List of countries by length of coastline

This article contains a list of countries by length of coastline, in kilometers. Though the coastline paradox stipulates that coastlines do not have a well-defined length, there are various methods in use to measure coastlines through ratios and other metrics. A coastline of zero indicates that the country is landlocked.

Overview

An example of the coastline paradox. If measured using an interval of 125 mi (200 km), the coast of Great Britain has a length of about 1,500 mi (2,400 km). Using an interval of 30 mi (50 km), the length is about 2,100 mi (3,400 km).

The coastline paradox states that a coastline does not have a well-defined length. Measurements of the length of a coastline behave like a fractal, being different at different scale intervals (distance between points on the coastline at which measurements are taken). The smaller the scale interval (meaning the more detailed the measurement), the longer the coastline will be.[Note 1] This "magnifying" effect is greater for convoluted coastlines than for relatively smooth ones.

  • Data marked The World Factbook or TWF covers 198 countries and 55 territories, from the book published by the Central Intelligence Agency. In addition to coastline lengths, this is the source of the land area used to calculate the "coast/area ratio" for both TWF and WRI (see below) coastline measurement. This ratio measures how many metres of coastline correspond to every square kilometer of land area. The ratio illustrates the ease of accessibility to the country's coast from every point in its interior. Therefore, an island country like Maldives, or a country carved by the sea like Greece, is more likely to have a high ratio, while a landlocked country will have a ratio of zero. Note that the scales at which The World Factbook figures were measured are not stated, nor is it known whether the figures are all reported using the same scale, thus the figures are not necessarily comparable across different countries.
  • Data marked World Resources Institute or WRI covers 182 independent countries and 13 dependencies, based on data calculated in 2000 from the World Vector Shoreline, United States Defense Mapping Agency, 1989. It may include territories whose status have changed. According to their technical notes, the "coastline length was derived from the World Vector Shoreline database at 1:250,000 scale. The estimates (...) were calculated using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and an underlying database consistent for the entire world. The methodology used to estimate length is based on the following: 1) A country's coastline is made up of individual lines, and an individual line has two or more vertices and/or nodes. 2) The length between two vertices is calculated on the surface of a sphere. 3) The sum of the lengths of the pairs of vertices is aggregated for each individual line, and 4) the sum of the lengths of individual lines was aggregated for a country. In general, the coastline length of islands that are part of a country, but are not overseas territories, are included in the coastline estimate for that country (e.g., Canary Islands are included in Spain). Coastline length for overseas territories and dependencies are listed separately. Disputed areas are not included in country or regional totals."[1]

List

Note: non-sovereign areas are listed in italics.

