List of island countries
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of island countries.
At least 36 island countries have no land borders,[1] but on at least 8 islands, there are land borders with at least one non-continental sovereign country.[2]
Many island countries are spread over an archipelago, as is the case with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Philippines (which consists of thousands of islands). Others consist of a single island, such as Nauru. Some islands are not universally recognized as politically independent.
Contents |
Current
By political status
Sovereign States
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bahrain
Barbados
Brunei
Cape Verde
Comoros
Cuba
Cyprus[3]
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Federated States of Micronesia[4]
Fiji
Grenada
Haiti
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Jamaica
Japan
Kiribati
Madagascar
Maldives
Malta
Marshall Islands[4]
Mauritius
Nauru
New Zealand
Palau[4]
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
São Tomé and Príncipe
Seychelles
Singapore
Solomon Islands
Sri Lanka
Republic of China (commonly known as "Taiwan") (status disputed, see footnote)[5]
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
United Kingdom
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Autonomous, colonies and semi-autonomous
Åland
Alderney
American Samoa[6]
Anguilla
Aruba
Bougainville
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Cook Islands[7]
Faroe Islands
Falkland Islands
Greenland
Guam[6]
Guernsey
Jersey
Isle of Man
Montserrat
New Caledonia
Niue[7]
Netherlands Antilles
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands[6]
Pitcairn Islands
Puerto Rico[6]
Sardinia
Sark
Saint Helena
Sicily
Tokelau[7]
Turks and Caicos Islands
U.S. Virgin Islands[6]
By geographic configuration
Centered on one major island
Australia
Bahrain
Barbados
Christmas Island
Cuba
Cyprus
Dominica
Iceland
Ireland
Jamaica
Madagascar
Nauru
New Caledonia
Norfolk Island
Puerto Rico
Saint Lucia
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Taiwan (status disputed, see footnote)[5]
United Kingdom
Spread over group of islands (including parts of archipelagoes and island arcs)
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia - Technically, spread over two islands: mainland Australia and Tasmania
Bahamas
Cayman Islands
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Comoros
Federated States of Micronesia
Fiji
Grenada
Japan
Kiribati
Maldives
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
New Zealand
Philippines
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
São Tomé and Príncipe
Seychelles
Solomon Islands
Trinidad and Tobago
Tokelau
Excerpted from the list of divided islands, those cases which create land borders for island countries and autonomous entities:
- Borneo - Among Indonesia (70%), Malaysia (25%), and Brunei (5%)
- Cyprus - De jure between the Republic of Cyprus (97%) and the United Kingdom (controlling the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia; 3%)
- de facto there is also the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, in the part of the island militarily occupied by Turkey (36%), and a United Nations administered buffer zone (1%) separating this from the parts controlled by the governments of the Republic of Cyprus (61%) and the UK (2%).
- New Guinea - Between Indonesia (50%) and Papua New Guinea (50%)
- Ireland - Between Ireland (83%) and the United Kingdom (17%, Northern Ireland)
- Hispaniola - Between the Dominican Republic (65%) and Haiti (35%)
- Timor - Between Indonesia (53%) and East Timor (47%)
- Sebatik Island - Between Indonesia and Malaysia (also claimed by the Philippines)
- Saint Martin (Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten) - Between Saint Martin (an overseas collectivity of France) (61%) and the Netherlands Antilles (an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; 39%). The world's smallest inhabited divided sea island.
- Artificial island on the King Fahd Causeway - between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
- Märket - Between the autonomous Finnish province of Åland (50%) and Sweden (50%). The world's smallest divided sea island.
Continental shelf
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Madagascar
- Malta
- New Zealand
- Philippines
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Singapore
- Taiwan (status disputed, see footnote)[5]
- Trinidad and Tobago
Oceanic ridges or atolls
- Cape Verde
- Comoros
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Fiji
- Iceland
- Kiribati
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Nauru
- Palau
- Samoa
- Seychelles
- Solomon Islands
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
Former nations
Historical
- Andros
- Corsican Republic
- Cretan State
- Kingdom of Cyprus
- Delos
- Duchy of the Archipelago
- Republic of Ezo
- Republic of Formosa
- Kingdom of Great Britain
- Kingdom of Hawai‘i
- Republic of Hawai‘i
- Commonwealth of Iceland
- Kingdom of Iceland
- Kingdom of Ireland
- Irish Free State[8]
- Khios
- Kediri
- Lesbos
- Majapahit
- Kingdom of Majorca
- Kingdom of Man
- Mataram Sultanate
- Merina
- Micronesian Empire
- Milos
- Minoans
- Dominion of Newfoundland[9]
- Republic of the North Solomons
- Pholegandros
- Islands of Refreshment
- Rhodes
- Ryūkyū Kingdom
- Sailendra
- Samos
- Sese Islands
- Srivijaya
- Kingdom of Tavolara
- Principality of Trinidad
- Tu'i Tonga Empire
- West Indies Federation, split up into Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tobago, Trinidad, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
- Zakynthos
Former colonies, possessions, protectorates and territories
- Cape Breton Island, now part of Nova Scotia, Canada
- Danish West Indies, now the United States Virgin Islands
- Territory of Hawai‘i, a US territory from 1898 to 1959, now part of the United States.
