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. of
islands		No. of inhabited
islands		NotesList linkSource
Albania142List
Algeria24032 islands and 208 islets; coastal islands/islets only.List
Antigua and Barbuda542Three main islands and 51 offshore islands.List
Argentina152Some additional islands are disputed.List
Australia8,22219List
Azerbaijan161List
Bahamas700List
Bangladesh700List
Barbados41There are currently two islands and two banks in Barbados. An additional historical island no longer exists.List
Belize450List
Bosnia and Herzegovina2Among the world's coastal countries, only Monaco has a shorter coastline than Bosnia and Herzegovina.List
Brazil1,200List
Brunei33List
Bulgaria117List
Cambodia719List
Canada52,455260Canada has several large inhabited islands, including Prince Edward Island, Vancouver Island, Montreal, and Manitoulin Island.List
Cape Verde15910 islands and 5 isletsList
Chile43,4712,3243,739 islands and 2180 islets List
China7,226433 only. Includes Hong Kong and Macao.List
Colombia74List
Costa Rica120List
Croatia1,24648List
Cuba4,1958List
Denmark40670List
Dominica31The island country of Dominica with a total area of includes two small offshore islands and one disputed island.List
Egypt1,048List
Estonia2,35522List
Equatorial Guinea8
Fiji330110List
Finland178,947780List
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.List
Guinea Bissau88List
Guyana365All the islands are in the Essequibo River.
Haiti59List
Honduras102List
Hong Kong
See China.		26315> only. "Many" or "most" are inhabited.List
Iceland2,00041 large and "about 30 smaller islands, and thousands of rocks and skerries."List
India1,38247"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.List
Indonesia17,5086,000Largest archipelagic state. 5 major islands and about 30 smaller groups, about 6,000 are inhabited.By location
By area
By population
By extremities
Iran427List
Ireland500List
Italy80877List
Japan14,12543014,125 islands with a circumference of at least.By area
By location
Kiribati332132 atolls and 1 limestone island; 21 islands are inhabited.List
Laos4,000Si Phan Don 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.List
Macau
See China.		2
Madagascar250List
Malaysia878The largest island, Borneo is shared with Brunei and Indonesia.List
Maldives1,1921871,192 islands in total of 10 atolls; 187 islands are inhabited.List
Malta2133 inhabited, 3 islets and 12 "large rocks"List
Marshall Islands342429 atolls and 5 isolated islands.List
Mauritius50List
Mexico1,356131List
Micronesia60765Four major island groupsList
Nauru11—
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.List
Netherlands3415Of the Netherlands
Of the Netherlands Antilles
North Korea3,579List
North Macedonia30013 larger than, 6 on lakes, the rest on rivers.List
Norway239,057200+There are a total of 320,249 islands, islets, or skerries along the coast of Norway. Kartverket considers islands larger than 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.List
Pakistan127Pakistan's largest island, AstolaList
Palau2008Eight permanently inhabitedList
Papua New Guinea600List
Peru2338There is approximately in maritime islands and islets, and inside lakesList
Philippines7,6412,000Thousands of islands are unnamed, and tiny.List
Poland203Usedom and Wolin are barrier islands; the rest are either lagoon, lake or river islands.List
Portugal1022323 portuguese islands are inhabited.List
Russia1,338140List
Samoa124List
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines32List
Saudi Arabia1,2856List
Scotland
See United Kingdom.		79094List
Senegal359List
Serbia351–3Ostrovo is permanently populated, while Ada and Great War Island are occasionally inhabited. Most islands are on the Danube and Sava.List
Seychelles115List
Sierra Leone19List
Singapore6432These include Sentosa, Pulau Ubin, St John's Island and Sisters' Islands.List
Solomon Islands992147List
Somalia140List
South Korea3,3582,876List
Spain17921List
Sri 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.List
Sudan20List
Sweden267,570984Slightly more than 8,000 islands had some form of buildings in 2013, most uninhabited. More than 1.6 million people lived on an island in 2013. This figure is high because there are densely populated islands in the larger cities of Sweden.List
Syria51Arwad is the only inhabited island in Syria. Inland islands were not included.List
Taiwan168List
Thailand1,43047List
Tonga16936The total surface area of the archipelago is about, scattered over of the southern Pacific Ocean.List
Türkiye500List
Tuvalu99Six atolls and 3 reef islands.List
United Kingdom6,346129Includes all offshore islands marked on Ordnance Survey maps. England, Scotland & Wales: 6289; Northern Ireland: 57.
Inhabited islands. England: 24; Scotland: 93; Wales: 9; Northern Ireland: 2; Britain: 1.		List
Uganda84Most islands are in Lake Victoria.List
United States18,61710,000 List
Vanuatu83List
Venezuela650350Most of them are virgin landsand Margarita Island is the largest island of Venezuela.List
Vietnam3,000List