Country The World Factbook[2] World Resources Institute[1] Land area
km2 (TWF)[3] 		Coast/area ratio (m/km2) Coast/area0.5 ratio
Rank km Rank km (TWF) (WRI) (TWF)
 World[Note 2] — 356,000 — 1,634,701 148,940,000 2.39 11.0 29.2
 Canada 1 202,080 1 265,523 9,093,507 22.2 29.2 67
 Norway 2 83,281[Note 3] 7 53,199 304,282 274 175 151
 Indonesia 3 54,716 4 95,181 1,811,569 30.2 52.5 40.7
 European Union[Note 4] — 53,563 4,236,351 12.6 26
 Greenland[Note 5] — 44,087 2,166,086 20.4 30
 Russia 4 37,653[Note 6] 3 110,310 16,377,742 2.30 6.74 9.3
 Philippines 5 36,289 8 33,900 298,170 122 114 66.5
 Japan 6 29,751 12 29,020 364,485 81.6 79.6 49.3
 Australia 7 25,760 6 66,530 7,682,300 3.35 8.66 9.29
 United States 8 19,924 2 133,312 9,147,593 2.18 14.6 6.59
 Antarctica — 17,968 14,200,000 1.27 4.77
 New Zealand 9 15,134 17 17,209 264,537 57.2 65.1 29.4
 China 10 14,500 11 30,017 9,326,410 1.55 3.22 4.75
 Greece 11 13,676[Note 3] 19 15,147 130,647 105 116 37.8
 United Kingdom 12 12,429 16 19,717 241,930 51.4 81.5 25.3
 Mexico 13 9,330 14 23,761 1,943,945 4.80 12.2 6.69
 Italy 14 7,600 28 9,226 294,140 25.8 31.4 14
 Brazil 15 7,491 9 33,379 8,358,140 0.896 3.99 2.59
 Denmark 16 7,314 44 5,316 42,434 172 126 35.5
 Turkey 17 7,200 31 8,140 769,632 9.36 10.6 8.21
 India 18 7,000 18 17,181 2,973,193 2.35 5.78 4.06
 Chile 19 6,435 5 78,563 743,812 8.65 106 7.46
 Micronesia, Federated States of 20 6,112 92 1,295 702 8,710 1,840 231
 Croatia 21 5,835[Note 3] 42 5,664 55,974 112 101 24.7
 Solomon Islands 22 5,313 26 9,880 27,986 190 353 31.8
 Papua New Guinea 23 5,152 15 20,197 452,860 11.4 44.6 7.66
 Argentina 24 4,989 30 8,397 2,736,690 1.82 3.07 3.02
 Iceland 25 4,970 29 8,506 100,250 49.6 84.8 15.7
 Spain[Note 7] 26 4,964 34 7,268 498,980 9.95 14.6 7.03
 France 27 4,853 33 7,330 640,427 7.58 11.4 6.06
 Madagascar 28 4,828 25 9,935 581,540 8.30 17.1 6.33
 Malaysia 29 4,675 27 9,323 328,657 14.2 28.4 8.15
 Estonia 30 3,794 61 2,956 42,388 89.5 69.7 18.4
 Cuba 31 3,735 21 14,519 109,820 34.0 132 11.3
 Svalbard — 3,587 62,045 57.8 14.4
 Bahamas, The 32 3,542 24 11,238 10,010 354 1,120 35.4
 Vietnam 33 3,444[Note 8] 23 11,409 310,070 11.1 36.8 6.18
 Somalia 34 3,333 50 3,898 627,337 4.82 6.21 4.21
 Thailand 35 3,219 35 7,066 510,890 6.30 13.8 4.5
 Sweden 36 3,218 13 26,384 410,335 7.84 64.3 5.02
 Colombia 37 3,208 41 5,875 1,038,700 3.09 5.66 3.15
 Coral Sea Islands — 3,095 <3 >1,000,000
 French Southern and Antarctic Lands — 2,948.4[Note 9] 7,667.6 385 33.7
 Morocco 38 2,945 73 2,009 716,550 2.56 2.80 3.48
 Venezuela 39 2,800 37 6,762 882,050 3.17 7.67 2.98
 South Africa 40 2,798 51 3,751 1,214,470 2.30 3.09 2.54
 Ukraine 41 2,782 45 4,953 579,330 4.80 8.55 3.66
 Saudi Arabia 42 2,640 32 7,572 2,149,690 1.23 3.52 1.8
 Vanuatu 43 2,528 59 3,132 12,189 207 257 22.9
 French Polynesia — 2,525 — 5,830 3,827 660 1,520 40.8
 Korea, North 44 2,495 49 4,009 120,408 20.7 33.3 7.19
 Panama 45 2,490 43 5,637 74,340 33.5 75.8 9.13
 Mozambique 46 2,470 36 6,942 786,380 3.14 8.83 2.79
