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Sub-region of Oceania · Country Index 2026
Polynesia
How are the countries of Polynesia doing?
Polynesia’s two placed countries are Samoa, 70th of 178 in the Country Index 2026, and Tonga, 85th. The region’s median is the better of the two, 70th, which places the region 8th of 21 sub-regions. 5 more of its 7 countries and territories are not placed.
01Who is in it
The countries of Polynesia
Alphabetical, with each country’s own banner photograph. The position is its place in the whole world ranking, never within the region.
Photo: Peter Craig, National Park Service · Public domain, greyscale
- Capital
- Pago Pago
- People, 2023
- 47,521
- Land, 2024
- 199 km²
Not placed in the Country Index — standings on 1 of 16 topics
Placed highest on Energy, joint 166th of 193
Photo: Benedict Adam · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
- Capital
- Avarua
- People, 2023
- 14,222
- Land, 2024
- 240 km²
Not placed in the Country Index — standings on 4 of 16 topics
Placed highest on Development & Human Capital, 1st of 196
Photo: mcclave · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
- Capital
- Papeete
- People, 2023
- 281,118
- Land, 2024
- 3,521 km²
Not placed in the Country Index — standings on 3 of 16 topics
Placed highest on Energy, 86th of 193
Photo: File: Msdstefan at de.wikipedia derivative work: Lkcl it · CC BY-SA 2.0 de, greyscale
- Capital
- Alofi
- People, 2023
- 1,817
- Land, 2024
- 259 km²
Not placed in the Country Index — standings on 1 of 16 topics
Placed highest on Health & Wellbeing, 141st of 200
Photo: Neil derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
- Capital
- Apia
- People, 2023
- 216,663
- Land, 2024
- 2,780 km²
Country Index70th of 178
Placed highest on Democracy & Civil Liberties, 34th of 198
Photo: Haanofonua derivative work: Massimo Telò · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
- Capital
- Nukuʻalofa
- People, 2023
- 104,597
- Land, 2024
- 720 km²
Country Index85th of 178
Placed highest on Poverty & Inequality, 14th of 159
Photo: mrlins derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
- Capital
- Funafuti
- People, 2023
- 9,816
- Land, 2024
- 26 km²
Not placed in the Country Index — standings on 7 of 16 topics
Placed highest on Education & Knowledge, 15th of 171
02The region
About Polynesia
The central and southern Pacific islands, from Samoa to French Polynesia.
Polynesia is the great triangle of the central and southern Pacific with Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island at its corners. In the UN’s classification the sub-region covers the islands within it — Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, Niue and French Polynesia among them — while New Zealand is counted with Australia and Hawaii with the United States.
Polynesian navigators settled these islands over many centuries, finding their way across open ocean by the stars, the swells and the flight of birds. European contact came from the sixteenth century, and many islands became colonies or protectorates of Britain, France, New Zealand or the United States. Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu are independent states, while the Cook Islands and Niue are self-governing in free association with New Zealand.
03Where
Polynesia on the map
Each member shaded by its position in the Country Index 2026, darkest for the best placed; the countries across its land borders in grey. Hover a country for its position, or select it to open its profile.
Beyond this frame, across the date line: Tuvalu.
Country Index position: 1st178thMember, not placedAcross the border, another regionNot a country this site tracks
04Country Index 2026
Where Polynesia’s countries place
Best placed first. Every position is a place in the whole world ranking of 178, never a second list within the region; “=” marks a position shared with another country. Hover the ⓘ for where a country would sit if any one key statistic were dropped.
| In region | Country | In the world | 1st178th |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Samoa | 70 / 178between 66th and 79th if any one key were dropped · standings on 15 of 16 topics | |
| 2 |  Tonga | 85 / 178between 71st and 104th if any one key were dropped · standings on 14 of 16 topics |
A further 5 of its countries and territories are not placed: the Country Index 2026 places a country only once it holds a standing on 12 of its 16 voting topics. American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue and Tuvalu.
Polynesia among the 21 sub-regions with a median
8th of 21. Nothing is weighted by population or size.
- 1Northern Europe6th10 of 13Placed countries run from Denmark 2nd to Latvia 25th.
- 2Western Europe10th7 of 9Placed countries run from Switzerland 1st to France 19th.
- 3Australia and New Zealand17th2 of 2Placed countries run from New Zealand 17th to Australia 24th.
- 3Northern America17th2 of 4Placed countries run from Canada 17th to United States 37th.
- 5Eastern Asia23rd4 of 8Placed countries run from South Korea 14th to Mongolia 73rd.
- 6Southern Europe32nd12 of 17Placed countries run from Slovenia 12th to Bosnia and Herzegovina 63rd.
- 7Eastern Europe39th10 of 10Placed countries run from Czechia 11th to Russia 68th.
- 8Polynesia70th2 of 7Placed countries run from Samoa 70th to Tonga 85th.
- 9South America74th12 of 12Placed countries run from Uruguay 34th to Venezuela 137th.
- 10Caribbean78th10 of 24Placed countries run from Barbados 63rd to Haiti 169th.
