List of island countries

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Borderless countries

This is a list of island countries. An "island country", also called a borderless country, is an insular territory over which a nation-state maintains sovereignty under international law, that does not share the land territory of any of its islands with other nation-states which are sovereign under international law. For example, the United Kingdom shares the island of Ireland with the Republic of Ireland (through Northern Ireland) and thus is not borderless. Madagascar, on the other hand, is defined as a borderless country because it controls one or more entire islands. An island country does not have to be located on a single island, and can be spread over an archipelago, as is the case with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Philippines (which consists of thousands of islands). (For a broader definition, including countries that share an island, see Island country.)

Contents

Current

By political status

Sovereign States

Autonomous, colonies and semi-autonomous

By geographic configuration

Centered on one major island

Spread over group of islands (including parts of archipelagoes and island arcs)

Island shared between two or more states

See List of divided islands

Continental shelf

Oceanic ridges or atolls

Former nations

Historical

Former colonies, possessions, protectorates and territories

Micronations

Alphabetical list of island countries

List of borderless dependent territories

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b c See also Compact of Free Association
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b c d e Territories of the United States
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ By the original treaty, the Irish Free State included the six counties of Northern Ireland, but gave them the option to stay with the United Kingdom, which they did.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is a U.S. lease.
  10. ^ New Zealand maintains claims to territory in Antarctica, so can technically be regarded as having land borders there.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ a b The Falkland Islands and South Georgia are contested by Argentina.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ The Minquiers off Jersey are claimed by France.
  15. ^ Administered by Norway under the Svalbard Treaty.

See also

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_island_countries"
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