List of island countries
This is a list of island countries. An "island country", also called a borderless country, is an insular territory over which a nation-state maintains sovereignty under international law, that does not share the land territory of any of its islands with other nation-states which are sovereign under international law. For example, the Republic of Ireland shares the island of Ireland with the United Kingdom (through Northern Ireland) and thus is not borderless. Madagascar, on the other hand, is defined as a borderless country because it controls an entire island. An island country does not have to be located on a single island and can spread over an archipelago, such as the Federated States of Micronesia and the Philippines which consist of thousands of islands.
Cuba is a disputed case of an island nation because the United States exercises effective sovereignty over part of Guantanamo Bay.Template:Fn Cyprus Template:Fn is no longer a disputed case, as the British Akrotiri and Dhekelia Sovereign Base Areas are currently accorded full status by nearly all relevant authorities as full-fledged sovereign British dependencies.
Current
By political status
Independent
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Brunei
- Cape Verde
- Comoros
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- East Timor
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Fiji
- Grenada
- Haiti
- Iceland
- Indonesia
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Kiribati
- Madagascar
- Maldives
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Nauru
- New Zealand
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Republic of China (Taiwan) note 2
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- United Kingdom
Independence under dispute
- Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (de jure part of Cyprus, recognized by only Turkey)
Autonomous, colonies and semi-autonomous
- Åland
- Alderney
- American Samoa²
- Anguilla
- Aruba
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Christmas Island
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Cook Islands¹
- Faroe Islands
- Falkland Islands
- Greenland
- Guam²
- Guernsey
- Jersey
- Isle of Man
- Macau
- Montserrat
- New Caledonia
- Niue¹
- Norfolk Island
- Northern Mariana Islands²
- Pitcairn Islands
- Puerto Rico²
- Sark
- Saint Helena
- Tokelau¹
- U.S. Virgin Islands²
By geographic configuration
Centered on one major island
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Christmas Island
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- East Timor
- Iceland
- Jamaica
- Madagascar
- Malta
- Nauru
- New Caledonia
- Norfolk Island
- Saint Lucia
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Taiwan
Spread over group of islands (including parts of archipelagoes and island arcs)
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Cayman Islands
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Comoros
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Fiji
- Grenada
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Kiribati
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- New Zealand
- Philippines
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Seychelles
- Solomon Islands
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tokelau
Island shared between two or more states
Continental shelf
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Madagascar
- Malta
- Philippines
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Taiwan
- United Kingdom
- Trinidad and Tobago
Oceanic ridges or atolls
- Cape Verde
- Comoros
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Fiji
- Iceland
- Kiribati
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Nauru
- New Zealand
- Palau
- Samoa
- Seychelles
- Solomon Islands
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
Former nations
Historical
- Andros
- Delos
- Dominion of Newfoundland - ³
- Duchy of the Archipelago
- Khios
- Kingdom of Cyprus
- Kingdom of Great Britain
- Kingdom of Hawai‘i
- Kingdom of Ireland
- Kingdom of Majorca
- Kingdom of Man
- Irish Free State
- Kediri
- Lesbos
- Majapahit Empire
- Mataram Sultanate
- Merina
- Micronesian Empire
- Milos
- Minoans
- Pholegandros
- Rhodes
- Republic of Formosa
- Republic of Genoa
- Republic of Hawai‘i
- Ryūkyū Kingdom
- Sailendra
- Samos
- Sese Islands
- Srivijaya
- Tu'i Tonga Empire
- Venice
- West Indies Federation, split up into Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tobago, Trinidad, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
- Zakynthos
Former colonies, possessions, protectorates and territories
- Cape Breton Island, now part of Nova Scotia, Canada
- Danish West Indies, now the United States Virgin Islands
- Territory of Hawai‘i, a US territory from 1898 to 1959, now part of the United States.
- Hong Kong (1841-1860), now a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. - note 3
- Labuan, briefly part of British North Borneo, the Strait settlements and Sabah, now a federal territory of Malaysia
- Macau (1557-1999), now a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.