- 11Central America81st8 of 8Placed countries run from Costa Rica 40th to Nicaragua 134th.
- 12Western Asia93rd17 of 19Placed countries run from Cyprus 35th to Yemen 176th.
- 13South-eastern Asia95th11 of 11Placed countries run from Singapore 26th to Myanmar 153rd.
- 14Central Asia100th5 of 5Placed countries run from Kazakhstan 60th to Turkmenistan 148th.
- 14Southern Asia100th9 of 9Placed countries run from Bhutan 44th to Afghanistan 172nd.
- 16Melanesia106th4 of 5Placed countries run from Fiji 62nd to Papua New Guinea 138th.
- 17Southern Africa116th5 of 5Placed countries run from South Africa 102nd to Eswatini 140th.
- 18Northern Africa127th6 of 6Placed countries run from Tunisia 107th to Libya 174th.
- 19Eastern Africa143rd17 of 19Placed countries run from Mauritius 46th to Somalia 177th.
- 20Western Africa144th16 of 16Placed countries run from Cabo Verde 74th to Guinea-Bissau 168th.
- 21Middle Africa161st9 of 9Placed countries run from São Tomé and Príncipe 104th to Chad 175th.
- Micronesia—none placed
- Oceania, the whole continent70th
- The world’s midpoint88th
1st178thmedianplaced
The square is each region’s median position; the grey bar runs from its best-placed to its lowest-placed country. Hover a row for their names.
05By subject
Topic by topic
Every country’s position on each topic, its shade darker the higher it sits in that topic’s field; select a cell for the country’s page on the topic. Strongest for Polynesia: Poverty & Inequality, 1st of 21 sub-regions. Weakest: Digital & Technology, 19th of 22.
| Poverty & Inequality | Education & Knowledge | Democracy & Civil Liberties | Environment & Sustainability | Food & Agriculture | Gender & Equality | Energy | Health & Wellbeing | Mobility & Trade | Development & Human Capital | Economy & Innovation | Risk & Resilience | Governance & Institutions | Work & Labour | Digital & Technology | Peace & Security | Money & Public Finance | People & Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samoa | 97 of 159 | 43 of 171 | 34 of 198 | 62 of 181 | 40 of 175 | 55 of 183 | 72 of 193 | 95 of 200 | 70 of 147 | 136 of 196 | 91 of 176 | 96 of 192 | 106 of 194 | 152 of 182 | 152 of 198 | No standing | No standing | No standing |
| Tonga | 14 of 159 | 21 of 171 | 43 of 198 | 93 of 181 | 112 of 175 | 99 of 183 | 140 of 193 | 67 of 200 | No standing | 115 of 196 | 146 of 176 | 118 of 192 | 124 of 194 | 103 of 182 | 158 of 198 | No standing | No standing | No standing |
 American Samoa | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | 166 of 193 | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing |
 Cook Islands | No standing | 57 of 171 | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | 67 of 193 | 94 of 200 | No standing | 1 of 196 | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing |
 French Polynesia | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | 86 of 193 | No standing | 115 of 147 | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | 128 of 182 | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing |
 Niue | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | 141 of 200 | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing |
 Tuvalu | No standing | 15 of 171 | 18 of 198 | No standing | No standing | No standing | No standing | 106 of 200 | No standing | 155 of 196 | No standing | 78 of 192 | 172 of 194 | No standing | 187 of 198 | No standing | No standing | No standing |
| Region median | 14th of 159 | 21st of 171 | 34th of 198 | 62nd of 181 | 40th of 175 | 55th of 183 | 86th of 193 | 95th of 200 | 70th of 147 | 115th of 196 | 91st of 176 | 96th of 192 | 124th of 194 | 128th of 182 | 158th of 198 | — | — | — |
| Among sub-regions | 1st of 21 | 4th of 21 | 6th of 22 | 6th of 21 | 7th of 21 | 8th of 21 | 11th of 22 | 11th of 22 | 11th of 21 | 13th of 22 | 13th of 21 | 13th of 22 | 16th of 22 | 17th of 21 | 19th of 22 | — | — | — |
Columns run from the topic where Polynesia places best among sub-regions to the one where it places lowest. A region’s median on a topic needs at least two members with a standing; a hatched cell has no standing.
06In numbers
Polynesia in 6 numbers
Each line is every country in the world at its published value; Polynesia’s countries are the red ticks, and the dashed line is the world median. There is no regional average: a region has countries, not a life expectancy of its own.