 Egypt 47 2,450 39 5,898 995,450 2.46 5.92 2.46
 Iran 48 2,440[Note 10][Note 3] 40 5,891 1,531,595 1.59 3.85 1.97
 Peru 49 2,414 55 3,362 1,279,996 1.89 2.63 2.13
 Korea, South 50 2,413 22 12,478 96,920 24.9 129 7.75
 Germany 51 2,389 52 3,624 348,672 6.85 10.4 4.05
 New Caledonia — 2,254 — 3,624 18,275 123 198 16.7
 Ecuador 52 2,237 47 4,597 276,841 8.08 16.6 4.25
 Eritrea 53 2,234[Note 3] 54 3,446 101,000 22.1 34.1 7.03
 Oman 54 2,092 65 2,810 309,500 6.76 9.08 3.76
 Myanmar 55 1,930 20 14,708 653,508 2.95 22.5 2.39
 Yemen 56 1,906 58 3,149 527,968 3.61 5.96 2.62
 Portugal 57 1,793 63 2,830 91,470 19.6 30.9 5.93
 Haiti 58 1,771 77 1,977 27,560 64.3 71.7 10.7
 Libya 59 1,770 71 2,025 1,759,540 1.01 1.15 1.33
 Angola 60 1,600 67 2,252 1,246,700 1.28 1.81 1.43
 Namibia 61 1,572 84 1,754 823,290 1.91 2.13 1.73
 Republic of China (Taiwan) 62 1,566.3 74 2,007 32,260 48.6 62.2 8.72
 Palau 63 1,519 459 3,310 70.9
 Northern Mariana Islands — 1,482 464 3,190 68.8
 Ireland 64 1,448 38 6,437 68,883 21.0 93.4 5.52
 Tanzania 65 1,424 53 3,461 885,800 1.61 3.91 1.51
 Sri Lanka 66 1,340 64 2,825 64,630 20.7 43.7 5.27
 United Arab Emirates 67 1,318 62 2,871 83,600 15.8 34.3 4.56
 Costa Rica 68 1,290 70 2,069 51,060 25.3 40.5 5.71
 Dominican Republic 69 1,288 88 1,612 48,320 26.7 33.4 5.86
 Falkland Islands — 1,288 12,173 106 11.7
 Finland 70 1,250 10 31,119 303,815 4.11 102 2.27
 Tunisia 71 1,148 79 1,927 155,360 7.39 12.4 2.91
 Kiribati 72 1,143 78 1,961 811 1,410 2,420 40.1
 Fiji 73 1,129 46 4,638 18,274 61.8 254 8.35
 Faroe Islands — 1,117 1,393 802 29.9
 Pakistan 74 1,046 66 2,599 770,875 1.36 3.37 1.19
 Jamaica 75 1,022 102 895 10,831 94.4 82.6 9.82
 Algeria 76 998 90 1,557 2,381,740 0.419 0.654 0.647
 Cape Verde 77 965 97 1,121 4,033 239 278 15.2
  Spratly Islands — 926 <5 >200,000
 Nicaragua 78 910 80 1,915 119,990 7.58 16.0 2.63
 Gabon 79 885 72 2,019 257,667 3.43 7.84 1.74
 Nigeria 80 853 60 3,122 910,768 0.937 3.43 0.894
 Sudan 80 853 68 2,245 1,731,671 0.493 1.30 0.648
 Honduras 82 832[Note 11] 82 1,878 111,890 7.44 16.8 2.49
 Mauritania 83 754 94 1,268 1,030,700 0.732 1.23 0.743
 Hong Kong — 733 — 955 1,073 683 890 22.4
 Timor-Leste 84 706 14,874 47.5 5.79
 British Indian Ocean Territory — 698 60 11,600 90.1
 Uruguay 85 660 98 1,096 175,015 3.77 6.26 1.58
 Cyprus 86 648 112 671 9,241 70.1 72.6 6.74
 Maldives 87 644 75 2,002 298 2,160 6,720 37.3
 Bangladesh 88 580 56 3,306 148,470 4.46 25.4 1.61
 Liberia 89 579 104 842 96,320 6.01 8.74 1.87
 Qatar 90 563 100 909 11,586 48.6 78.5 5.23
 Ghana 91 539 106 758 227,533 2.37 3.33 1.13
 Kenya 92 536 89 1,586 569,140 0.942 2.79 0.71
 Senegal 93 531 91 1,327 192,530 2.76 6.89 1.21
  Paracel Islands — 518 7.75 66,800 186
 Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) 94 515 105 797 318,003 1.62 2.51 0.913
 Puerto Rico — 501 — 1,094 8,959 55.9 122 5.29
 Kuwait 95 499 107 756 17,818 28.0 42.4 3.74
 Latvia 96 498 116 566 62,249 8.00 9.09 2
 Seychelles 97 491 109 747 455 1,080 1,640 23
