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List of island countries

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Countries fully on islands
Countries without land borders

This is a list of island countries. An island is a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water.[1] Many island countries are spread over an archipelago, as is the case with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Philippines (which consists of thousands of islands). Others consist of a single island, such as Nauru. Some declared island countries are not universally recognized as politically independent. Debate exists as to the status of Australia. Although often considered to be a continent, it remains often referred to as an island, and has no land borders.

Current

Sovereign States

Name Geographic configuration Geologic location Population Area (km²) Density (per km²)
 Antigua and Barbuda Centred on two major islands Continental shelf 85,632 440 194
 Australia Centred on two major islands[2] Australian continent 22,547,870 7,686,848 2.93
 Bahamas Spread over a group of islands Continental shelf 330,000 13,878 23.27
 Bahrain Centred on one major island Continental shelf 791,000 750 1,189.5
 Barbados Centred on one major island Continental shelf 269,556 430 627
 Brunei Part of a larger island Continental shelf 388,190 5,765 67.3
 Cape Verde Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 567,000 4,033 125.5
 Comoros Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 798,000 2,235 275
 Cuba Centred on one major island Continental shelf 11,241,161 109,884 102.3
 Cyprus[n 1] Centred on one major island (de jure)
Part of a larger island (de facto) 		Continental shelf 793,963 9,251 85
 Dominica Centred on one major island Continental shelf 72,660 754 105
 Dominican Republic Part of a larger island Continental shelf 10,990,000 48,442 208.2
 East Timor Part of a larger island Continental shelf 1,066,582 14,874 76.2
 Federated States of Micronesia[n 2] Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 111,000 702 158.1
 Fiji Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 849,000 18,274 46.4
 Grenada Centred on one major island Continental shelf 110,000 344 319.8
 Haiti Part of a larger island Continental shelf 9,700,000 27,750 350
 Iceland Centred on one major island Oceanic 316,252 103,000 3.1
 Indonesia Spread over a group of Islands Two continental shelves 237,556,363 1,904,569 124.7
 Ireland Centred on part of one major island Continental shelf 4,588,252 70273 65.3
 Jamaica Centred on one major island Continental shelf 2,847,232 10,991 252
 Japan Spread over a group of islands Continental shelf 127,433,494 377,873 337
 Kiribati Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 98,000 811 135
 Madagascar Centred on one major island Oceanic 20,653,556 587,041 35.2
 Maldives Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 329,198 298 1,105
 Malta Centred on two major islands Continental shelf 404,500 316 1,282
 Marshall Islands[n 2] Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 62,000 181 342.5
 Mauritius Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 1,244,663 2,040 610
 Nauru Single island Oceanic 13,635 21 649
 New Zealand Centred on two major islands Continental shelf 4,027,947 268,680 15
 Northern Cyprus[n 1] Part of a larger island Continental shelf 285,359 3,355 78
 Palau[n 2] Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 20,000 459 43.6
 Papua New Guinea Part of a larger island Continental shelf 6,732,000 462,840 14.5
 Philippines Spread over a group of islands Continental shelf 88,574,614 300,000 295
 Saint Kitts and Nevis Centred on two major islands Continental shelf 51,300 261 164
 Saint Lucia Centred on one major island Continental shelf 173,765 616 298
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Centred on one major island Continental shelf 120,000 389 307
 Samoa Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 179,000 2,831 63.2
 São Tomé and Príncipe Centred on two major islands Continental shelf 163,000 1,001 169.1
 Seychelles Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 87,500 455 192
 Singapore Centred on one major island Continental shelf 5,076,700 694 7,315
 Solomon Islands Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 523,000 28,400 18.1
 Sri Lanka Centred on one major island Continental shelf 20,650,000 65,610 314
 Taiwan [n 3] Centred on one major island Continental shelf 22,911,292 36,188 633
 Tonga Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 104,000 748 139
 Trinidad and Tobago Centred on two major islands Continental shelf 1,299,953 5,131 254.4
 Tuvalu Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 12,373 26 475.88
 United Kingdom Centred on one major island Continental shelf 60,587,300 244,820 246
 Vanuatu Spread over a group of islands Oceanic 243,304 12,190 19.7

Dependencies and other notable regions

Name Geographic configuration Geologic location Sovereign state
 Åland[n 4] Spread over a group of islands Continental shelf  Finland
 Alderney Single island Continental shelf  Guernsey