- Newfoundland (1583-1809), now Province of Newfoundland and Labrador of Canada - ³
- New Hebrides, now Vanuatu
- Prince Edward Island, now a province of Canada
- Réunion, now an overseas department of France
- Socotra, now part of Yemen
- Tasmania, now a part of Australia
- Vancouver Island, now a part of British Columbia, Canada
- Zanzibar and Pemba, now parts of Tanzania
Alphabetical list of island countries
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Cape Verde
- Republic of China (Taiwan) Template:Fn
- Comoros
- Cuba Template:Fn
- Dominica
- Fiji
- Grenada
- Iceland
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Kiribati
- Madagascar
- Maldives
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Nauru
- New ZealandTemplate:Fn
- Palau
- Philippines
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
List of borderless dependent territories
- ÅlandTemplate:Fn
- Aruba
- American Samoa
- Anguilla
- Ashmore and Cartier Islands
- Baker Island
- Bermuda
- Bouvet Island
- Cayman Islands
- Christmas Island
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Cook Islands
- Coral Sea Islands Territory
- Falkland Islands Template:Fn
- Faroe Islands
- French Polynesia
- French Southern and Antarctic Territories Template:Fn
- Greenland
- Guam
- Guernsey
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands
- Howland Island
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Isle of Man
- Jan Mayen
- Jarvis Island
- Jersey Template:Fn
- Johnston Atoll
- Kingman Reef
- Martinique
- Mayotte
- Midway Atoll
- Montserrat
- Navassa Island
- New Caledonia
- Niue
- Norfolk Island
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Palmyra Atoll
- Pitcairn Islands
- Puerto Rico
- Réunion
- Saint Helena
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Svalbard Template:Fn
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Template:Fn
- Tokelau
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- British Virgin Islands
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Wake Island
- Wallis and Futuna
Notes
¹ The Cook Islands and Niue are in free association with New Zealand. See Niue Constitution Act 1974 (NZ). Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand.
² An associated state of or in association with the United States.
3 The Colony of Newfoundland covers the island of Newfoundland before 1808. In 1808, part of the peninsula of Labrador was transferred to Newfoundland from Lower Canada. In other words, before 1808, Newfoundland was an island colony. From 1808 onwards, the Colony of Newfoundland, and later the Dominion of Newfoundland, had been an island plus an area on the continent of North America.
4 The Crown Colony of Hong Kong covers only Hong Kong Island from 1841 to 1860. Kowloon south of Boundary Street on the continent was added in 1860, and extended to include the New Territories in 1898.
5 See also Chinese Civil War, political status of Taiwan and legal status of Taiwan.
Footnotes
- Template:Fnb Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is a U.S. lease.
- Template:Fnb The Republic of China (often referred as "Taiwan") only controls the islands of Taiwan, Matsu, Kinmen, Penghu etc. after the Chinese Civil War, but has not formally renounced claim on areas currently under control of People's Republic of China, Mongolia, Tuva (a Russian republic), etc. If those territories are taken into account, the Republic of China is not a borderless country. It is also claimed by the People's Republic of China as part of its One-China policy. See Legal status of Taiwan and Political status of Taiwan.
- Template:Fnb The north part of Cyprus is not controlled by Republic of Cyprus, but due to Turkish invasion there is the de facto state of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey.
- Template:Fnb New Zealand maintains claims to territory in Antarctica, so can technically be regarded as having land borders there.
- Template:Fnb Market Reef defines the border between Finland and Sweden. The lighthouse on the reef is administered directly from Finland and is usually not considered a part of the autonomous Åland Islands.
- Template:FnbThe Falkland Islands and South Georgia are contested by Argentina
- Template:FnbFrance claims territory in Antarctica and as such can technically be regarded as having land borders there. Otherwise, islands administered in this overseas territory have no land borders.
- Template:Fnb The Minquiers off Jersey are claimed by France.
- Template:FnbAdministered by Norway under the Svalbard Treaty.
See also
- Island nation
- List of countries that border only one other country
- Thalassocracy
- List of island countries by population
- List of island countries by area
- List of island countries by population density