 Guyana 98 459 95 1,154 196,849 2.33 5.86 1.03
 Netherlands 99 451[Note 12] 81 1,914 33,893 13.3 56.5 2.45
 Cambodia 100 443 96 1,127 176,515 2.51 6.38 1.05
 Poland 101 440 99 1,032 304,255 1.45 3.39 0.798
 Tonga 102 419 101 909 717 584 1,270 15.6
 Samoa 103 403 120 463 2,821 143 164 7.59
 Cameroon 104 402 83 1,799 472,710 0.850 3.81 0.585
 Sierra Leone 104 402 86 1,677 71,620 5.61 23.4 1.5
 Guatemala 106 400 122 445 107,159 3.73 4.15 1.22
 Turks and Caicos Islands — 389 948 410 12.6
 Belize 107 386 76 1,996 22,806 16.9 87.5 2.56
 Suriname 107 386 114 620 156,000 2.47 3.97 0.977
 Marshall Islands 109 370.4 69 2,106 181 2,050 11,600 27.5
 Curaçao — 364 444 820 17.3
 Albania 110 362 113 649 27,398 13.2 23.7 2.19
 Trinidad and Tobago 110 362 110 704 5,128 70.6 137 5.06
 Bulgaria 112 354 121 457 108,489 3.26 4.21 1.07
 Guinea-Bissau 113 350 57 3,176 28,120 12.4 113 2.09
 Comoros 114 340 119 469 2,235 152 210 7.19
 Guinea 115 320 87 1,615 245,717 1.30 6.57 0.646
 Djibouti 116 314 123 443 23,180 13.5 19.1 2.06
 Georgia 117 310 124 376 69,700 4.45 5.39 1.17
 El Salvador 118 307 108 756 20,721 14.8 36.5 2.13
 Equatorial Guinea 119 296 115 603 28,051 10.6 21.5 1.77
 Montenegro 120 293.5 13,452 21.82 2.53
 Israel 121 273[Note 13] 136 205 21,497 12.7 9.54 1.86
 Malta 122 252.8 137 198 316 800 627 14.2
 Lebanon 123 225 125 294 10,230 22.0 28.7 2.22
 Romania 123 225 111 696 229,891 0.979 3.03 0.469
 São Tomé and Príncipe 125 209 128 269 964 217 279 6.73
 Singapore 126 193 129 268 709.2 272 378 7.25
 Syria 126 193 134 212 185,887 1.04 1.14 0.448
 U.S. Virgin Islands — 188 — 390 346 543 1,130 10.1
 Mauritius 128 177 118 496 2,030 87.2 244 3.93
 Congo, Republic of the 129 169 135 205 341,500 0.495 0.600 0.289
 Bahrain 130 161 132 255 760 212 336 5.84
 Brunei 130 161 127 269 5,265 30.6 51.1 2.22
 Cayman Islands — 160 264 606 9.85
 Isle of Man — 160 572 280 6.69
 Saint Lucia 132 158 139 166 606 261 274 6.42
 Antigua and Barbuda 133 153 126 289 442.6 346 653 7.27
 Dominica 134 148 141 152 751 197 202 5.4
 Christmas Island — 138.9 135 1,030 12
 Saint Kitts and Nevis 135 135 261 517 8.36
 Wallis and Futuna — 129 142 908 10.8
 Guam — 125.5 544 231 5.38
 Jan Mayen — 124.1 377 329 6.39
 Benin 136 121 140 153 110,622 1.09 1.38 0.364
 Grenada 136 121 133 252 344 352 733 6.52
 Cook Islands 138 120 236 508 7.81
 Saint Pierre and Miquelon — 120 242 496 7.71
 American Samoa — 116 224 518 7.75
 Bermuda — 103 — 180 54 1,910 3,330 14
 Heard Island and McDonald Islands — 101.9 412 247 5.02
 Tokelau — 101 12 8,420 29.2
 Barbados 139 97 143 97 430 226 226 4.68
 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha — 94[Note 14] 394 239 4.74
 Lithuania 140 90 131 258 62,680 1.44 4.12 0.359
 United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges[Note 15] — 85.7 22.41 3,820 18.1
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 141 84 130 264 389 216 679 4.26
 Akrotiri and Dhekelia — 83.8 253.8[4] 330 5.26
 British Virgin Islands — 80 151 530 6.51
 Gambia 142 80 117 503 10,120 7.91 49.7 0.795
