The Coral Sea Islands Territory is an external territory of Australia which comprises a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, north-east of Queensland, Australia. The only inhabited island is Willis Island. The territory covers 780,000 km2 (301,160 sq mi), most of which is ocean, extending east and south from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef and includes Heralds Beacon Island, Osprey Reef, the Willis Group and fifteen other reef/island groups. Cato Island is the highest point in the Territory.
The Western Pacific nation of Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is situated 4,000 kilometers (2,500 mi) northeast of Australia and is approximately halfway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands, southeast of Nauru, south of Kiribati, west of Tokelau, northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna and north of Fiji. It is a very small island country of 26 km2 (10 sq mi). Due to the spread out islands it has the 38th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 749,790 km2 (289,500 sq mi). In terms of size, it is the second-smallest country in Oceania.
Fiji is a group of volcanic islands in the South Pacific, lying about 4,450 kilometres (2,765 mi) southwest of Honolulu and 1,770 km (1,100 mi) north of New Zealand. Of the 332 islands and 522 smaller islets making up the archipelago, about 106 are permanently inhabited. The total land size is 18,272 km2 (7,055 sq mi). It has the 26th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 1,282,978 km2 (495,361 sq mi).
Bokak Atoll or Taongi Atoll is an uninhabited coral atoll in the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands, in the North Pacific Ocean. Due to its relative isolation from the main islands in the group, Bokak's flora and fauna has been able to exist in a pristine condition.
Fongafale is the largest of Funafuti's islets in Tuvalu. It is a long narrow sliver of land, 12 kilometres long and between 10 and 400 metres wide, with the South Pacific Ocean and reef on the east and the protected lagoon on the west. The north part is the Tengako peninsula, and Funafuti International Airport runs from northeast to southwest on the widest part of the island, with the village and administrative centre of Vaiaku on the lagoon side.
The Minerva Reefs are a group of two submerged atolls located in the Pacific Ocean between Fiji, Niue and Tonga. The islands are the subject of a territorial dispute between Fiji and Tonga, and in addition were briefly claimed by American Libertarians as the centre of a micronation, the Republic of Minerva.
Taveuni is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, with a total land area of 434 square kilometres. The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated 6.5 kilometres east of Vanua Levu, across the Somosomo Strait. It belongs to the Vanua Levu Group of islands and is part of Fiji's Cakaudrove Province within the Northern Division.
Namena Lala is a volcanic islet in Fiji, an outlier to the northern island of Vanua Levu, 24 kilometres (15 mi) away. Situated at 17.11° South and 179.10° East, it covers an area of 4 square kilometres. Its maximum altitude is 105 metres (340 ft). The island is the site of the 0.44 square kilometres Moody's Namenalala Island resort and nature reserve.
Wailagi Lala is the northernmost outpost of Fiji's Lau Islands. This tiny atoll, with an area of just 30 hectares and rising no more than 3 metres (10 ft) above mean sea level, is situated at 16.45° South and 179.6° West. It is the only true atoll in Fiji.
The Ringgold Isles are an archipelago in Fiji, forming an outlier group to Vanua Levu. The Budd, Nukusemanu, and Heemskercq Reefs form part of the group. The group is mostly uninhabited, but Qelelevu has a small village. In 2008 Pacific rats were eradicated from seven islands of the group in an endeavour facilitated by BirdLife International's Fiji Programme.
Cobia Island is an island in Fiji, and is a member of the Ringgold Isles archipelago, which forms an outlier group to the northern island of Vanua Levu. It has a land area of 69.29 hectares. The island is shaped like a crescent moon.
A coral island is a type of island formed from coral detritus and associated organic material. It occurs in tropical and sub-tropical areas, typically as part of a coral reef which has grown to cover a far larger area under the sea. The term low island can be used to distinguish such islands from high islands, which are formed through volcanic action. Low islands are formed as a result of sedimentation upon a coral reef or of the uplifting of such islands.
Funamanu is a small narrow island that is part of Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu. It is a motu (islet) or very small island and is located 2.6 miles southwestward of the southwest tip of Funafuti. The islet is known to be covered in coconut trees which grow 70 feet high. Te Ava Pua Pua is the passage through the reef, with a least depth of 12.7 metres, between the islets of Funamanu to the north and Fale Fatu to the south, in the southeast of Funafuti atoll.
The Rainbow Reef is a reef in the Somosomo Strait between the Fijian islands of Taveuni and Vanua Levu. It is one of the most famous dive sites in the South Pacific. The Great White Wall is a popular scuba diving site. It is named because of the white coral inhabiting the area at depths between 15 and 65 metres.
Cakaulevu Reef is a coral reef located off the northern shore of the island of Vanua Levu in Fiji. It is the third longest continuous barrier reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Mesoamerican Reef off Central America. When combined with the nearby Pascoe Reef, Cakaulevu Reef is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) long. On its own, the Cakaulevu Reef covers 202,700 square kilometres (78,300 sq mi).
The Funafuti Conservation Area is a marine conservation area covering 33 square kilometers of reef, lagoon and motu (islets) on the western side of Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu. The marine environment of the conservation area includes reef, lagoon, channel and ocean; and are home to many species of fish, corals, algae and invertebrates. The islets are nesting sites for the green sea turtle and Fualopa hosts a breeding colony of black noddy.
The Mayotte Marine Natural Park is a marine park surrounding Mayotte, a French overseas region. Mayotte is part of the Comoro Islands archipelago, which lies within the Mozambique Channel in the western Indian Ocean. Established in 2010, the park covers the entirety of Mayotte's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. It is contiguous with the Glorioso Islands Marine Natural Park, which was established two years later.
The coral reefs of Tuvalu consist of three reef islands and six atolls, containing approximately 710 km2 (270 sq mi) of reef platforms. The islands of the Tuvalu archipelago are spread out between the latitude of 5° to 10° south and longitude of 176° to 180°, west of the International Date Line. The islands of Tuvalu are volcanic in origin. On the atolls, an annular reef rim surrounds the lagoon, and may include natural reef channels. The reef islands have a different structure to the atolls, and are described as reef platforms as they are smaller tabular reef platforms that do not have a salt-water lagoon, although they may have a completely closed rim of dry land, with the remnants of a lagoon that has no direct connection to the open sea or that may be drying up.
The Coral reefs of Kiribati consists of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, Banaba, which is an isolated island between Nauru and the Gilbert Islands. The islands of Kiribati are dispersed over 3.5 million km2 (1.4 million sq mi) of the Pacific Ocean and straddle the equator and the 180th meridian, extending into the eastern and western hemispheres, as well as the northern and southern hemispheres. 21 of the 33 islands are inhabited. The groups of islands of Kiribati are:
The Coral reefs of the Solomon Islands consists of six major islands and over 986 smaller islands, in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu. The Solomon Islands lie between latitudes 5° and 13°S, and longitudes 155° and 169°E. The distance between the westernmost and easternmost islands is about 1,500 km (930 mi). The Santa Cruz Islands are situated north of Vanuatu and are especially isolated at more than 200 km (120 mi) from the other islands. The Solomon Islands has the 22nd largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 1,589,477 km2 (613,701 sq mi) of the Pacific Ocean.
