The Pacific Ocean covers an estimated one-third of the earth?s surface and holds ?a scattering of
around 25,000 countries? with ??a land area of only 550, 073 km3? (Chandra, 1995). The largest
Pacific island country (PIC) is Papua New Guinea with a land mass of over 460,000 km2, and the
smallest, Tokelau with a menial land mass of 12 km2. PICs may be discussed in three clusters with
Papua New Guinea as a fourth stand alone category given the vast differentiation in both land mass
and population.
Pacific Island countries are globally recognized as being scattered, vulnerable islands in the Pacific
Ocean, commonly categorized in three main groups; Melanesia (the black islands); Micronesia (the
small islands) and Polynesia (the many islands).