Print

Countries of the world - By longest Coastline

Posted in Geography

This is a list of countries by length of coastline, in kilometres, based on data for the year 2008 by the CIA World Factbook.

A coastline of zero indicates that the country is landlocked.

Information about this list

Norway's Famous FjordsMeasurements 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.

This 'magnifying' effect is greater for convoluted coastlines than for relatively smooth ones. For example, as seen on satellite image websites, the length of Canada's very convoluted coastline at a scale interval of 500 km is only about 20,000 km, less than a tenth of the value given in the table. On the other hand, Australia's coastline at 500 km intervals is about 12,500 km, around half the value in the table.

The coast/area ratio measures how many meters 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 like Austria will have a ratio of zero.

  • Note that the scales at which the CIA World Factbook figures were measured are not stated, nor is it known whether the figures are all reported using the same scale. The figures are not necessarily comparable across different countries.
  • Norways figures include long fjords and minor indentation. Excludes outlying island coastlines.
  • Figures for France are for Metropolitan France only
  • Iran has an additional 740 km of coastline along the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked
  • Kazakhstan has a coastline with the Aral and Caspian seas (both landlocked) with a total length of 2,964 km
  • Turkmenistan has a coastline with the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked, with a total length of 1,768 km
  • Uzbekistan has a 420-km coastline refers with the Aral Sea, which is landlocked
  • Azerbaijan has a 713-km coastline along the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked.
Rank   Country   Land area  
(km?)   		Coastline 
(km)   		Coast/Area Ratio
(m/km?)  
1  Canada 9,093,507 202,080 22.222
2  Indonesia 1,826,440 54,716 29.958
3  Greenland 2,166,086 44,087 20.353
4  Russia 16,995,800 37,653 2.215
5  Philippines 298,170 36,289 121.706
6  Japan 374,744 29,751 79.390
7  Australia 7,617,930 25,760 3.381
8  Norway 307,442 25,148  81.798
9  United States 9,161,923 19,924 2.175
10  New Zealand 268,021 15,134 56.466
11  People's Republic of China 9,326,410 14,500 1.555
12  Greece 130,800 13,676 104.557
13  United Kingdom 241,590 12,429 51.447
14  Mexico 1,923,040 9,330 4.852
15  Italy 294,020 7,600 25.849
16  Brazil 8,456,510 7,491 0.886
17  Denmark 42,394 7,314 172.254
18  Turkey 770,760 7,200 9.341
19  India 2,973,190 7,000 2.354
20  Chile 748,800 6,435 8.594
21  Federated States of Micronesia 702 6,112 8,706.553
22  Croatia 56,414 5,835  103.432
23  Solomon Islands 27,540 5,313 192.919
24  Papua New Guinea 452,860 5,152 11.377
25  Argentina 2,736,690 4,989 1.823
26  Iceland 100,250 4,988 49.756
27  Spain 499,542 4,964 9.937
28  Madagascar 581,540 4,828 8.302
29  Malaysia 328,550 4,675 14.229
30  Estonia 43,211 3,794 87.802
31  Cuba 110,860 3,735 33.691
32  Svalbard 61,020 3,587 58.784
33  Bahamas 10,070 3,542 351.738
34  Vietnam 325,360 3,444  10.585
35  France 545,630 3,427  6.281
36  Thailand 511,770 3,219 6.290
37  Sweden 410,934 3,218 7.831
38  Colombia 1,038,700 3,208 3.088
39  Somalia 627,337 3,025 4.822
40  Venezuela 882,050 2,800 3.174
41  South Africa 1,219,912 2,798 2.294
42  Ukraine 603,700 2,782 4.608
43  Saudi Arabia 2,149,690 2,640 1.228
44  Vanuatu 12,200 2,528 207.213
45  French Polynesia 3,660 2,525 689.891
46  North Korea 120,410 2,495 20.721
47  Panama 75,990 2,490 32.767
48  Mozambique 784,090 2,470 3.150
49  Egypt 995,450 2,450 2.461
50  Iran 1,636,000 2,440  1.491
51  Peru 1,280,000 2,414 1.886
52  South Korea 98,190 2,413 24.575
53  Germany 349,223 2,389 6.841
54  New Caledonia 18,575 2,254 121.346
55  Ecuador 276,840 2,237 8.080
56  Eritrea 121,320 2,234  18.414
57  Oman 212,460 2,092 9.847
58  Myanmar 657,740 1,930 2.934
59  Yemen 527,970 1,906 3.610
60  Morocco 446,300 1,835 4.112
61  Portugal 91,951 1,793 19.500
62  Haiti 27,560 1,771 64.260
63  Libya 1,759,540 1,770 1.006
64  Angola 1,246,700 1,600 1.283
65  Namibia 825,418 1,572 1.904
66  Republic of China (Taiwan) 32,260 1,566 48.543
67  Palau 458 1,519 3,316.594
68  Northern Mariana Islands 477 1,482 3,106.918
