Australia and Oceania

Nuku’alofa is Tonga’s capital and the small city has just a handful of tourist attractions. Being a largely coral island, Nuku’alofa is largely surrounded by numerous coral reefs. It is located on the northern coast of Tonga and has a very relaxed air even though the city experienced some troubles a couple of years back.

As the capital city of New Caledonia, Noumea lies on Grande Terre Island and it’s the country’s largest city. Noumea boasts of being one of the highly westernized capital cities in Pacific islands and features large colonial mansions and beautiful beaches but it is not a popular tourist destination as such.

The city of Melekeok is in Palau Island and was named as the country’s capital city in 2006. Believe it or not, Melekeok has a population of slightly above 250 people. As such, Melekeok is the world’s smallest capital city in terms of population.

As the capital city of the low lying islands of Tuvalu, Funafuti is one of the least known destinations especially by tourists. Just like the rest of the surrounding islands, Funafuti enjoys a tropical climate and the area is quite safe as natural phenomena are rare.

Hagatna was formerly referred to as Agana and it is the national capital of the city of Guam. Hagatna is the smallest inhabited village in this village in terms of both population and area. It has for long been the population center of Guam from early 20th century and still maintains the same even today.

Flying Fish Cove is simply referred to as ‘The Settlement’ in most maps. The settlement was established around 1888 by the British. About 1600 people live in Flying Fish Cove and the island houses a rather small harbor that provides visitors with yachts when touring the Christmas Island.

The locals refer to Rarotonga Island as Raro and of the several Cook Islands, Rarotonga is well known as the most populous one. Most travelers to Rarotonga enter the island through the Rarotonga International Airport which offers daily flight connections to Auckland.

Tuvalu islands sit on South Pacific and collectively, these small islands make one of the smallest countries in the world. The various islands making Tuvalu include Funafuti which is the capital and home to more than half of the entire population on the island.

Remotely located on South Pacific, Pitcairn comprises of a group of tiny islands that are located far from any inhabited island. The islands are significantly low populated. Of the various islands, Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited one.

Neighboring Cook Islands and Tonga, Niue is an Oceania Island with Alofi as its capital. Other villages in Niue include Avatele, Liku, Hikutavake, Mutalay, Lakepa and a few others. The remoteness of Niue alongside its linguistic and cultural differences to that of other Cook Islands are some of the factors explaining why this island is administered separately.