GDP per person
international $, PPP · log scale
World Bank Group · 2025 · 185 countries · higher is better
No reading: American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue
Human development
HDI, 0–1
UNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · 193 countries · higher is better
No reading: American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue
Unemployment
% of the labour force
ILO · 2025 · 182 countries · lower is better
No reading: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Tuvalu
Every value for Polynesia’s countries
| Country | Population 2023 | Land area 2024 | GDP per person 2025 | Life expectancy 2023 | Human development 2023 | Unemployment 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Samoa | 47,521rank 203 | 199rank 204 | — | 72.85rank 130 | — | — |
| Cook Islands | 14,222rank 217 | 240rank 202 | — | 75.28rank 106 | — | — |
| French Polynesia | 281,118rank 181 | 3,521rank 170 | — | 84.07rank 6 | — | 11.66rank 26 |
| Niue | 1,817rank 221 | 259rank 201 | — | 69.98rank 157 | — | — |
| Samoa | 216,663rank 183 | 2,780rank 171 | 7,963rank 130 | 71.7rank 142 | 0.708rank 122 | 4.996rank 97 |
| Tonga | 104,597rank 192 | 720rank 183 | 7,413rank 134 | 72.89rank 127 | 0.769rank 92 | 2.008rank 166 |
| Tuvalu | 9,816rank 219 | 26rank 217 | 5,776rank 143 | 67.1rank 179 | 0.689rank 129 | — |
07In records
Polynesia in records
The member at the extreme of each statistic, read from its newest edition. Where two members share the top, no record is named.
Most populous
281,118
people
Largest by land area
3,521
square kilometres
Highest GDP per person
7,963
international $ at purchasing power parity
Longest life expectancy
84.07
years at birth
Highest human development
0.769
on the Human Development Index, 0–1
Lowest unemployment
2.008
% of the labour force
08Latest editions
Who rose and fell in the published ranks
The moves of Polynesia’s countries between each report’s two newest editions, in the publisher’s own ranks. A report whose field changed by more than 5% is left out.
Ranks as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office in the Human Development Index: reference years 2022 (192 countries ranked) → 2023 (193 ranked), both from its 2025 report.
Declined most
rank before → after- Tonga91 → 92−1
Ranks as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office in the Gender Inequality Index: reference years 2022 (172 countries ranked) → 2023 (172 ranked), both from its 2025 report.
Every country in the Gender Inequality IndexRanks as published by Oxford Insights in the Government AI Readiness Index: the 2024 edition (188 countries ranked) → the 2025 edition (195 ranked).
Improved most
rank before → afterNo country moved this way.
09Keep reading
Explore further
The rest of Oceania
Australia and New Zealand
Countries: Australia, New Zealand.17th
median of 178 · 2 of 2 placed
New Zealand 17th → Australia 24th
Melanesia
Countries: Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.106th
median of 178 · 4 of 5 placed
Fiji 62nd → Papua New Guinea 138th
Micronesia
Countries: Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau.—
no country placed · 0 of 7 placed
10Method
Questions, method and sources
Which countries are in Polynesia?
7 countries and territories: American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu. Membership follows the United Nations’ M49 classification.
Which country in Polynesia is placed highest?
Samoa, placed 70th of 178 in the Country Index 2026. Tonga is placed lowest, 85th. 2 of the region’s 7 countries and territories are placed; the rest hold standings on too few topics.
How does Polynesia compare with other regions?
Its median is 70th of 178 — with two placed countries, the better of the two positions, which places it 8th of 21 sub-regions. The median across Oceania is 70th. The middle of the whole field is 88th. Nothing is weighted by population or size.
How many people live in Polynesia?
675,754 in 2023, the sum of the UN DESA Population Division’s figures for its 7 countries and territories.
What is the largest country in Polynesia?
By land area, French Polynesia: 3,521 square kilometres (2024). By population, French Polynesia: 281,118 people (2023).
How a region’s figure is made
- Membership. Countries belong to regions by the United Nations’ M49 classification; each country declares its sub-region, and a continent is the sum of its sub-regions.
- Positions. Each country’s position is its Country Index 2026 result, unchanged. This page slices the world ranking by place; it does not re-rank anyone.
- The median. A region’s figure is the median of its placed countries’ positions: half sit at or above it, half below. With an even number of placed countries it takes the better of the two middle positions, since there is no country at a half place. Countries the index does not place are named, never counted in.
- A place among peers. Continents are compared with continents and sub-regions with sub-regions, never a part with the whole that contains it; regions sharing a median share a place. Nothing is weighted by population or size, and population and land area are the only figures ever added up.
Where the regions come from
United Nations Statistics Division, Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49). M49’s middle level (Sub-Saharan Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean) is left out, so every sub-region sits directly under its continent. Kosovo, Northern Cyprus and Somaliland are not in M49 and are placed by geography.
Where the positions come from
Every position is a country’s result in the Country Index 2026 or one of its topics, unchanged. The population and land-area figures are the UN DESA Population Division’s and the FAO’s, added up and shown with their year; every other statistic names its publisher beside its numbers.
Photographs
Each country’s own banner from its profile: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- American Samoa — Peter Craig, National Park Service, Public domain
- Cook Islands — Benedict Adam, CC BY 2.0
- French Polynesia — mcclave, CC BY 2.0
- Niue — File: Msdstefan at de.wikipedia derivative work: Lkcl it, CC BY-SA 2.0 de
- Samoa — Neil derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY 2.0
- Tonga — Haanofonua derivative work: Massimo Telò, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Tuvalu — mrlins derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY 2.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Polynesia: countries, population and rankings, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/regions/polynesia