List of countries by number of islands

This is a list of countries by number of islands, with figures given for the numbers of islands within their territories. In some cases, this figure is approximate and may vary slightly between sources depending on which islands are counted. The inclusion criteria vary significantly across countries, so they can't necessarily be compared directly. Different languages use different words for islands depending on size and or shape, and elevation. For example, in English, a smaller island can be referred to as an islet, skerry, cay, or eyot, leading to confusion over classification as an island in some circumstances. This can influence which islands are counted or not. Some islands are fully submerged by the tides at times, and those may also not be counted by some countries, while others do. Where counts vary, this article uses the highest reliably sourced figure.

For the purposes of this article, the countries listed will have their islands determined by the following definition: “An island is a landmass permanently above sea level either in an inland waterway or in the open sea. It is completely surrounded by water, but must not be a continent.”

List

+CountryNo. ofislandsNo. of inhabitedislandsNotesList linkSource(s)Albania142ListAlgeria24032 islands and 208 islets; coastal islands/islets only.ListAntigua and Barbuda542Three main islands (Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda) and 51 offshore islands.ListArgentina152Some additional islands are disputed. ListAustralia8,22219ListAzerbaijan161ListBahamas700ListBangladesh700ListBarbados41There are currently two islands and two banks in Barbados. An additional historical island (Pelican Island) no longer exists.ListBelize450ListBosnia and Herzegovina3 Coastal Islands and multiple river islandsAmong the world's coastal countries, only Monaco has a shorter coastline than Bosnia and Herzegovina. ListBrazil1,200ListBrunei33ListBulgaria117ListCambodia719ListCanada52,455260Canada has several large inhabited islands, including Prince Edward Island, Vancouver Island, Montreal, and Manitoulin Island. ListCape Verde15910 islands and 5 isletsListChile43,4712,3243,739 islands (above ) and 2180 islets (above )ListChina7,226433 only. Includes Hong Kong and Macao. ListColombia74ListCosta Rica120ListCroatia1,24648ListCuba4,1958ListDenmark40670List "Facts and Figures ", Danish Defence, Defence Command Denmark. Retrieved 11 June 2010.Dominica31The island country of Dominica with a total area of includes two small offshore islands and one disputed island.ListEgypt1,048ListEstonia2,35522List Estonia has 800 islands more than hitherto believed - ERR.ee, 25 August 2015.Püsielanikud on 22 saarel - Statistikablogi, Statistikaameti ajaveeb, retrieved 23 October 2017.Equatorial Guinea8Fiji330110ListFinland198,1461,050There are 161,241 islands smaller than 0.5 hectares, representing 81% of the total.List France1,900109List Greece6,000227Depending on inclusion criteria counts vary from 1,200 to 6,000. The number inhabited is variously cited as between 166 and 227.ListGuinea-Bissau88ListGuyana365All the islands are in the Essequibo River.Haiti59ListHonduras102ListHong Kong See China.26315> only. "Many" or "most" are inhabited.ListIceland2,00041 large and "about 30 smaller islands, and thousands of rocks and skerries."ListIndia1,38247"Off-shore identified islands". The Andaman and Nicobar Islands comprise 572 islands, 37 of which are inhabited. Lakshadweep has 32 islands, 10 of which are inhabited.ListIndonesia17,5086,000Largest archipelagic state. 