 Ashmore and Cartier Islands — 74.1 5 14,800 33.1
 Jersey — 70 116 603 6.5
 Aruba — 68.5 — 107 180 381 594 5.11
 Belgium 143 66.5 144 76 30,278 2.20 2.51 0.382
 Niue 144 64 260 246 3.97
 Anguilla — 61 91 670 6.39
 Saint Martin — 58.9[Note 16] 54.4 1,080 7.99
 Iraq 145 58 142 105 437,367 0.133 0.240 0.0877
 Togo 146 56 145 53 54,385 1.03 0.975 0.24
 Pitcairn Islands — 51 47 1,090 7.44
 Guernsey — 50 78 641 5.66
 Slovenia 147 46.6 146 41 20,151 2.31 2.03 0.328
 Macau — 41 — 36 28.2 1,450 1,280 7.72
 Gaza Strip (Palestine) 148 40 360 111 2.11
 Montserrat — 40 102 392 3.96
 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 149 37 138 177 2,267,048 0.0163 0.0781 0.0246
 Norfolk Island — 32 36 889 5.33
 Nauru 150 30 21 1,430 6.55
 Bouvet Island — 29.6 49 604 4.23
 Cocos (Keeling) Islands — 26 14 1,860 6.95
 Jordan 151 26[Note 17] 147 27 88,802 0.293 0.304 0.0872
 Tuvalu 152 24 26 923 4.71
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 153 20 148 23 51,187 0.391 0.449 0.0884
 Wake Island — 19.3 6.5 2,970 7.57
 Gibraltar — 12 6.5 1,850 4.71
 Clipperton Island — 11.1 6 1,850 4.53
 Navassa Island — 8 5.4 1,480 3.44
 Monaco 154 4.1 2 2,050 2.9
 Saint Barthélemy — NA 25
 Sint Maarten — NA[Note 18] 34 0.0147
 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands — NA 3,903 0.000128
 Kazakhstan 155 0[Note 19] 48 4,528 2,699,700 0 1.68
 Turkmenistan 155 0[Note 20] 93 1,289 469,930 0 2.74
 Azerbaijan 155 0[Note 21] 103 871 82,629 0 10.5
 West Bank (Palestine) 155 0[Note 22] 5,640 0
 Afghanistan 155 0 149 0 652,230 0 0
 Andorra 155 0 468 0
 Armenia 155 0 149 0 28,203 0 0
 Austria 155 0 149 0 82,445 0 0
 Belarus 155 0 149 0 202,900 0 0
 Bhutan 155 0 149 0 38,394 0 0
 Bolivia 155 0 149 0 1,083,301 0 0
 Botswana 155 0 149 0 566,730 0 0
 Burkina Faso 155 0 149 0 273,800 0 0
 Burundi 155 0 149 0 25,680 0 0
 Central African Republic 155 0 149 0 622,984 0 0
 Chad 155 0 149 0 1,259,200 0 0
 Czech Republic 155 0 149 0 77,247 0 0
 Ethiopia 155 0 149 0 1,096,570 0 0
 Hungary 155 0 149 0 89,608 0 0
 Kosovo 155 0 10,887 0
 Kyrgyzstan 155 0 149 0 191,801 0 0
 Laos 155 0 149 0 230,800 0 0
 Lesotho 155 0 149 0 30,355 0 0
 Liechtenstein 155 0 160 0
 Luxembourg 155 0 149 0 2,586 0 0
 Malawi 155 0 149 0 94,080 0 0
 Mali 155 0 149 0 1,220,190 0 0
 Moldova 155 0 149 0 32,891 0 0
 Mongolia 155 0 149 0 1,553,556 0 0
   Nepal 155 0 149 0 143,351 0 0
 Niger 155 0 149 0 1,266,700 0 0
 North Macedonia 155 0 149 0 25,433 0 0
 Paraguay 155 0 149 0 397,302 0 0
 Rwanda 155 0 149 0 24,668 0 0
 San Marino 155 0 61 0
 Serbia 155 0 77,474 0
 Slovakia 155 0 149 0 48,105 0 0
 South Sudan 155 0 644,329[4] 0
 Swaziland 155 0 149 0 17,204 0 0
  Switzerland 155 0 149 0 39,997 0 0
 Tajikistan 155 0 149 0 141,510 0 0
 Uganda 155 0 149 0 197,100 0 0
 Uzbekistan 155 0 85 1,707 425,400 0 4.01
 Vatican City 155 0 0.44 0
 Zambia 155 0 149 0 743,398 0 0
 Zimbabwe 155 0 149 0 386,847 0 0
 French Guiana — 763
 Guadeloupe — 581
 Martinique — 369
 Caribbean Netherlands — 361
 Réunion — 219

