For more background see The World Factbook and Oceania map
| Country or colony (italics) | Status | Main indigenous peoples | Notes |
| Australia | Independent of UK 1901 | Aborigine or Aboriginal; Torres Strait Islander | |
| MELANESIA: | |||
| Papua New Guinea | Independent of Aus. 1975 | Numerous indigenous peoples (715 languages) | Secessionist movement in Bougainville 1988-97 |
| Solomon Islands | Independent of UK 1978 | Solomon Islander | |
| New Caledonia | Colony of France | Kanak | Kanaky is Kanak (minority indigenous) name for French colony |
| Vanuatu | Independent of UK & France 1980 | Ni-Vanuatu | Colonial name was New Hebrides |
| West Papua | Indonesia annexed from Dutch, 1963 | Numerous indigenous peoples | Former name Irian Jaya |
| Fiji | Independent of UK 1970 | Fijian | Conflicts with Indo- Fijians brought by British from India. |
| POLYNESIA: | |||
| New Zealand | Independent of UK 1907 | Maori | Aotearoa is Maori name for N.Z.; Treaty of Waitangi signed 1840 |
| Tonga | Independent of UK 1970 | Tongan | |
| Tuvalu | Independent of UK 1978 | Tuvaluan | Colonial name was Ellice Islands |
| Niue | Colony of N.Z. | Niuean | |
| Cook Islands | Colony of N.Z. | Cook Island Maori | |
| French Polynesia | Colony of France | Polynesian groups | |
| Wallis & Futuna | Colony of France | Wallisian, Futuan | |
| Samoa | Independent of NZ 1962 | Samoan | Western Samoa until 1997 |
| American Samoa | Colony of U.S. | Samoan | U.S. takes eastern islands, 1899 |
| Hawai’i | Annexed by U.S. 1898 | Hawai’ian | Independent kingdom to 1893 |
| MICRONESIA: | |||
| Kiribati | Independent of UK 1979 | I-Kiribati | Colonial name was Gilbert Islands |
| Marshall Islands | Independent of U.S. 1986 | Marshallese | |
| Federated States of Micronesia | Independent of U.S. 1986 | Micronesian groups | Colonial name was Caroline Islands |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Colony of U.S. | Majority is Filipino, Chinese, Chamorro | |
| Guam | Colony of U.S. | Guamanian (Chamorro) | U.S. seizes from Spain, 1898 |
| Palau | Independent of U.S. 1994 | Palauan | Native name Belau |
| Nauru | Independent of Aus. 1968 | Nauruan | |
| ASIA: | |||
| Philippines | Independent of U.S. 1946 | Igorots (N. Luzon); Aetas (Luzon, Visayas); Lumads (Mindanao) | U.S. seizes from Spain, 1898 |
| Indonesia | Independent of Neth. 1949 | Numerous indigenous groups, particularly in Borneo & West Papua | Main part of population is Muslim and ethnic Javanese |
| East Timor | Independent of Indonesia 2002 | Timorese (Tetum) | Former Portuguese colony occupied by Indonesia 1975 |
| Malaysia | Independent of UK 1963 | Numerous groups on Sabah and Sarawak (North Borneo) | Main part of population on Malay Peninsula |
| Brunei | Independent of UK 1984 | ||
| Taiwan | Governed separately from China since 1949 | Aboriginal Taiwanese | |
| Japan | Ainu (on Hokkaido Island) | ||
| Russia | Eastern Siberia annexed by Russia | Chukchi (in Chukotka), Koryak, Inuit (Eskimo), others | |
| NORTH AMERICA: | |||
| Alaska | Annexed by U.S. 1867 | Dene (Athabascan), Inuit, Aleut, Tlingit, Tsimshian, etc. | Organized in regional corporations by 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act |
| Canada | British Columbia part of Canada 1871 | Salish, Dene, Wakashan, Tsimshian, Kootenai language families in B.C. | First Nations did not sign treaties in B.C.; now Indian reserve system |
| United States | California statehood 1850; Oregon 1859 Washington 1889 | Salish, Wakashan, Penutian, Athabascan, Algonquian, Yokuts, Aztec-Tanoan language families on Pacific Coast | Reservation system for federally recognized tribes; off-reservation treaty rights recognized for some tribes |
| Mexico | Independent of Spain 1810 | Aztec-Tanoan, Hokaltekan, Otomaguean language families | Large Indigenous populations in south (Oaxaca, Chiapas) |
| CENTRAL AMERICA: | |||
| Guatemala | Independent of Spain 1821 | Mayan languages | Indigenous majority |
| El Salvador | Independent of Spain 1821 | ||
| Honduras | Independent of Spain 1821 | Miskito (east), other groups in west | |
| Nicaragua | Independent of Spain 1821 | Miskito (east), other groups in west | |
| Costa Rica | Independent of Spain 1821 | ||
| Panama | Independent of Colombia 1903 | Kuna (Caribbean), Embara, Wounaan (east), other groups in west | |
| SOUTH AMERICA: | |||
| Colombia | Independent of Spain 1810 | Cariban and Chibchan languages on Pacific Coast | |
| Ecuador | Independent of Spain 1821 | Quichua in Andes, other groups in lowlands | |
| Peru | Independent of Spain 1821 | Quechua in Andes, other groups in lowlands | |
| Chile | Independent of Spain 1810 | Mapuche (south), other groups in north |
