Environmental indicators : South Pacific

Abstract

South Pacific is a sub-region of Asia comprising a total of twenty one countries and territories which can be sub categorized as: Australia and New Zealand;Melanesian countries (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji); Mid-sized open islands of Polynesia and Micronesia (Tonga, Samoa,American Samoa, French Polynesia, Palau, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands); and the Small island micro-states (Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Niue, and Nauru). The sub region is politically, ethnically, geographically and economically diverse. More than 2000 different languages are spoken across the region.The South Pacific has the lowest population of all the Asian and Pacific sub regions (just over 30 million). The South Pacific also has some of the highest marine diversity in the world – upto 3,000 species may be found on a single reef.