List of island countries

thumb|350px|Map depicts [[sovereign states and a de facto state (Taiwan) (tw) fully located on islands: those with land borders shaded green, and those without shaded dark blue. Countries/territories not shown on the map: Antarctica (aq) (continental disputed territory), Australia (au) (continental country), the Cook Islands (ck) and Niue (nu) (free association with New Zealand), Greenland (gl) and the Faroe Islands (fo) (constituent countries of the Kingdom of Denmark), Northern Cyprus (ct.tr and nc.tr) (unrecognized country), and Puerto Rico (pr) (unincorporated U.S. territory).]]

An island is a landmass (smaller than a continent) 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, Timor-Leste, and the Republic of Ireland; or one main island but also sharing borders in other islands, such as the United Kingdom (Great Britain and a part of Ireland).

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 (1,904,569 km2), and by total number of islands (17,504 islands). It is also the world's most populous island country, with a population of over 270 million (the fourth most populous country in the world, after India, China, and the United States).

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.

Sovereign states

UN member states and states with limited recognition

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi"

!rowspan=2 | Name

!rowspan=2 | ISO code

!rowspan=2 | Geographic configuration

!rowspan=2 | Geologic location

!data-sort-type="number" colspan=2 | Area

!data-sort-type="number" rowspan=2 | Population

!data-sort-type="number" colspan=2 | Population density

!rowspan=2 | Geographical location

!rowspan=2 | Establishment/ Independence

!sq mi

!per

!per sq mi

|-style="background:#e6e6e6"

! colspan="11" | UN member states

| AG ATG

| Two main islands:

Antigua Island

Barbuda Island

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|97,120

| Caribbean Sea, Lesser Antilles

| 1981 November 1

| BS BHS

| Archipelago

| Various

| style="text-align:right"|389,480

| Atlantic Ocean, Lucayan Archipelago

| 1973 July 10

| BH BHR

| Archipelago with one main island

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|1,641,170

| Persian Gulf

| 1971 December 10

| BB BRB

| One main island

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|287,020

| Caribbean Sea, Lesser Antilles

| 1966 November 30

| BN BRN

| Part of a larger island (Borneo)

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|433,290

| Maritime Southeast Asia

| 1984 January 1

| CV CPV

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|549,930

| Atlantic Ocean, Macaronesia

| 1975 July 5

| KM COM

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|850,890

| Indian Ocean, Africa, Comoros Islands

| 1975 July 6

| CU CUB

| One main island, and several smaller islands (Isla de la Juventud, etc.)

| Various

|style="text-align:right"| 11,346,346

| Caribbean Sea, Greater Antilles

| 1868 October 10

1902 May 20

| CY CYP

| Part of a larger island

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|888,005

| Mediterranean Sea

| 1960 August 16

| DM DMA

| One main island

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|71,810

| Caribbean Sea, Lesser Antilles

| 1978 November 3

| DO DOM

| Part of a larger island (Hispaniola), and several smaller islands (Alto Velo, Catalina, Saona, Beata, etc.)

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|10,738,960

| Caribbean Sea, Greater Antilles

| 1821 December 1

1844 February 27

| TL TLS

| Part of a larger island (Timor)

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|1,293,120

| Maritime Southeast Asia, Lesser Sunda Islands

| 2002 May 20

| FJ FJI

| Archipelago with two main islands:

Viti Levu

Vanua Levu

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|889,950

| Pacific Ocean, Melanesia

| 1970 October 10

| GD GRD

| One main island with two island dependencies (Carriacou and Petite Martinique)

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|112,000

| Caribbean Sea, Lesser Antilles

| 1974 February 7

| HT HTI

| Part of a larger island (Hispaniola), and several smaller islands (Gonâve, Tortuga, Les Cayemites, etc.)

