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List of island countries

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of island countries
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An island is a landmass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water.[1] Many island countries are spread over an archipelago, as is the case with Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines—these countries consist of thousands of islands. Others consist of a single island, such as Barbados, Dominica, and Nauru; a main island and some smaller islands, such as Cuba, Iceland, and Sri Lanka; a part of an island, such as Brunei, the Dominican Republic, East Timor, and the Republic of Ireland; or one main island but also sharing borders in other islands, such as the United Kingdom (Great Britain and a part of Ireland).

Thumb
Map depicts sovereign states and a de facto state (Taiwan) (tw) fully located on islands: those with land borders shaded green, and those without shaded dark blue.

Countries/territories not shown on the map: Antarctica (aq) (continental disputed territory), Australia (au) (continental country), the Cook Islands (ck) and Niue (nu) (free association with New Zealand), Greenland (gl) (constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark), Northern Cyprus (ct.tr and nc.tr) (unrecognized country), and Puerto Rico (pr) (unincorporated U.S. territory).

The list also includes two states in free association with New Zealand, the Cook Islands and Niue, as well as two states with limited diplomatic recognition which have de facto control over territories entirely on the islands, Northern Cyprus and Taiwan.[2] In total, 50 island countries have been included in the lists.

Australia is not included as it is considered a continental country, although it was historically referred to as an island country because of its lack of land borders.[3] Greenland is generally considered as the largest island on Earth and listed among the island territories. Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea is officially an unincorporated territory of the United States. Neither Greenland nor Puerto Rico are sovereign countries.

Indonesia is the world's largest island country by area (1,904,569 km2), and by total number of islands (17,504 islands).[4] It is also the world's most populous island country, with a population of over 270 million (the fourth most populous country in the world, after India, China, and the United States).

South America has only one independent sovereign island nation with Trinidad and Tobago; though considered a Caribbean island country, it is located on the northern portion of the South American continental shelf just 11 kilometres (6 nautical miles) off Venezuela, but 130 kilometres (70 nautical miles) from Grenada, the nearest of the Antilles.[n 1][5]

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Sovereign states

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UN member states and states with limited recognition

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Associated states

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Dependencies and territories

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Former sovereign island nations and primarily island-based countries

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

Oceania

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Former colonies, possessions, protectorates, and other territories

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Island countries with man-made fixed links to continents