5 major islands and about 30 smaller groups, about 6,000 are inhabited.By locationBy areaBy population By extremitiesIran427ListIreland500ListItaly80877ListJapan14,12543014,125 islands with a circumference of at least .By areaBy locationKiribati332132 atolls and 1 limestone island; 21 islands are inhabited.ListLaos4,000Si Phan Don ("The 4000 Islands") is an archipalego in the Mekong River in southern Laos. It is allegedly made up of somewhere in the region of 4,000 small islands, but no one knows the exact number. Some islands are tiny and disappear during floods. Lebanon123There are 12 islands in Lebanon, 11 of which are off the coast of Tripoli, and 1 off the coast of Sidon. The biggest of which are the Palm Islands, followed by Sanani and Ramkeen, which was an inhabited island. The southern city of Tyre used to be an island up until the Siege of Tyre in 332 BC when the island was connected to mainland modern day Lebanon by Alexander the Great's forces in an attempt to capture the island. ListMacau See China.2Madagascar250ListMalaysia878The largest island, Borneo is shared with Brunei and Indonesia.ListMaldives1,1921871,192 islands in total of 10 atolls; 187 islands are inhabited.ListMalta2133 inhabited (Malta, Gozo and Comino), 3 islets and 12 "large rocks"ListMarshall Islands342429 atolls and 5 isolated islands.ListMauritius50ListMexico1,356131ListMicronesia60765Four major island groupsListNauru11The only island is itself.—New Zealand60022Approximate number within about of the two main islands; excludes associated states and Antarctic islands. Roughly 22 of New Zealand’s islands have people residing on them.ListNetherlands3415Of the Netherlands Of the Netherlands AntillesNorth Korea3,579ListNorth Macedonia30013 larger than , 6 on lakes, the rest on rivers.ListNorway 239,057200+ Kartverket (The Norwegian Mapping Authority) considers islands larger than proper islands, amounting to 239,057, with then 81,192 being skerries. An older source gives 53,789 islands, which may be the figure for coastal islands only.List Pakistan127Pakistan's largest island, AstolaListPalau2008Eight permanently inhabitedListPapua New Guinea600ListPeru233 8There is approximately in maritime islands and islets, and inside lakesListPERU: SUPERFICIE INSULAR, SEGUN REGION Y DEPARTAMENTO, Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (in Spanish)Philippines7,6412,000Thousands of islands are unnamed, and tiny.ListPoland203Usedom (shared with Germany) and Wolin are barrier islands; the rest are either lagoon, lake or river islands.ListPortugal1022323 portuguese islands are inhabited.ListRussia1,338140ListList of islands of Russia in Russian WikipediaSamoa124ListSaint Vincent and the Grenadines32ListSaudi Arabia1,2856ListScotlandSee United Kingdom.79094ListSenegal359ListSerbia 351–3Ostrovo is permanently populated, while Ada and Great War Island are occasionally inhabited. Most islands are on the Danube and Sava. ListSeychelles115ListSierra Leone19ListSingapore6432These include Sentosa, Pulau Ubin, St John's Island and Sisters' Islands.ListSolomon Islands992147ListSomalia140ListSouth Korea3,3582,876List Spain17921ListSri Lanka1003Most of the islands are situated in the north and eastern parts of the from the main land. The most prominent islets are west of the Jaffna Peninsula in the Northern Province. ListSudan20ListSweden267,570984Slightly more than 8,000 islands had some form of buildings in 2013, most uninhabited. More than 1.6 million (17% of population) people lived on an island in 2013. This figure is high because there are densely populated islands in the larger cities of Sweden.ListSyria51Arwad is the only inhabited island in Syria. Inland islands were not included.ListTaiwan168ListThailand1,43047ListTonga16936The total surface area of the archipelago is about , scattered over of the southern Pacific Ocean.ListTürkiye500ListTuvalu99Six atolls and 3 reef islands.ListUnited Kingdom6,346129Includes all offshore islands marked on Ordnance Survey maps. England, Scotland & Wales: 6289; Northern Ireland: 57. (Not included: Isle of Man: 30; Bailiwick of Guernsey: 57; Bailiwick of Jersey: 274; overseas dependencies.)Inhabited islands. England: 24; Scotland: 93; Wales: 9; Northern Ireland: 2; Britain: 1.ListUganda84Most islands are in Lake Victoria. ListUnited States28,449This is an incomplete number, only listing the top eight states for islands. States have different methods of counting islands, Alaska for instance only counted islands that have been named.ListVanuatu 83ListVenezuela650350Most of them are virgin landsand Margarita Island is the largest island of Venezuela. List Vietnam3,000List

See also List of archipelagos by number of islands List of countries by largest island Lists of islands

References

External links Global Island Network – Island Links Directory