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|11,743,017

| Caribbean Sea, Greater Antilles

| 1804 January 1

| IS ISL

| One main island

| Various

| style="text-align:right"|361,310

| Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Circle

| 1918 December 1 1944 June 17

| ID IDN

| Archipelago, including parts of larger islands (Borneo, New Guinea, Sebatik, and Timor)

| Various

|style="text-align:right"| 270,625,570

| Maritime Southeast Asia, Indian and Pacific oceans

| 1945 August 17

| IE IRL

| Part of a larger island (Ireland), and several smaller islands

| Continental shelf

|style="text-align:right"| 4,977,400

| Atlantic Ocean, British Isles

| 1922 December 6

| JM JAM

| One main island with an archipelago of islets (inc. Morant Cays, Pedro Cays, and Port Royal Cays)

| Various

| style="text-align:right"|2,734,092

| Caribbean Sea, Greater Antilles

| 1962 August 6

| JP JPN

| Four main islands and thousands of surrounding islands

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|126,264,930

| Pacific Ocean, East Asia

| 660 BC February 11

| KI KIR

| Several separated archipelagos

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|117,610

| Pacific Ocean, Micronesia

| 1979 July 12

| MG MDG

| One main island

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|26,969,310

| Indian Ocean, Africa

| 1960 June 26

| MV MDV

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|383,976

| Indian Ocean, Laccadive Sea

| 1965 July 26

| MT MLT

| Two main islands (Malta Island and Gozo) plus other smaller islands

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|502,650

| Mediterranean Sea

| 1964 September 21

| MH MHL

| Two archipelagos

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|58,790

| Pacific Ocean, Micronesia

| 1979 May 1

| MU MUS

| Archipelago with one main island

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|1,265,710

| Indian Ocean, Africa, Mascarene Islands

| 1968 March 12

|style="text-align:right"| 5,125,451

| Pacific Ocean, Polynesia

| 1907 September 26

| style="text-align:right"|97,630

| Indian Ocean, Africa

| 1976 June 29

| SG SGP

| An archipelago with one main island

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|5,703,570

| Maritime Southeast Asia

| 1965 August 9

| SB SLB

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|669,820

| Pacific Ocean, Melanesia

| 1978 July 7

| LK LKA

| One main island, plus other small islands

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|21,803,000

| Indian Ocean, South Asia

| 1948 February 4

| TO TON

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|104,490

| Pacific Ocean, Polynesia

| 1970 June 4

| TT TTO

| An archipelago with two main islands:

Trinidad Island

Tobago Island

| Various

| style="text-align:right"|1,394,970

| Caribbean Sea, Lesser Antilles

| 1962 August 31

| TV TUV

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|11,650

| Pacific Ocean, Polynesia

| 1978 October 1

| GB or UK GBR

| One main island, part of second island (Ireland), plus several archipelagos

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|67,886,004

| Atlantic Ocean, British Isles

| 1707 May 1

| VU VUT

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|299,880

| Pacific Ocean, Melanesia

| 1980 July 30

|-style="background:#e6e6e6"

! colspan="11" | States with limited recognition

| CY CYP

| Part of a larger island (Cyprus)

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|313,626

| Mediterranean Sea

| 1974 July 20 (unlawful usurpation of Cypriot rule by Turkish minority)

| TW TWN

| One main island and several smaller islands

| Continental shelf

| style="text-align:right"|23,603,121

| Pacific Ocean, East Asia

| 1912 January 1 1949 December 7

Associated states

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!rowspan=2 | Name

!rowspan=2 | ISO code

!rowspan=2 | Geographic configuration

!rowspan=2 | Geologic location

!rowspan=2 | Associated with

!colspan=2 | Area

!rowspan=2 | Population

!colspan=2 | Density

!rowspan=2 | Geographical location

!sq mi

!per sq mi

| CK COK

| Two archipelagos

| Oceanic

| style="text-align:right"|10,777

| Pacific Ocean, Polynesia

| Continental shelf

| 28,355

| Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia

| AS ASM

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| 54,947

| Pacific Ocean, Polynesia

| IN IND

| Two neighbouring archipelagos of the Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands

| Continental shelf

| 380,520

| Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea

| AI AIA

| One main island

| Oceanic

| United Kingdom

| 15,423

| Caribbean Sea, Lesser Antilles

| AW ABW

| One main island

| Continental shelf

| 107,635

| Caribbean Sea, Lesser Antilles

| BM BMU

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| United Kingdom

| 62,500

| Atlantic Ocean, North America

| BV BVT

| One island

| Oceanic

| No permanent resident

| Southern Ocean

| IO IOT

| Archipelago (The Chagos Archipelago)

| Oceanic

| United Kingdom

| 3,140

| Atlantic Ocean, South America

| FO FRO

| Archipelago

|Continental shelf

| Denmark

| 49,483

| Atlantic Ocean

| PF PYF

| Five archipelagos:

The Society Islands The Tuamotu Archipelago The Gambier Islands The Marquesas Islands The Austral Islands

| Oceanic

| 274,512

| Pacific Ocean, Polynesia

| TF ATF

| Several scattered archipelagos — Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands and the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean — plus Adélie Land (432,000 km2 claim to uninhabited territory in Antarctica)

| Oceanic

| 150

| Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean

| Galápagos Islands

| EC ECU

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| 33,042

| Pacific Ocean

| GL GRL

| One main island with several archipelagos

| Continental shelf

| Denmark

| 57,695

| North America

| GP GLP

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| 405,500

| Caribbean Sea, Lesser Antilles

| GG GGY

| Three main islands:

| Continental shelf

| United Kingdom

| 65,849

| English Channel, Channel Islands

| HM HMD

| Two main islands (Heard Island and McDonald Island)

| Oceanic

| No permanent resident

| Southern Ocean

| SJ SJM

| Archipelago

| Continental shelf

| 2,763

| Arctic Ocean

| TK TKL

| Archipelago

| Oceanic

| New Zealand

| 1,368

| Pacific Ocean, Polynesia

| TC TCA

| Archipelago of two island groups

| Continental shelf

| United Kingdom

| 46,335

| Atlantic Ocean, Lucayan Archipelago

| UM UMI

| Loose scattered archipelago of eight Pacific insular areas with one Caribbean (Navassa Island)

| Oceanic

| 300

| Pacific Ocean, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Caribbean Sea

| Caribbean Sea, Lesser Antilles

| WF WLF

| Three main islands of:

(Wallis) Hoorn Islands of Futuna and Alofi Island

| Oceanic

| 15,289

| Pacific Ocean, Polynesia

Former sovereign island nations and primarily island-based countries

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

Oceania

Former colonies, possessions, protectorates, and other territories

Annobón (1474–1778), now part of Equatorial Guinea
Bay Islands, now a department of Honduras
Cape Breton Island, now part of Nova Scotia, Canada
Danish West Indies, now the United States Virgin Islands
Elobey, Annobón and Corisco (1843–1926) unified with the rest of Spanish Guinea
Fernando Po (1778–1926)
The Territory of Hawaii, now Hawaii, a state of the United States
Heligoland (1807–1890)
Hong Kong Island (1841–1860), now a part of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China
United States of the Ionian Islands, protectorate of the United Kingdom.
Septinsular Republic, protectorate in the Ionian Islands under nominal Russo-Ottoman joint sovereignty.
Labuan, briefly part of British North Borneo, the Straits Settlements and Sabah, now a federal territory of Malaysia
Mayotte, now an overseas department and region of France
Minorca (1713–1802)
Colony of Newfoundland (1583–1907)
New Hebrides, now Vanuatu
British North Borneo
Padang
Prince of Wales Island between 1786 and 1800, at that point joined by Province Wellesley (now Seberang Perai). Now as the state of Penang in the Malaysian federation.
Prince Edward Island, now a province of Canada
The Providence Island colony
Queen Charlotte Islands
Réunion, now an overseas department and region of France
, former British overseas territory dissolved in 1983.
Socotra Archipelago, now a governorate of Yemen
Tasmania, now a state of Australia, shares a land boundary with Victoria on Boundary Islet
Vancouver Island, now a part of British Columbia, Canada
People's Republic of Zanzibar, now a member of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Island countries with man-made fixed links to continents

to via the King Fahd Causeway
to via the Johor–Singapore Causeway since 1924, with the Tuas Second Link added in 1998
to via the Channel Tunnel

Notes

References

External links

Island superlatives

Sovereign states

UN member states and states with limited recognition

Associated states

Former sovereign island nations and primarily island-based countries

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

Oceania

Former colonies, possessions, protectorates, and other territories

Island countries with man-made fixed links to continents

See also

Notes

References

External links