10 Countries with Most Islands In the World

Published on May 18, 2015 at 5:26 am by Addison Nino in Lists

Who doesn’t love a nice island? Wouldn’t it be nice to know which countries have the most islands in the world? That would make any island jetsetter super happy. Well, I wish I could give you a straight answer, but I’m sorry to say, this topic was harder to research than one would think. There’s a great debate as to which countries actually tops the list. Have we counted all the islands? Some of these countries are still not sure how many islands there are! Luckily, if you are interested, there is no debate about the World’s most remote islands.

The biggest debate I’ve read is between Finland and Indonesia’s numbers. Some lists don’t even count Canada though there are tons of islands surrounding the country. So what are the countries with the most islands in the world? Despite the debate, I’ve gathered a list here for your reading pleasure, but I’m no geographer.

10. Bahamas

The Bahamas is a popular cruise and holiday destination just south of Florida and is comprised of 700 islands. Due to the large amount of tourism seen in the area, there’s only about 30 of them that are uninhabited.

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9. Solomon Islands

These islands sit pretty in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean and have six major islands. There are about 900 other volcanic islands that are scattered about and over 300 of the islands are uninhabited.

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8. Maldives

Lying in the middle of the Indian Ocean are specs of paradise, otherwise known as the Maldives. These coral islands make an archipelago of nearly 1,200 islands. They are displayed in two rows of atolls and take up 90,000 square meters.

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7. The UK

Comprising of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, there’s an impressive number of islands at over 6,200! Most of these islands are part of Scotland and many are large enough to actually be distinguished on a map.

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6. Japan

Although not a tropical getaway, Japan hosts nearly 7,000 islands. All unique and beautiful in their own way, Japan’s archipelago is an interesting cluster of islands to visit. There are four main islands, and only 430 islands are inhabited.

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5. Philippines

Another gorgeous archipelago of thousands of slices of heaven floating about blue ocean water is the cluster of islands called the Phillipines. Boasting some of the most beautiful islands in the world, such as Palawan, the Philippines hosts over 7,000 islands. There’s plenty of beach for all to enjoy here.

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4. Australia

Australia boasts some of the beautiful and unique islands in the world, including the whitest sand beaches in the world at Hyams Beach and the biggest sand island in the world, Fraser Island. In Total, there’s over 8,000 islands around the country.

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3. Indonesia

Indonesia is slightly more clear on their numbers. There are over 17,500 islands creating this magical tropical archipelago. Over 6,000 of them are uninhabited and only about 8,800 have actually been named. This amazing island getaway will keep you busy for a while. If you’re the type that likes going off the beaten track, you’re sure to find some of the most remote islands in the world here.

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2. Canada

There is an estimate 30,000 islands off the eastern shore of the Georgian Bay and more scattered off the coast of the mainland of Canada. Not really surprising considering the sheer size of the country and the amount of “stragglers” that break off into the sea. Considering the large size, the exact number of islands are unknown.

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1. Finland

I’ve seen various numbers for Finland… Common! How many island are there? I’ll say there’s over 100,000 islands. Which is a ridiculous number considering the size of the country. There are many lakes and rivers which snake through and around the country that “help” create these islands and there are plenty of teeny tiny islands that are counted too. The true number? I can’t tell you. I’ve seen numbers that state there are 180,000 islands. Whoa!