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 criteria for inclusion appear to differ considerably between the countries so they are not necessarily directly comparable. 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 top 50 countries will have their islands determined by the following definition: “An island is a land mass 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.”^[1]

List

Country	No. of islands	No. of inhabited islands	Notes	List link	Source(s)
Algeria	240		32 islands and 208 islets; coastal islands/islets only.	List	[2]
Antigua and Barbuda	54	2	Three main islands (Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda) and 51 offshore islands	List	[3][4]
Australia	8,222	19		List	[5]
Azerbaijan	16	1		List	[6]
Bangladesh	23			List	[citation needed]
Barbados	4	1	There are currently two islands and two banks in Barbados. An additional historical island (Pelican Island) no longer exists.	List	[7]
Bulgaria	117			List	[citation needed]
Cambodia	71	9		List	[8]
Canada	52,455	260	Canada has several large inhabited islands, including Prince Edward Island, Vancouver Island, Montreal, and Manitoulin Island.	List	[1]
Cape Verde	15	9	10 islands and 5 islets	List	[9]
Chile	43,471	2,324	3,739 islands (above 9,000 m2 (97,000 sq ft)) and 2180 islets (above 3,000 m2 (32,000 sq ft))	List	[10][11]
China	6,961	433	500 m2 (5,400 sq ft) only. Excludes Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.	List	[12]
Croatia	1,246	48		List	[13]
Cuba	4,195	8		List	[14]
Denmark	406	70		List	[15]
Dominica	3	1	The island nation of Dominica with a total area of 750 km2 (290 sq mi) includes two small, off-shore islands and one disputed island:	List	[16][17]
Estonia	2,355	22		List	[18][19]
Fiji	330	110		List	[citation needed]
Finland	178,947	780		List	[20]
France	1,900+	109		List	[21]
Greece	6,000	227	Depending on inclusion criteria counts vary from 1,200[22] to 6,000.[23] The number inhabited is variously cited as between 166[24] and 227.[23]	List	[23]
Hong Kong	263	15	>500 m2 (5,400 sq ft) only. "Many" or "most" are inhabited.	List	[25]
Iceland	31	4	1 large and "about 30 smaller islands, and thousands of rocks and skerries."	List	[26]
India	1,382	47	"Off-shore identified islands". The Andaman and Nicobar Islands comprise 572 islands, 37 of which are inhabited.[27] Lakshadweep has 32 islands, 10 of which are inhabited.[28]	List	[29]
Indonesia	17,508	6,000	Largest archipelagic state. 5 major islands and about 30 smaller groups, about 6,000 are inhabited.	By location By area By population By extremities	[30]
Italy	808	77		List	[citation needed]
Japan	14,125	430	14,125 islands with a circumference of at least 0.1 km (0.06 mi).	By area By location	[31][32][33]
Kiribati	33	21	32 atolls and 1 limestone island; 21 islands are inhabited.	List	[34]
Lebanon	12	3	There 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.[35]	List	[36]
Malaysia	878		The largest island, Borneo is shared with Brunei and Indonesia.	List	[citation needed]
Maldives	1,192	187	1,192 islands in total of 10 atolls; 187 islands are inhabited.	List	[37]
Malta	21	3	3 inhabited (Malta, Gozo and Comino), 3 islets and 12 "large rocks"	List	[38]
Marshall Islands	34	24	29 atolls and 5 isolated islands.	List	[39][40]
Mexico	1,356	131		List	[41]
Micronesia	607	65	Four major island groups	List	[42][43]
Nauru	1	1		—	[44]
New Zealand	600	22	Approximate number within about 50 km (31 mi) of the two main islands; excludes associated states and Antarctic islands. Roughly 22 of Aotearoa's islands have people residing on them.	List	[45]
Netherlands	34	15		Of the Netherlands Of the Netherlands Antilles	[citation needed]
North Macedonia	30	0	13 larger than 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres), 6 on lakes, the rest on rivers.	List	[46]
Norway	239,057	60+	There are a total of 320,249 islands, islets, or skerries along the coast of Norway. Kartverket (The Norwegian Mapping Authority) considers islands larger than 10 m2 (110 sq ft) proper islands, amounting to 239,057, with then 81,192 being skerries; however, by the definition used in this list, all 320,249 are considered islands. An older source gives 53,789 islands, which may be the figure for coastal islands only.[47]	List	[48][49]
Pakistan	12	7	Pakistan's largest island, Astola	List	[50]
Palau	200	8	Eight permanently inhabited	List	[51]
Peru	233	8	There is approximately 94.36 km (58.63 mi)[clarification needed] in maritime islands and islets, and 39.04 km (24.26 mi) inside lakes	List	[52]
Philippines	7,641	2,000	Thousands of islands are unnamed, and tiny.	List	[53][54]
Poland	203		Usedom (shared with Germany) and Wolin are barrier islands; the rest are either lagoon, lake or river islands.	List	[55]
Portugal	102	23	23 portuguese islands are inhabited.	List	[citation needed]
Russia	1,338	140		List	[56]
Samoa	12	4		List	[57]
Senegal	35	9		List	[citation needed]
Serbia	35	1–3	Ostrovo is permanently populated, while Ada and Great War Island are occasionally inhabited. Most islands are on the Danube and Sava.	List	[citation needed]
Singapore	64	32	These include Sentosa, Pulau Ubin, St John's Island and Sisters' Islands.	List	[58]
South Korea	3,358	2,876		List	[59]
Spain	60	21		List	[citation needed]
Sri Lanka	61	3	Most 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.	List	[citation needed]
Sweden	267,570	984	Slightly 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.	List	[60]
Scotland See United Kingdom.	900	118	More than 900 islands, of which 118 are inhabited.	List	[citation needed]
Thailand	1,430	47		List	[citation needed]
Tonga	169	36	The total surface area of the archipelago is about 750 km2 (290 sq mi), scattered over 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) of the southern Pacific Ocean.	List	[61]
Tuvalu	9	9	Six atolls and 3 reef islands.	List	[62]
United Kingdom	6,346	129	Includes all offshore islands marked on Ordnance Survey maps. England, Scotland & Wales: 6289; Northern Ireland: 57. (Not included: Isle of Man: 30[dubious – discuss]; Bailiwick of Guernsey: 57[dubious – discuss]; Bailiwick of Jersey: 274[dubious – discuss]; overseas dependencies.) Inhabited islands. England: 24; Scotland: 93;[63] Wales: 9;[64] Northern Ireland: 2; Britain[clarification needed]: 1.	List	[65]
United States	18,617	10,000 [dubious – discuss]		List	[66]
Venezuela	650	350	Most of them are virgin lands[clarification needed]and Margarita Island is the largest island of Venezuela.	List	[citation needed]

See also

• List of archipelagos by number of islands
• List of countries by largest island
• Lists of islands