The map above shows the top 10 countries with the most islands. Sweden claims to have the most islands at 267,570 but only 984 of them are inhabited.
The data comes from WorldPopulationReview.com and you can see the list below:
| Country | Number of Islands | Inhabited Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 267,570 | 984 |
| Norway | 239,057 | 4 |
| Finland | 178,947 | 780 |
| Japan | 120,729 | 430 |
| Canada | 52,455 | |
| Chile | 43,471 | 2,324 |
| United States | 18,617 | 10,000 |
| Indonesia | 17,508 | 6,000 |
| Australia | 8,222 | |
| Philippines | 7,641 | 2,000 |
| China | 6,961 | 433 |
| United Kingdom | 6,346 | 129 |
| Greece | 6,000 | 227 |
| Cuba | 4,195 | |
| South Korea | 3,358 | 2,876 |
| Estonia | 2,355 | 22 |
| France | 1,900 | 109 |
| Thailand | 1,430 | |
| India | 1,382 | 47 |
| Russia | 1,338 | |
| Croatia | 1,246 | 48 |
| Maldives | 1,192 | 187 |
| Italy | 808 | |
| Venezuela | 650 | 350 |
| Micronesia | 607 | 65 |
| New Zealand | 600 | |
| Denmark | 406 | 70 |
| Hong Kong | 263 | |
| Algeria | 240 | |
| Peru | 233 | 8 |
| Palau | 200 | 8 |
| Tonga | 169 | 36 |
| Singapore | 64 | |
| Sri Lanka | 61 | 3 |
| Spain | 60 | 21 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 54 | 2 |
| Senegal | 35 | |
| Marshall Islands | 34 | 24 |
| Kiribati | 33 | 21 |
| Iceland | 31 | 4 |
| North Macedonia | 30 | |
| Bangladesh | 23 | |
| Malta | 21 | 3 |
| Azerbaijan | 16 | 1 |
| Cape Verde | 15 | 9 |
| Pakistan | 12 | 7 |
| Samoa | 12 | 4 |
| Tuvalu | 9 | 9 |
| Barbados | 4 | 1 |
| Dominica | 3 | 1 |
| Nauru | 1 | 1 |
A big caveat is how countries define an island.
For example, Statistics Sweden defines islands as land areas surrounded by water, according to Lantmäteriet’s (the national land survey office) all the way down to anything larger than 9 square metres (97 sq ft).
But even by that definition only 3% of Sweden is islands.
Heidi says
Just 4 inhabited islands in Norway?
rockymountains says
So many islands,so few inhabited, sounds unbelievable!
James says
So how about the definition of island for other major countries, such as Indonesia? And do islands in lakes on islands count?