Countries · geography
Island Countries of the World
47 countries are island nations — they have no land border, or share an island with a neighbour. Together they are home to about 746.2 million people. Indonesia is the largest and most populous island country, and Nauru the smallest.
Most populous island countries
- Island nation
- Shares an island
- Island continent
All island countries, largest first
| Rank | Country | Area | Population | Type | Continent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Australia |
7,741,220 km² | 27.6 million | Island continent | Oceania |
| 2 |  Indonesia |
1,904,569 km² | 285.7 million | Shares an island — Shares Borneo, New Guinea and Timor | Asia |
| 3 |  Madagascar |
587,041 km² | 32.7 million | Island nation | Africa |
| 4 |  Papua New Guinea |
462,840 km² | 10.8 million | Shares an island — Shares New Guinea with Indonesia | Oceania |
| 5 |  Japan |
377,915 km² | 123.4 million | Island nation | Asia |
| 6 |  Philippines |
300,000 km² | 116.8 million | Island nation | Asia |
| 7 |  New Zealand |
268,838 km² | 5.3 million | Island nation | Oceania |
| 8 |  United Kingdom |
243,610 km² | 69.5 million | Shares an island — Shares Ireland with the Republic of Ireland | Europe |
| 9 |  Iceland |
103,000 km² | 392,404 | Island nation | Europe |
| 10 |  Ireland |
70,273 km² | 5.5 million | Shares an island — Shares the island with Northern Ireland (UK) | Europe |
| 11 |  Sri Lanka |
65,610 km² | 21.8 million | Island nation | Asia |
| 12 |  Dominican Republic |
48,670 km² | 11.5 million | Shares an island — Shares Hispaniola with Haiti | Americas |
| 13 |  Taiwan |
35,980 km² | — | Island nation | Asia |
| 14 |  Solomon Islands |
28,896 km² | 838,645 | Island nation | Oceania |
| 15 |  Haiti |
27,750 km² | 11.9 million | Shares an island — Shares Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic | Americas |
| 16 |  Fiji |
18,274 km² | 933,154 | Island nation | Oceania |
| 17 |  Timor-Leste |
14,874 km² | 1.4 million | Shares an island — Shares Timor with Indonesia | Asia |
| 18 |  Bahamas |
13,880 km² | 403,033 | Island nation | Americas |
| 19 |  Vanuatu |
12,189 km² | 335,169 | Island nation | Oceania |
| 20 |  Jamaica |
10,991 km² | 2.8 million | Island nation | Americas |
| 21 |  Cyprus |
9,251 km² | 1.4 million | Shares an island — UK bases and the north are outside government control | Europe |
| 22 |  Brunei |
5,765 km² | 466,330 | Shares an island — Shares Borneo with Malaysia and Indonesia | Asia |
| 23 |  Trinidad and Tobago |
5,128 km² | 1.4 million | Island nation | Americas |
| 24 |  Cape Verde |
4,033 km² | 527,326 | Island nation | Africa |
| 25 |  Samoa |
2,831 km² | 219,306 | Island nation | Oceania |
| 26 |  Comoros |
2,235 km² | 882,847 | Island nation | Africa |
| 27 |  Mauritius |
2,040 km² | 1.2 million | Island nation | Africa |
| 28 |  Sao Tome and Principe |
964 km² | 240,254 | Island nation | Africa |
| 29 |  Kiribati |
811 km² | 136,488 | Island nation | Oceania |
| 30 |  Bahrain |
760 km² | 1.6 million | Island nation | Asia |
| 31 |  Dominica |
751 km² | 65,871 | Island nation | Americas |
| 32 |  Tonga |
747 km² | 103,742 | Island nation | Oceania |
| 33 |  Singapore |
719 km² | 6.1 million | Island nation | Asia |
| 34 |  Micronesia |
702 km² | 113,683 | Island nation | Oceania |
| 35 |  Saint Lucia |
616 km² | 180,149 | Island nation | Americas |
| 36 |  Palau |
459 km² | 17,663 | Island nation | Oceania |
| 37 |  Seychelles |
455 km² | 122,730 | Island nation | Africa |
| 38 |  Antigua and Barbuda |
443 km² | 94,209 | Island nation | Americas |
| 39 |  Barbados |
430 km² | 282,623 | Island nation | Americas |
| 40 |  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
389 km² | 99,924 | Island nation | Americas |
| 41 |  Grenada |
344 km² | 117,303 | Island nation | Americas |
| 42 |  Malta |
316 km² | 579,704 | Island nation | Europe |
| 43 |  Maldives |
298 km² | 529,676 | Island nation | Asia |
| 44 |  Saint Kitts and Nevis |
261 km² | 46,922 | Island nation | Americas |
| 45 |  Marshall Islands |
181 km² | 36,282 | Island nation | Oceania |
| 46 |  Tuvalu |
26 km² | 9,492 | Island nation | Oceania |
| 47 |  Nauru |
21 km² | 12,025 | Island nation | Oceania |
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Data: CIA World Factbook (public domain); population: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0).
What counts as an island country?
An island country lies wholly on one or more islands. Most have no land border at all; a few share an island with a neighbour — Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Hispaniola, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste on New Guinea and Timor, and the UK and Ireland on the island of Ireland. Australia is usually treated as a continent rather than an island.
Where are the island countries?
Oceania: 14, Americas: 12, Asia: 10, Africa: 6 and Europe: 5. The Caribbean and the Pacific have the most — many of them small island developing states.
The largest island countries
Indonesia (1,904,569 km²), Madagascar (587,041 km²), Papua New Guinea (462,840 km²), Japan (377,915 km²), Philippines (300,000 km²), New Zealand (268,838 km²), United Kingdom (243,610 km²) and Iceland (103,000 km²). Indonesia spreads over more than 17,000 islands and the Philippines over about 7,600.
The smallest island countries
Nauru (21 km²), Tuvalu (26 km²), Marshall Islands (181 km²), Saint Kitts and Nevis (261 km²), Maldives (298 km²) and Malta (316 km²).