Pacific Coral Reefs: An Introduction, Table 1
Comparing 47 coral reef archipelagos and single islands in the Pacific Ocean. Explanations: bank
= submerged reef,
lag
= lagoon or marine lake, areef
= atoll reef, barr
= barrier reef, low
= low reef island, atol
= atoll, lime
= raised limestone island or atoll, and closed atolls,
volc
= volcanic island with fringing reef, all is
= total of all main islands, tren
= tectonic trench nearby and likely contributing to island’s formation, cont
= continent
or continental island, bas
= basalt or oceanic island, hot
= island or reef near to and likely formed over an oceanic hotspot, 1
(or more) = present, 0
= absent, and
nd
= no data. Area units = km
2
. Jurisdictions listed are at the highest independent national levels. Jurisdiction and archipelago names often differ, and archipelago
names in brackets are those used during the twentieth century before political independence. Total number of islands and reefs are underestimated and focus on
main inhabited islands, especially in the Solomon, Papua New Guinea, New Hebrides, Vanuatu, and Fiji Islands. (Sources: Bryan (1953), UNEP (1988), Dahl (1991),
Maragos and Holthus (1998) National Geographic Society maps, Google Earth (2009), Reef Base, and Wikipedia web notes)
Archipelago
Jurisdiction
Land – km
2
Ocean – km
2
Bank Lag Areef Barr Low Atol Lime Volc All is Tren Cont Bas Hot
Admiralty – Bismarck
Papua New Guinea 462,841
3,120,000
0
22
0
1
24
26 9
18
60 1
1
0
0
Austral
France
3,265
5,030,000
12
3
0
2
12
1 2
14
31 0
0
1
1
Caroline
FSM & Palau
1,193
3,608,193
4
37
3
5
13
34 523
38
608 1
0
0
1
Clipperton Is.
France
9
330,000
0
0
0
0
0
0 1
0
1 1
0
1
0
Cocos & Puerto Quepos Costa Rica
25
nd
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
12
12 1
1
0
0
Cooks
New Zealand
241
1,830,000
1
3
0
2
2
7 4
6
19 0
0
1
1
Coral Sea & Middleton
Australia
354
nd
2
1
8
0
5
4 1
2
12 0
1
0
0
D’Entrecasteaux.
Papua New Guinea 3,100
see PNG
0
1
50
1
1
7 0
5
13 1
1
0
0
Fiji – Lau
Fiji
18,274
1,290,000
0
22
33
22
15
9 10
810
844 1
1
0
0
Galapagos
Ecuador
7,880
45,000
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
125
125 1
1
1
0
Gambiers
France
31
see Austral
0
1
2
0
0
1 0
13
14 0
0
1
1
Guadalupe – Socorro
Mexico
406
nd
0
0
0
0
0
0 1
20
21 1
1
1
1
Gilbert
Kiribati
810
3,550,000
0
12
0
0
6
10 2
0
18 0
0
1
0
Ha’apai Group
Tonga
see Tonga
see Tonga
2
4
0
2
6
0 15
41
62 1
1
0
0
Hawaii
United States
16,629
2,147,985
32
10
1
2
1
5 2
24
32 0
0
1
1
Indonesia – West Pacific Indonesia
nd
nd
0
7
0
nd
9
7 0
nd
16 1
1
0
0
Kermadecs
New Zealand
33
nd
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
15
15 1
1
0
0
Lines
Kiribati & US
515
nd
2
6
1
0
4
5 2
0
11 0
0
1
0
Louisiades
Papua New Guinea 1,790
26,000
0
18
0
12
60
17 2
21
100 1
1
0
0
Marianas
United States
1018
2,041,000
1
3
0
2
2
0 5
12
19 1
1
1
0
754
PACIFIC CORAL REEFS: AN INTRODUCTION
Comparing 47 coral reef archipelagos and single islands in the Pacific Ocean. Explanations: bank
= submerged reef,
lag
= lagoon or marine lake, areef
= atoll reef, barr
= barrier reef, low
= low reef island, atol
= atoll, lime
= raised limestone island or atoll, and closed atolls,
volc
= volcanic island with fringing reef, all is
= total of all main islands, tren
= tectonic trench nearby and likely contributing to island’s formation, cont
= continent
or continental island, bas
= basalt or oceanic island, hot
= island or reef near to and likely formed over an oceanic hotspot, 1
(or more) = present, 0
= absent, and
nd
= no data. Area units = km
2
. Jurisdictions listed are at the highest independent national levels. Jurisdiction and archipelago names often differ, and archipelago
names in brackets are those used during the twentieth century before political independence. Total number of islands and reefs are underestimated and focus on
main inhabited islands, especially in the Solomon, Papua New Guinea, New Hebrides, Vanuatu, and Fiji Islands. (Sources: Bryan (1953), UNEP (1988), Dahl (1991),
Maragos and Holthus (1998) National Geographic Society maps, Google Earth (2009), Reef Base, and Wikipedia web notes)
Archipelago
Jurisdiction
Land – km
2
Ocean – km
2
Bank Lag Areef Barr Low Atol Lime Volc All is Tren Cont Bas Hot
Admiralty – Bismarck
Papua New Guinea 462,841
3,120,000
0
22
0
1
24
26 9
18
60 1
1
0
0
Austral
France
3,265
5,030,000
12
3
0
2
12
1 2
14
31 0
0
1
1
Caroline
FSM & Palau
1,193
3,608,193
4
37
3
5
13
34 523
38
608 1
0
0
1
Clipperton Is.
France
9
330,000
0
0
0
0
0
0 1
0
1 1
0
1
0
Cocos & Puerto Quepos Costa Rica
25
nd
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
12
12 1
1
0
0
Cooks
New Zealand
241
1,830,000
1
3
0
2
2
7 4
6
19 0
0
1
1
Coral Sea & Middleton
Australia
354
nd
2
1
8
0
5
4 1
2
12 0
1
0
0
D’Entrecasteaux.
Papua New Guinea 3,100
see PNG
0
1
50
1
1
7 0
5
13 1
1
0
0
Fiji – Lau
Fiji
18,274
1,290,000
0
22
33
22
15
9 10
810
844 1
1
0
0
Galapagos
Ecuador
7,880
45,000
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
125
125 1
1
1
0
Gambiers
France
31
see Austral
0
1
2
0
0
1 0
13
14 0
0
1
1
Guadalupe – Socorro
Mexico
406
nd
0
0
0
0
0
0 1
20
21 1
1
1
1
Gilbert
Kiribati
810
3,550,000
0
12
0
0
6
10 2
0
18 0
0
1
0
Ha’apai Group
Tonga
see Tonga
see Tonga
2
4
0
2
6
0 15
41
62 1
1
0
0
Hawaii
United States
16,629
2,147,985
32
10
1
2
1
5 2
24
32 0
0
1
1
Indonesia – West Pacific Indonesia
nd
nd
0
7
0
nd
9
7 0
nd
16 1
1
0
0
Kermadecs
New Zealand
33
nd
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
15
15 1
1
0
0
Lines
Kiribati & US
515
nd
2
6
1
0
4
5 2
0
11 0
0
1
0
Louisiades
Papua New Guinea 1,790
26,000
0
18
0
12
60
17 2
21
100 1
1
0
0
Marianas
United States
1018
2,041,000
1
3
0
2
2
0 5
12
19 1
1
1
0
754
PACIFIC CORAL REEFS: AN INTRODUCTION