 United Kingdom

 American Samoa Spread over a group of islands Oceanic  United States
 Anguilla Centred on one major island Continental shelf  United Kingdom
 Aruba Single island Continental shelf  Netherlands
 Ashmore and Cartier Islands Continental shelf  Australia
 Baker Island Single island Oceanic  United States
 Bermuda Single island Oceanic  United Kingdom
 Bouvet Island Single island Oceanic  Norway
 British Indian Ocean Territory Spread over a group of islands Oceanic  United Kingdom
 British Virgin Islands Spread over a group of islands Continental shelf  United Kingdom
 Caribbean Netherlands Spread over 3 major islands Continental shelf  Netherlands
 Cayman Islands Spread over a group of islands Continental shelf  United Kingdom
 Christmas Island Centred on one major island  Australia
 Cocos (Keeling) Islands Centred on two major islands  Australia
 Cook Islands[n 5] Spread over a group of islands Oceanic  New Zealand
 Coral Sea Islands Spread over a group of islands Continental shelf  Australia
 Curaçao Centred on one major island Continental shelf  Netherlands
 Falkland Islands[n 6] Centred on two major islands Continental shelf  United Kingdom
 Faroe Islands Spread over a group of islands  Denmark
 French Polynesia Spread over a group of islands Oceanic  France
 Greenland Centred on one major island Continental shelf  Denmark
 Guam[n 7] Single island Oceanic  United States
 Guernsey Centred on one major island Continental shelf  United Kingdom
 Heard Island and McDonald Islands Spread over a group of islands Continental shelf  Australia
 Howland Island Single island Oceanic  United States
 Isle of Man Single island Continental shelf  United Kingdom
 Jarvis Island Single island Oceanic  United States
 Jersey[n 8] Single island Continental shelf  United Kingdom
 Johnston Atoll Single island Oceanic  United States
 Kingman Reef Single island Oceanic  United States
 Midway Atoll Single island Oceanic  United States
 Montserrat Centred on one major island Continental shelf  United Kingdom
 Navassa Island Single island Continental shelf  United States
 New Caledonia Centred on one major island Continental shelf  France
 Niue[n 5] Single island Oceanic  New Zealand
 Norfolk Island Centred on one major island  Australia
 Northern Mariana Islands Spread across a group of islands Oceanic  United States
 Pitcairn Islands Spread over a group of islands Oceanic  United Kingdom
 Puerto Rico Centred on one major island Continental shelf  United States
 Saint Barthélemy Centred on one major island Continental shelf  France
 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Spread over a number of distant islands Oceanic  United Kingdom
 Collectivity of Saint Martin Part of a larger island Continental shelf  France
 Saint Pierre and Miquelon Centred on two major islands Continental shelf  France
 Sark Single island Continental shelf  Guernsey

 United Kingdom

 Sint Maarten Part of a larger island Continental shelf  Netherlands
 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands[n 6] Spread over a group of islands Oceanic  United Kingdom
 Svalbard[n 9] Spread over a group of islands  Norway
 Tokelau[n 5] Spread over a group of islands Oceanic  New Zealand
 Turks and Caicos Islands Spread over a group of islands Continental shelf  United Kingdom
 U.S. Virgin Islands Spread over a group of islands Continental shelf  United States
 Wake Island Single island Oceanic  United States
 Wallis and Futuna Centred on two major islands Oceanic  France

By population density

# Country Population [Area]] (km²) Density (per km²)
1 Bermuda Bermuda 62,500 53.3 1,170

Former nations

Historical

Former colonies, possessions, protectorates and territories

Notes

  1. ^ a b The north part of the island of Cyprus is a de facto independent state recognized only by Turkey.
  2. ^ a b c In free association with the USA
  3. ^ The Republic of China (commonly known as "Taiwan") only controls the islands of Taiwan, Matsu, Kinmen, Penghu etc after the Chinese Civil War, but has not 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 or a country centered with a major island. The area under ROC control is also claimed by the People's Republic of China. See Legal status of Taiwan, Political status of Taiwan and One-China policy.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ a b c 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.
  6. ^ a b The Falkland Islands and the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands are contested by Argentina.
  7. ^ Territories of the United States
  8. ^ The Minquiers off Jersey are claimed by France.
  9. ^ Administered by Norway under the Svalbard Treaty.
  10. ^ Under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State included all of the island of Ireland but Northern Ireland exercised its option to leave the Irish Free State and rejoin the United Kingdom on 8 December 1922. Therefore, from 6 December 1922 to 8 December 1922, the Irish Free State was a borderless island country.
  11. ^ a b c 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.
  12. ^ 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.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
  2. ^ http://www.dfat.gov.au/aib/island_continent.html

External links

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