Are you wondering what peak claims the title for the highest mountain in Oceania? Depending on who you ask, the highest mountain in Oceania could be Indonesia’s Puncak Jaya or it could be Papua New Guinea’s Mount Wilhelm. It’s a debatable topic and it all comes down to how one defines Oceania.
Oceania is a well known term that refers to a somewhat arbitrary expanse of the Pacific Ocean and the countries within that region. According to Wikipedia.org, Oceania is an area that covers 8,525,989 square kilometers (3,291,903 sq mi) of the southwestern Pacific Ocean, but what does that actually include? The exact borders are beautifully vague and are not clearly defined.
The United Nations defines the geographical region of Oceania as:
- Australia & New Zealand: Australia. Christmas Island. Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, New Zealand, Norfolk Island
- Melanesia: Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
- Micronesia: Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States Of Micronesia, Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, United States Minor Outlying Islands
- Polynesia: American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Pitcairn, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Wallis & Futuna Islands
What’s missing from the above list? Indonesia. Indonesia is usually considered to be part of Asia, but it also makes sense geographically for it to be a part of Oceania. So which is?
Due to the broad definition of Oceania, the title for the highest mountain in Oceania is up for some debate. The debatable issue lies on the 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi) island of New Guinea. On the eastern half of New Guinea is the country of Papua New Guinea. On the western half of New Guinea are the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.
So what is the highest mountain in Oceania?
Based on the UN’s definition, Indonesia is not a part of Oceania. Therefore, the highest mountain in Oceania is (4509 m | 14,793 ft) Mount Wilhelm. It is located in the Bismarck Range of Papua New Guinea.
If the Indonesian part of New Guinea is a part of Oceania, then the highest mountain in Oceania is Puncak Jaya (4,884 m | 16,024 ft), aka Carstensz Pyramid, in the Western Central Highlands of the Sudirman Range of Indonesia. It is the highest point in Indonesia and the highest island peak in the world.
As you can see, the title for the highest peak in Oceania is up for some debate. Where does the beautifully vague border of Oceania begin and where does it end. There’s no question that the highest mountain in Oceania is on the island of New Guinea. But is it Indonesia’s 4884-meter Puncak Jaya or is Papua New Guinea’s 4509-meter Mount Wilhelm? That’s for you to decide.
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