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The smaller the scale interval mathematically, the more detailed and the "greater the scale of the map", in common usage. See scale (map).
  2. ^ World total includes countries not listed and coastline for disputed areas.
  3. ^ a b c d e Includes coastline of outlying islands.
  4. ^ The European Union is included because it has certain attributes associated with independent countries: its own flag, anthem, currency (for most members), parliament and other law-making abilities, as well as diplomatic representation and a common foreign and security policy when dealing with external partners. However, because the EU is not a federation in the strict sense, it does not receive a ranking in this list.
  5. ^ Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
  6. ^ Russia has an additional 850 km of coastline along the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked.
  7. ^ Includes coastline length for the Canary Islands.
  8. ^ Excludes minor outlying islands.
  9. ^ Does not include Saint Paul Island and the Crozet Islands (data unavailable) or the Adélie Land claim to Antarctica.
  10. ^ Iran has an additional 740 km of coastline along the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked.
  11. ^ Includes coastline in the Gulf of Fonseca (163 km).
  12. ^ In 1900, the Dutch coastline measured approximately 1400 km. It has significantly been reduced by the closing of the Zuiderzee by the Afsluitdijk in 1932 (250 km) and the closing of several sea arms by the Delta Works (700 km).
  13. ^ Israel has an additional coastline along the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee (both landlocked), with a total length of 63 km.
  14. ^ Excluding Ascension Island (data unavailable).
  15. ^ Includes Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, and Palmyra Atoll.
  16. ^ Figure represents the coastline of the entire island, including Sint Maarten (administered by the Netherlands).
  17. ^ Jordan has an additional 50 km of coastline along the Dead Sea, which is landlocked.
  18. ^ Coastline included in figure for Saint Martin (administered by France).
  19. ^ Kazakhstan has a coastline with the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked, with a total length of 1,894 km.
  20. ^ Turkmenistan has a coastline with the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked, with a total length of 1,768 km.
  21. ^ Azerbaijan has a 713-km coastline along the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked.
  22. ^ The West Bank has a 40-km coastline along the Dead Sea, which is landlocked.

References

  1. ^ a b "Coastal and Marine Ecosystems — Marine Jurisdictions: Coastline length". World Resources Institute. Archived from the original on 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  2. ^ "Coastline - The World Factbook". www.cia.gov.
  3. ^ "Field Listing :: Area — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". October 22, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-10-22.
  4. ^ a b Figure represents total area rather than land area.

Further reading