Zealand | 6 February 1840 | Treaty of Waitangi where the British Crown established a right to govern from indigenous Māori tribes [18] | 17 January 1853 | Self-Government | 1 June 1962 | Samoa becomes fully independent from New Zealand. It is also the first small-island country in the Pacific to become independent. |
| 18 April 1856 | Responsible Government | |||||
| 26 September 1907 | Granted nominal independence (Dominion status). | |||||
| 25 October 1926 | Balfour Declaration of 1926 — Great Britain and the Dominions are “autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs” | |||||
| 27 July 1938 | Governor-General ceases to represent the British Government and becomes the personal representative of the King. | |||||
| 25 November 1947 | Statute of Westminster adopted — Britain loses the power to legislate for New Zealand except by request | |||||
| 10 December 1947 | Full power to amend own constitution | |||||
| 1 December 1967 | Governor-General becomes a New Zealand appointment | |||||
| 1 January 1987 | Commencement of the Constitution Act 1986 — Removed the ability of the British Parliament to pass laws for New Zealand with the consent of the New Zealand Parliament. | |||||
 Palau | 1 January 1981 | Republic of Palau created upon the adoption of a constitution | 1 October 1994 | Emerged from United Nations trusteeship (administered by the United States). | ||
 Papua New Guinea | 1 December 1973 | Self-governing territory | ||||
| 16 September 1975 | Independence from Australia | |||||
 Samoa | 1 June 1962 | Independence from New Zealand | ||||
 Solomon Islands | 2 January 1976 | Self-government granted by the United Kingdom | ||||
| 7 July 1978 | Independence from the United Kingdom | |||||
 Tonga | 4 July 1970 | Independence from the United Kingdom | 4 December 1845 | Unification of what is now the islands of Tonga by George Tupou I of Tonga | ||
 Tuvalu | 1 October 1975 | Separation of Gilbert Islands (later Kiribati) and Ellice Islands (later Tuvalu) | 1 October 1978 | Independence from the United Kingdom | 7 February 1979 | Treaty with United States recognizing Tuvaluan control over Funafuti, Nukufetau, Nukulaelae, and Niulakita atolls |
 Vanuatu | 30 July 1980 | Independence from joint British-French condominium |
This is a list of all present sovereign states in Oceania [19] and their predecessors. The region of Oceania is generally defined geographically to include the subregions of Australasia, [20] Melanesia, [21] Micronesia and Polynesia, and their respective sovereign states. Oceania was originally colonised by Europeans with Australia and New Zealand primarily by the British, and the Pacific Islands primarily by the British, French and Dutch. Today, Oceania consists of fourteen sovereign states of various government types, the most common consisting of parliamentary systems.
Governor-general, or governor general, is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy to represent the monarch of a personal union in any sovereign state over which the monarch does not normally reign in person. Governors-general have also previously been appointed in respect of major colonial states or other territories held by either a monarchy or republic, such as Japan in Korea and Taiwan and France in Indochina.
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state that has Charles III as its monarch and head of state. All the realms are equal with and independent of the others, though one person, resident in the United Kingdom, acts as monarch of each. The phrase Commonwealth realm is an informal description not used in any law.
Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on independence movements in the colonies and the collapse of global colonial empires. Other scholars extend the meaning to include economic, cultural and psychological aspects of the colonial experience.
The governor-general of Fiji was the representative of the Fijian monarch in the Dominion of Fiji from the country's independence in 1970 until the monarchy's deposition in 1987.
The territorial evolution of the British Empire is considered to have begun with the foundation of the English colonial empire in the late 16th century. Since then, many territories around the world have been under the control of the United Kingdom or its predecessor states. When the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed in 1707 by the union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England, the latter country's colonial possessions passed to the new state. Similarly, when Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801 to form the United Kingdom, control over its colonial possessions passed to the latter state. Collectively, these territories are referred to as the British Empire. When much of Ireland gained independence in 1922 as the Irish Free State, the other territories of the empire remained under the control of the United Kingdom.
