List of island countries


An island is a landmass that is surrounded by water. Many island countries are spread over an archipelago, as is the case with Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines—these countries consist of thousands of islands. Others consist of a single island, such as Barbados, Dominica, and Nauru; a main island and some smaller islands, such as Cuba, Iceland, and Sri Lanka; a part of an island, such as Brunei, the Dominican Republic, East Timor, and the Republic of Ireland; or one main island but also sharing borders in other islands, such as the United Kingdom.
The list also includes two states in free association with New Zealand, the Cook Islands and Niue, as well as two states with limited diplomatic recognition which have de facto control over territories entirely on the islands, Northern Cyprus and Taiwan. In total, 50 island countries have been included in the lists.
Australia is not included as it is considered a continental country, although it was historically referred to as an island country because of its lack of land borders. Greenland is generally considered as the largest island on Earth and listed among the island territories. Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea is officially an unincorporated territory of the United States. Neither Greenland nor Puerto Rico are sovereign countries.
Indonesia is the world's largest island country by area, and by total number of islands. It is also the world's most populous island country, with a population of over 270 million.
South America has only one independent sovereign island nation with Trinidad and Tobago; though considered a Caribbean island country, it is located on the northern portion of the South American continental shelf just off Venezuela, but from Grenada, the nearest of the Antilles.

Former colonies, possessions, protectorates, and other territories

Island countries with man-made fixed links to continents