- Hong Kong (1841-1860), now a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China[9][10]
- Labuan, briefly part of British North Borneo, the Strait settlements and Sabah, now a federal territory of Malaysia
- Newfoundland (1583-1809), now Province of Newfoundland and Labrador of Canada[9]
- New Hebrides, now Vanuatu
- Prince Edward Island, now a province of Canada
- Réunion, now an overseas department of France
- Socotra, now part of Yemen
- Tasmania, now a part of Australia
- Vancouver Island, now a part of British Columbia, Canada
- Zanzibar and Pemba, now parts of Tanzania
Micronations
Micronations — sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects — are entities that resemble independent nations or states but which are unrecognized by world governments or major international organisations.
- Atlantis (man made)
- Conch Republic
- Coral Sea Islands
- Elleore
- Forvik
- Minerva (man made)
- North Dumpling Island
- Rose Island (man made)
- Sealand (man made)
- Tavolara
- Redonda
Alphabetical list of island countries
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Cape Verde
- Comoros
- Cuba[11]
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- Fiji
- Grenada
- Iceland
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Kiribati
- Madagascar
- Maldives
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Nauru
- New Zealand[12]
- Palau
- Philippines
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Republic of China (commonly known as 'Taiwan') (status disputed, see footnote)[5]
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
List of borderless dependent territories
- Åland[13]
- Aruba
- American Samoa
- Anguilla
- Ashmore and Cartier Islands
- Baker Island
- Bermuda
- Bouvet Island
- Cayman Islands
- Christmas Island
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Cook Islands
- Coral Sea Islands Territory
- Falkland Islands[14]
- Faroe Islands
- French Polynesia
- French Southern and Antarctic Territories[15]
- Greenland
- Guam
- Guernsey
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands
- Howland Island
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Isle of Man
- Jan Mayen
- Jarvis Island
- Jersey[16]
- Johnston Atoll
- Kingman Reef
- Martinique
- Mayotte
- Midway Atoll
- Montserrat
- Navassa Island
- New Caledonia
- Niue
- Norfolk Island
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Palmyra Atoll
- Pitcairn Islands
- Puerto Rico
- Réunion
- Saint Helena
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Svalbard[17]
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands[14]
- Tokelau
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- British Virgin Islands
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Wake Island
- Wallis and Futuna
References
- ^ From the below lists: Barbados, Christmas Island, Cuba, Iceland, Jamaica, Madagascar, Nauru, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Saint Lucia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Dominica, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Grenada, Japan, Kiribati, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, New Zealand, Philippines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Tokelau
- ^ From the below lists: Borneo, New Guinea, Ireland, Hispaniola, Timor, Sebatik Island, Saint Martin, Bahrain
- ^ The north part of Cyprus is not controlled by Republic of Cyprus, but due to Turkish invasion there is the de facto state of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey.
- ^ a b c See also Compact of Free Association
- ^ a b c d The Republic of China (commonly known as "Taiwan") only controls the islands of Taiwan, Matsu, Kinmen, Penghu etc after the Chinese Civil War, but has not renounced claim on areas currently under control of People's Republic of China, Mongolia, Tuva (a Russian republic) etc. If those territories are taken into account, the Republic of China is not a borderless country or a country centered with a major island. The area under ROC control is also claimed by the People's Republic of China. See Legal status of Taiwan, Political status of Taiwan and One-China policy.
- ^ a b c d e Territories of the United States
- ^ a b c The Cook Islands and Niue are in free association with New Zealand. See Niue Constitution Act 1974 (NZ). Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand.
- ^ Under the Anglo Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State included all of the island of Ireland but Northern Ireland exercised its option to leave the Irish Free State and rejoin the the United Kingdom on 8 December 1922. Therefore, from 6 December 1922 to 8 December 1922, the Irish Free State was a borderless island country.
- ^ a b c The Colony of Newfoundland covers the island of Newfoundland before 1808. In 1808, part of the peninsula of Labrador was transferred to Newfoundland from Lower Canada. In other words, before 1808, Newfoundland was an island colony. From 1808 onwards, the Colony of Newfoundland, and later the Dominion of Newfoundland, had been an island plus an area on the continent of North America.
- ^ The Crown Colony of Hong Kong covers 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.
- ^ Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is a U.S. lease.
- ^ New Zealand maintains claims to territory in Antarctica, so can technically be regarded as having land borders there.
- ^ Market Reef defines the border between Finland and Sweden. The lighthouse on the reef is administered directly from Finland and is usually not considered a part of the autonomous Åland Islands.
- ^ a b The Falkland Islands and South Georgia are contested by Argentina.
- ^ France claims territory in Antarctica and as such can technically be regarded as having land borders there. Otherwise, islands administered in this overseas territory have no land borders.
- ^ The Minquiers off Jersey are claimed by France.
- ^ Administered by Norway under the Svalbard Treaty.
See also
- List of countries that border only one other country
- List of island countries by area
- List of island countries by population density
- List of islands
- List of archipelagos
- Micronation
- Thalassocracy
- List of divided islands
External links
Tonga, Tonga politics
Honduras, president of Honduras
South africa, South African attractions
Guinea, Guinea education
Dominican republic, president of Dominican Republic
Luxembourg, Luxembourg education
Yemen, Yemen president
Brunei darussalam, president of BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
Estonia, president of Estonia
Ecuador, Equator government structur
Comoros, Comoros president
Turkey, map of Turkey
Vietnam, VIETNAM attractions
Martinique, Martinique attractions
Afghanistan, education in Afghanistan

