Oceania consists of two large states (Australia and Papua New Guinea), a medium-sized state (New Zealand), a small state (Fiji), ten micro-states (Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu), and a number of dependencies (Cook Islands, Niue, etc). Threatened by geographic and demographic factors, the sovereignty of Oceania’s microstates has been precarious from their inception.