The decolonisation of Africa is a process that largely took place from the mid-1950s to 1975 during the Cold War, with radical government changes on the continent as colonial governments made the transition to independent states. The process was often marred with violence, political turmoil, widespread unrest, and organised revolts in both northern and sub-Saharan countries including the Mau Mau rebellion in British Kenya, the Algerian War in French Algeria, the Congo Crisis in the Belgian Congo, the Angolan War of Independence in Portuguese Angola, the Zanzibar Revolution in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and the events leading to the Nigerian Civil War in the secessionist state of Biafra.
Fiji was an independent state from 1970 to 1987, a Commonwealth realm in which the British monarch, Elizabeth II, remained head of state as Queen of Fiji, represented by the Governor-General. The state was the successor of the British Colony of Fiji which was given independence in October 1970 and it survived until the Republic of Fiji was proclaimed on 6 October 1987 after two military coups, at which time Queen Elizabeth II was removed as head of state, albeit, without any consent from the people of Fiji themselves.
The monarchy of Fiji arose in the 19th century, when native ruler Seru Epenisa Cakobau consolidated control of the Fijian Islands in 1871 and declared himself king, or paramount chief, of Fiji. Three years later, he voluntarily ceded sovereignty of the islands to Britain, making Fiji a crown colony within the British Empire.
The decolonization of the Americas occurred over several centuries as most of the countries in the Americas gained their independence from European rule. The American Revolution was the first in the Americas, and the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was a victory against a great power, aided by France and Spain, Britain's enemies. The French Revolution in Europe followed, and collectively these events had profound effects on the Spanish, Portuguese, and French colonies in the Americas. A revolutionary wave followed, resulting in the creation of several independent countries in Latin America. The Haitian Revolution lasted from 1791 to 1804 and resulted in the independence of the French slave colony. The Peninsular War with France, which resulted from the Napoleonic occupation of Spain, caused Spanish Creoles in Spanish America to question their allegiance to Spain, stoking independence movements that culminated in various Spanish American wars of independence (1808–33), which were primarily fought between opposing groups of colonists and only secondarily against Spanish forces. At the same time, the Portuguese monarchy fled to Brazil during the French invasion of Portugal. After the royal court returned to Lisbon, the prince regent, Pedro, remained in Brazil and in 1822 successfully declared himself emperor of a newly independent Brazilian Empire.
The republics in the Commonwealth of Nations are the sovereign states in the organisation with a republican form of government. As of June 2022, 36 out of the 56 member states were republics. While Charles III is the titular Head of the Commonwealth, the King is not the head of state of the republican members. The King is however, the reigning monarch in the Commonwealth realms. The Head of the Commonwealth role does not carry with it any power; instead, it is a symbol of the free association of Commonwealth members.
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.
The monarchy of Papua New Guinea is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Papua New Guinea. The current Papua New Guinean monarch and head of state, since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Papua New Guinean Crown. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Papua New Guinea and, in this capacity, he and other members of the royal family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Papua New Guinea. However, the King is the only member of the royal family with any constitutional role.
There are six monarchies in Oceania where supreme power resides with an individual hereditary head, who is recognised as the head of state. Each is a constitutional monarchy, wherein the sovereign inherits his or her office, usually keeps it until death or abdication, and is bound by laws and customs in the exercise of their powers. Five of these independent states share King Charles III as their respective head of state, making them part of a global grouping known as the Commonwealth realms; in addition, all monarchies of Oceania are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. The only sovereign monarchy in Oceania that does not share a monarch with another state is Tonga. Australia and New Zealand have dependencies within the region and outside it, although five non-sovereign constituent monarchs are recognized by New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and France.
The decolonisation of Asia was the gradual growth of independence movements in Asia, leading ultimately to the retreat of foreign powers and the creation of several nation-states in the region.
A dominion was any of several self-governing countries of the British Empire. With the evolution of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations, the dominions became independent states, either as commonwealth republics or commonwealth realms.
This timeline lists all sovereign states and dependencies in Oceania, both current and defunct, from the year 1750 onwards.
The following lists events that happened during 2020 in Oceania.
List of events that happened during 2021 in Oceania.
