Islands by country

What is an island?

An island is a land mass 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. Therefore Australia is not considered an island, while Greenland is the largest island in the world.

There is no binding and globally valid definition of the word "island". Many countries interpret the term slightly differently. In general, we speak of an island when it big enough that it can develop its own vegetation. For example, a tree or a bush. The bare, steeply towering rocks in Scandinavia are also considered islands.

Whether an island is really inhabited or at least habitable is irrelevant for the definition. Nor whether the island was created naturally or by man. The conspicuously high number of islands in the United Arab Emirates is due, for example, to the construction of countless artificial islands. The most famous of these island worlds are "The Palm" and "The World".

Official numbers and counting methods

Where possible, this table is based on official figures from government agencies for geography and tourism. However, in many countries there are only estimates or vague data.

While the Swedish government officially names the number of 221,831 islands, taking into account all the smaller island forms, the census in neighbouring Norway is already slightly different. There, 239,057 islands are named, but without the 81,192 rocklike islets. Canada goes one step further and does not count any islets cays. With the Scandinavian counting method, the official number of 52,455 islands would easily be three times higher.

Constant changes

With a worldwide network of satellites, countless shipping routes and radar stations, one would think that the number of islands is not changing significantly anymore. If a new volcano erupts, perhaps 1 or 2 new islands will emerge. But this is actually rather the exception. Only in 2011 has Norway increased the number of its own islands by an unbelievable 240,000, because satellite photos have now discovered exactly this number additionally and did not even know it before. The Philippines, which proudly reported 7107 islands in every (outdated) travel guide, is also constantly increasing the number. In 2016, this number was officially raised to 7641 islands.