The Countries With the Most Islands

Interestingly, when it comes to statistics regarding which countries have the most islands, figures can differ hugely between sources. Pulling together the most reputable and official sources it could, website worldatlas.com has found that out of all countries on the planet, Sweden has the most islands with 267,570, the majority of which are uninhabited. Even the capital of Stockholm is built across a 14-island archipelago with more than 50 bridges.

Incredibly, Japan even discovered in March 2023 that it had double the amount of islands than originally thought. A Geospatial Information Authority of Japan survey upped the country's total from 6,852 to 14,125. The original figure had been based on a 1987 Japan Coast Guard report.

As reported by Nippon at the time "the sharp rise in the number of islands was mainly due to advances in surveying technology". The inclusion of aerial photography "making it possible to get a clearer picture of complex coastlines, and identify islands that had not been counted as they were thought to be connected to land or cases where two separate islands were thought to be one."