See also

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Notes

  1. [n 1]
    The Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are disputed island territories administered by the United Kingdom and claimed by Argentina.
  2. [n 2]
    A microcontinent on continental crust.
  3. [n 3]
    The northern part of the island of Cyprus is the de facto independent state of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey. In the south of the island are the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, controlled by the United Kingdom.
  4. [n 4]
    The largest oceanic island in the world.
  5. [n 5]
    The western portion of the country is on the continental shelf of Asia while the eastern portion of the country is on the continental shelf of Australia. The central portion of the country consists of oceanic islands in Wallacea.
  6. [n 6]
    In Japanese tradition, 11 February 660 BC is regarded as the accession date of the first Emperor of Japan in legendary, Emperor Jimmu, marking the establishment of the imperial dynasty. However, no historical evidence that Jimmu actually existed and his story was largely narrated by Japanese mythology. February 11 was also the day when the Constitution of the Empire of Japan was proclaimed in 1889. See: National Foundation Day
  7. [n 7]
    The largest microcontinent in the world.
  8. [n 8]
    The Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau are states in free association with the United States, under the Compact of Free Association.
  9. [n 9]
    A part of the submerged continent of Zealandia.
  10. [N 10]
    The Granitic Seychelles is a part of the Seychelles microcontinent. The Coralline Seychelles consists of oceanic islands.
  11. [N 11]
    The British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar is a peninsular exclave which shares a land border with Spain and can thus be regarded as a part of continental Europe, with the United Kingdom retaining the full authority for its defence and foreign relations. However, Gibraltar and other BOTs are considered to be dependent territories of the British Crown with varying degrees of self-governance, not parts of the United Kingdom proper nor of any of its four constituent countries.
  12. [N 12]
    In 1983, in a breach of international law, Northern Cyprus unilaterally declared independence from Cyprus, with direct support of its neighbour Turkey, in support of the Turkish people minority on the island. Northern Cyprus's sovereignty has been recognized by only one United Nations member state: Turkey. It retains a de facto control of this part of the island. It is not a member state of the United Nations. Most states recognize Cyprus's claim to sovereignty over the entirety of the island of Cyprus.
  13. [N 13]
    Since the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War, the Republic of China (ROC) retains actual rule over the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands, all of which are collectively known as the "Free Area" (or Taiwan Area) in contrast to Mainland China being under communist rule, thus making it a de facto island nation, and has become known colloquially as simply "Taiwan" due to the island of Taiwan forming the majority of the ROC-controlled territories; nonetheless, the ROC has not officially renounced its constitutional-defined territories which include areas effectively controlled by the People's Republic of China, Mongolia, Tuva (a Russian republic) etc. If claimed territories were taken into account, the ROC would not be an island country, nor a country centred around a major island. The ROC-controlled territories are also claimed by the People's Republic of China. See: Cross-Strait relations, One China, Political status of Taiwan, and Two Chinas.
  14. [N 14]
    The Republic of China (ROC) was formally established on 1 January 1912 following the Xinhai Revolution, which succeeded the former Qing dynasty's territories on Mainland China, while the islands of Taiwan and Penghu were under Japanese rule at the time. The ROC gained control over the latter after the Surrender of Japan in 1945, but soon lost its control of mainland to the communists due to the Chinese Civil War. The ROC government relocated to Taipei on 7 December 1949 and named the city its provisional capital. Constitutionally, the Republic of China on Taiwan still views itself as the continuation of the former Chinese republic, with legitimate sovereignty over Mainland China despite having no actual control. 7 December 1949 is listed as the date of formation of its governing authority fully established on the islands. See: Four-Stage Theory of the Republic of China, Kuomintang's retreat to Taiwan, and Political status of Taiwan.
  15. [N 15]
    The political status of the Cook Islands and Niue is defined as states in free association with New Zealand. The Cook Islands and Niue are internally self-governing, with New Zealand retaining responsibility for their defence and for some foreign affairs. However, these responsibilities confer New Zealand no rights of control and can only be exercised at the request of the Cook Islands and Niue. See: Constitution of the Cook Islands and Niue Constitution Act.
  16. [N 16]
    Finland and Sweden share a border over the small island of Märket; however, the property including the lighthouse is owned by the Finnish rather than Åland government.
  17. [N 17]
    An insular area of the United States. See Territories of the United States.
  18. [N 18]
    Since 2024, the Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute is approaching a resolution with the return of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius — deemed to have the right of sovereignty over the isles by ruling from both the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) the International Court of Justice (ICJ) — with the United Kingdom retaining control of the airbase on Diego Garcia on the basis of a 99-year lease. The negotiations as to the details of the return and the cost of the lease and the rate of compensation are yet to be determined.
  19. [N 19]
    The Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are also claimed by Argentina.
  20. [N 20]
    The Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey, and the Isle of Man are peculiars of the British Crown and not part of the United Kingdom; foreign relations and defence are provided by the UK.
  21. [N 21]
    Administered by Norway under the Svalbard Treaty.
  22. [N 22]
    Tokelau is a dependent territory of New Zealand.
  23. [N 23]
    By 1910, the Empire of Japan was restricted to the entire Japanese archipelago, Southern Sakhalin, Kuril Islands and Taiwan, before its official annexation of Korea. The Japanese concessions in China including the Kwantung Leased Territory which acquired by Japan before 1905 were regarded as Chinese territories under foreign jurisdiction, they were not officially annexed by Japan and obliged to be returned under a fixed-term territorial lease by bilateral agreements.
  24. [N 24]
    Before the outbreak of Sicilian Vespers in 1282, the Kingdom of Sicily encompassed both the island of Sicily and south Italy; the war resulted the division of the kingdom into two parts as "Kingdom of Trinacria" (island part), and Kingdom of Naples (mainland part) which still officially called itself "Kingdom of Sicily". The two Sicilian kingdoms had since remained separate until 1816, when they remerged to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
  25. [N 25]
    Dissolved in 1962 and then divided into Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
  26. [N 26]
    The Crown Colony of Hong Kong covered 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.
  27. [N 27]
    The colony covered the island of Newfoundland before 1809. In 1809, part of the Labrador Peninsula was transferred to Newfoundland from Lower Canada. In other words, before 1809, Newfoundland was an island colony. From 1809 onwards, the Colony of Newfoundland and, since 1907, the Dominion of Newfoundland had been an island plus Labrador (an area on the continent of North America).
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