Oban is the principal settlement on Stewart Island, the southernmost inhabited island of New Zealand. Oban is located on Half Moon Bay (sometimes used as an alternative name for the town), and has air communication with Invercargill and a ferry service to Bluff.

According to the March 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings the island's permanent resident population was 387 at that time, a decrease of 30 since 1996. Approximately 80% of these would live in Oban.