From Glacier Archiplagos to Palm Line with Atol, Islands Come to every imaginative shape and shape. But when it comes to the number of islands, not every country is made equal. The nations going to the top of this list are not just Tropical destination Or Volcanic volcanicThey often occur in places where inland lakes, fjord-lated beaches, and geological fragmentation have produced thousands of discrete landmas.
This raises a misleading simple question: which countries have the most islands? The answer depends not only on geography, but on how you define an island in the first place. Some nations even count the most young landmates that live above water on high tide; Other minimum size or beach length apply strict thresholds. The advances in satellite mapping have also increased numbers in recent years, as already uncontrolled islets are added to the official long. In short, no two countries count the islands in the same way, but this does not mean that we cannot compare the best available data.
How the data was compiled
This list attracts from published data WorldatatlasWhich collects national level data from the mapping officers, statistical bureau and geopolitical surveys. Each country uses its own criteria to define and count the islands, some include any landmas surrounded by water on high tides, regardless of shape; Others apply thresholds depending on the length of the region or beach.
For example, Sweden Classes any landmas larger than 270 square feet as an island, while Japan 2023 recount is considered only with a beach of at least 330 feet. Modern mapping tools have also changed the picture: high-resolution satellite data has made significant amendments to the official yogas of some countries.
These figures include all natural islands, whether residence or not. Artificial islands, offshore rock formations, and sandbanks that disappear in high tides are usually excluded.
Source
This is the main source for this ranking Worldtis (2020)Cross-referred with 2025 updates Review of world population. These datasets reflect the most widely quoted and appropriate consistent island count available with numbers drawn from national records and official land surveys.
