Island Countries

Indonesia is the most populous island nation and the most populous country in South-East Asia; it is also the island country with the most islands (the figures vary between 13,466 and 18,300)
 

Japan is the largest island country in East Asia. The country consists of four main islands, Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu - and 6,848 smaller islands and islets.  

The Philippines consists of more than 7,000 islands, divided into three island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The two main islands are Great Britain, occupied by the UK, and the island of Ireland, shared by Ireland and the UK (Northern Ireland).

 

One main island. Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world.
 

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), consists of one main island and 167 small islands. The People's Republic of China lays claim to Taiwan, considering the island one of its provinces. 

One main island. There was a land connection to the Indian mainland (Rama's Bridge), which is now mostly submerged.
 

French-speaking Haiti is one of the two island nations on the island of Hispaniola.
 

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean. It is one of the few remaining socialist countries following the Marxist–Leninist ideology.

One of the two countries occupying the island of Hispaniola, the other one is Haiti.
 

The largest islands of Papua New Guinea, besides the island of New Guinea, are New Ireland, New Britain, Manus and Bougainville.
 

Singapore is considered a city-state and the second most densely populated country. The former trading post of the East India Company is today a sovereign island country and a global financial center.

New Zealand consists of two long and narrow main islands, the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu) and several far-flung outlying islands, such as Niue Island and Tokelau.
 

One main island. The island of Ireland is home to the Republic of Ireland. The northeastern part of the island is occupied by Northern Ireland, a province of the United Kingdom.

 

Jamaica is a tropical mountainous Caribbean island, once 'discovered' by Christopher Columbus in 1494. The island is known to be the birthplace of Reggae.
 

The island of Bahrain is considered to be the site of the ancient kingdom of Dilmun, a mercantile center that traded with ancient Sumer.
Bahrain is connected to Saudi Arabia by the 25 km-long King Fahd Causeway.

Portuguese Timor was a colonial territory of Portugal from 1702 until 1975. In December 1975, the Indonesian military invaded East Timor, killing tens of thousands. The country only became independent in May 2002. 

First colonized by the Spanish, the islands came under British control in 1797.

 

Mauritius was a British colony from 1810 until its independence in 1968. The island nation is part of the Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, Rodrigues and French Réunion) 

Fiji has two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. The country was a British colony for almost a century. In 1970, the archipelago became independent.
 

The Republic of Cyprus is an island state associated with Greece and is an EU member.
The northeastern part of the island of Cyprus has been occupied by Turkey since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.

The Union of the Comoros consists of three major islands, Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Mohéli) and Nzwani (Anjouan).
Mayotte, an Overseas Department of France, is also part of the Comoro Islands archipelago.
 

The Solomons' main islands are Choiseul, New Georgia, Santa Isabel, Guadalcanal, Malaita, and Makira (San Cristobal). The Solomon Islands is one of the island nations threatened by rising sea levels.


 

Cape Verde, Portuguese: Cabo Verde, is an archipelago of volcanic origin.
The island nation only became independent from Portugal in 1975.  
 

Malta consists of three main islands, Malta, Gozo and Comino. The Republic of Malta is an EU member state.
 

The small nation of Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, the Abode of Peace, is a rich, ultra-conservative absolute Islamic monarchy. Brunei gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1984.

 

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas consists of more than 700 coral islands and cays.
The largest islands in the Bahamas are North Andros, Great Inagua, South Andros, Great Abaco, and Grand Bahama. See Map of Caribbean.

The Maldives consists of 1,190 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls. It is the smallest Asian country. The low-lying islands of the Maldives are threatened by rising sea-level.
The highest point is an unnamed location on Villingilli Island in the Addu Atoll at 2.4 m (8 feet). 

Iceland boasts the world's oldest functioning legislative assembly, the Althingi, established in 930. Iceland is among the happiest countries in the world and one of the model student nations on the planet, with best grades in Human Development and Transparency.

The archipelago was named Australia del Espíritu Santo by the Portuguese in the 17th century. As a British–French Condominium, the archipelago was known as the New Hebrides.

The tropical island nation has been independent within the Commonwealth since 1966. In November 2021, Barbados went from being a parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the British monarch to a parliamentary republic. 

São Tomé and Príncipe consists of two archipelagos grouped around the two main islands of São Tomé and Príncipe.
 

Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa, is a Polynesian island nation consisting of two main islands, Upolu and Savai'i. Until 1997 the country was known as Western Samoa.

Historically the islands were known as the Navigator Islands.

 

The island is a popular cruise destination, famous for the Pitons, two volcanic spires.


 

A former British protectorate and colony, known as the Gilbert Islands. Kiribati has over 119,000 inhabitants, more than half of whom live on Tarawa, an atoll just north of the Equator.

Grenada consists of one main island and six smaller islets. Grenada is known as the "Island of Spices.

 

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, or SVG, was an administrative unit of the West Indies Federation, a former federation of ten British West Indian territories established in 1958. Today, the SVG is an independent Commonwealth realm, with Charles III as its king.  

The Federated States of Micronesia is part of the Caroline Islands. Micronesia consists of four island states (groups) Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk and Yap. 

Antigua and Barbuda is an independent Commonwealth country that consists of two inhabited islands and several smaller islands, including Redonda.

 

The Polynesian kingdom is an archipelago of more than 170 islands; main island is Tongatapu.

Formerly known as the "Friendly Islands." Tonga achieved independence from British "protection" in 1970.



 

Seychelles has been an independent island nation since 1976 (from Great Britain).


 

Dominica was the last of the Caribbean islands to be colonized by Europeans. "The Nature Island of the Caribbean" is largely covered by rainforest. 

The Micronesian archipelago consists of two parallel island chains. Probably best known internationally is Bikini Atoll, where the United States detonated 23 atomic bombs between 1946 and 1958. The bombing left the island radioactively contaminated and uninhabitable forever.

Tropical Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas in both area and population.
 

Palau is an archipelago of more than 300 islands, most of them uninhabited. The majority of the people of Palau live on the island of Koror.
 

Nauru is a microstate on the Equator in Oceania, formerly known as Pleasant Island. Its nearest neighbor is Kiribati's Banaba Island.

Tuvalu consists of three reef islands and six true atolls. Tuvalu was formerly known as the Ellice Islands.