List of island 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.)

Current

By political status

overeign States

*Antigua and Barbuda
*Bahamas
*Bahrain
*Barbados
*Cape Verde
*Comoros
*Cuba
*Cyprus [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.]
*Dominica
*Federated States of MicronesiaSee also Compact of Free Association]
*Fiji
*Grenada
*Iceland
*Ireland
*Jamaica
*Japan
*Kiribati
*Madagascar
*Maldives
*Malta
*Marshall Islands
*Mauritius
*Nauru
*New Zealand
*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)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.]
*Tonga
*Trinidad and Tobago
*Tuvalu
*United Kingdom
*Vanuatu

Autonomous, colonies and semi-autonomous

*Åland
*Alderney
*American SamoaTerritories of the United States]
*Anguilla
*Aruba
*Autonomous Region of Bougainville
*Bermuda
*British Virgin Islands
*Cayman Islands
*Christmas Island
*Cocos (Keeling) Islands
*Cook IslandsThe Cook Islands and Niue are in free association with New Zealand. See Niue Constitution Act 1974 (NZ). Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand.]
*Faroe Islands
*Falkland Islands
*Greenland
*Guam
*Guernsey
*Jersey
*Isle of Man
*Montserrat
*New Caledonia
*Niue
*Norfolk Island
*Northern Mariana Islands
*Pitcairn Islands
*Puerto Rico
*Sark
*Saint Helena
*Tokelau
*Turks and Caicos
*U.S. Virgin Islands

By geographic configuration

Centered on one major island

*Bahrain
*Barbados
*Christmas Island
*Cuba
*Cyprus
*Dominica
*Iceland
*Jamaica
*Madagascar
*Nauru
*New Caledonia
*Norfolk Island
*Puerto Rico
*Saint Lucia
*Singapore
*Sri Lanka
*Taiwan (status disputed, see footnote)

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

*Antigua and Barbuda
*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

Island shared between two or more states

"See List of divided islands"

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)
*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
*Kingdom of Ireland
*Irish Free StateBy 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.]
*Khios
*Kediri
*Lesbos
*Majapahit
*Kingdom of Majorca
*Kingdom of Man
*Mataram Sultanate
*Merina
*Micronesian Empire
*Milos
*Minoans
*Dominion of NewfoundlandThe 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.]
*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 [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.]
*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
*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

*Conch Republic
*Minerva
*Rose Island
*Sealand (Man made)
*Kingdom of Tavolara
*Kingdom of Redonda

Alphabetical list of island countries

*Antigua and Barbuda
*Bahamas
*Bahrain
*Barbados
*Cape Verde
*Comoros
*Cuba [Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is a U.S. lease.]
*Cyprus
*Dominica
*Fiji
*Grenada
*Iceland
*Jamaica
*Japan
*Kiribati
*Madagascar
*Maldives
*Malta
*Marshall Islands
*Mauritius
*Federated States of Micronesia
*Nauru
*New Zealand [New Zealand maintains claims to territory in Antarctica, so can technically be regarded as having land borders there.]
*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)
*Tonga
*Trinidad and Tobago
*Tuvalu
*Vanuatu

List of borderless dependent territories

*Åland [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.]
*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 IslandsThe Falkland Islands and South Georgia are contested by Argentina.]
*Faroe Islands
*French Polynesia
*French Southern and Antarctic Territories [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.]
*Greenland
*Guam
*Guernsey
*Heard Island and McDonald Islands
*Howland Island
*British Indian Ocean Territory
*Isle of Man
*Jan Mayen
*Jarvis Island
*Jersey [The Minquiers off Jersey are claimed by France.]
*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 [Administered by Norway under the Svalbard Treaty.]
*South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
*Tokelau
*Turks and Caicos Islands
*British Virgin Islands
*U.S. Virgin Islands
*Wake Island
*Wallis and Futuna

References

ee 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 archipelago
*Micronation
*Thalassocracy

External links

* [http://www.sidsnet.org/ Small Island Developing States Network (UN)]