69  Ireland 68,890 1,448 21.019
70  Tanzania 886,037 1,424 1.607
71  Sri Lanka 64,740 1,340 20.698
72  United Arab Emirates 83,600 1,318 15.766
73  Costa Rica 50,660 1,290 25.464
74  Dominican Republic 48,380 1,288 26.623
75  Falkland Islands 12,173 1,288 105.808
76  Finland 304,473 1,250 4.105
77  Tunisia 155,360 1,148 7.389
78  Kiribati 811 1,143 1,409.371
79  Fiji 18,270 1,129 61.795
80  Faroe Islands 1,399 1,117 798.427
81  Western Sahara 266,000 1,110 4.173
82  Pakistan 778,720 1,046 1.343
83  Jamaica 10,831 1,022 94.359
84  Algeria 2,381,740 998 0.419
85  Cape Verde 4,033 965 239.276
86  Nicaragua 120,254 910 7.567
87  Gabon 257,667 885 3.435
88  Nigeria 910,768 853 0.937
89  Sudan 2,376,000 853 0.359
90  Honduras 111,890 820 7.329
91  Mauritania 1,030,400 754 0.732
92  Hong Kong 1,042 733 703.455
93  Timor-Leste 15,007  706 47.045
94  Uruguay 173,620 660 3.801
95  Cyprus 9,240 648 70.130
96  Maldives 300 644 2,146.667
97  Bangladesh 133,910 580 4.331
98  Liberia 96,320 579 6.011
99  Qatar 11,437 563 49.226
100  Ghana 230,940 539 2.334
101  Kenya 569,250 536 0.942
102  Latvia 63,589 531 8.351
103  Senegal 192,000 531 2.766
104  C?te d'Ivoire 318,000 515 1.619
105  Puerto Rico 8,870 501 56.483
106  Kuwait 17,820 499 28.002
107  Poland 304,459 491 1.613
108  Seychelles 455 491 1,079.121
109  Guyana 196,850 459 2.332
110  Netherlands 33,883 451 13.311
111  Cambodia 176,520 443 2.510
112  Tonga 718 419 583.565
113  Samoa 2,934 403 137.355
114  Cameroon 469,440 402 0.856
115  Sierra Leone 71,620 402 5.613
116  Guatemala 108,430 400 3.689
117  Turks and Caicos Islands 430 389 904.651
118  Belize 22,806 386 16.925
119  Suriname 161,470 386 2.391
120  French Guiana 90,000  378 4.200
121  Marshall Islands 181 370 2,044.199
122  Netherlands Antilles 960 364 379.167
123  Trinidad and Tobago 5,128 362 70.593
124  Albania 27,398 362 13.213
125  Bulgaria 110,550 354 3.202
126  Guinea-Bissau 28,000 350 12.500
127  Martinique 1,102  350 317.604
128  Comoros   Comoros 2,170 340 156.682
129  Guinea 245,857 320 1.302
130  Djibouti 22,980 314 13.664
131  Georgia 69,700 310 4.448
132  El Salvador 20,720 307 14.817
133  Guadeloupe 1,628 306 187.961
134  Equatorial Guinea 28,051 296 10.552
135  Israel 20,330 273 13.428
136  Lebanon 10,230 225 21.994
137  Romania 230,340 225 0.977
138  S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe 1,001 209 208.791
139  R?union 2,510  207 82.470
140  Montenegro 13,812 199 14.408
141  Malta 316 197  623.418
142  Syria 184,050 196 1.065
143  Singapore 683 196 286.969
144  U.S. Virgin Islands 346 188 543.353
145  Mayotte 374 185 494.652
146  Mauritius 2,030 177 87.192
147  Republic of the Congo 341,500 169 0.495
148  Bahrain 665 161 242.105
149  Brunei 5,270 161 30.550
150  Isle of Man 572 160 279.720
151  Cayman Islands 262 160 610.687
152  Saint Lucia 606 158 260.726
153  Antigua and Barbuda 443 153 345.372
154  Dominica 754 148 196.286
155  Christmas Island 135 139 1,029.630
156  Saint Kitts and Nevis 261 135 517.241
157  Wallis and Futuna 274 129 470.803
158  Guam 541 126 232.902
159  Grenada 344 121 351.744
160  Benin 110,620 121 1.094
161  Cook Islands 237 120 506.329
162  Saint Pierre and Miquelon 242 120 495.868
163  American Samoa 199 116 582.915
164  Bermuda 53 103 1,943.396
165  Tokelau 10 101 10,100.000
166  Barbados 431 97 225.058
167  Lithuania 65,300  99 1.516
168  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 389 84 215.938
169  Gambia 10,000 80 8.000
170  British Virgin Islands 153 80 522.876
171  Jersey 116 70 603.448
172  Aruba 193 69 357.513
173  Belgium 30,278 66 2.180
174  Niue 260 64 246.154
175  Anguilla 102 61 598.039
176  Saint Helena   Saint Helena 122 60 491.803
177  Saint Martin 54 59 1,092.593
178  Iraq 432,162 58 0.134
179  Togo 54,385 56 1.030
180  Pitcairn Islands 47 51 1,085.106
181  Guernsey 78 50 641.026
182  Slovenia 20,151 47 2.332
183  Macau 28 41 1,464.286
184  Palestine 6,000 40 6.667
185  Montserrat 102 40 392.157
186  Tristan da Cunha 201 40 199.005
187  Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,267,600 37 0.016
188  Norfolk Island 35 32 914.286
189  Nauru 21 30 1,428.571
190  Jordan 91,971 26 0.283
191  Cocos (Keeling) Islands 14 26 1,857.143
192  Tuvalu 26 24 923.077
193  Bosnia and Herzegovina 51,197 20 0.391
194  Gibraltar 6.5 12 1,846.154
195  Monaco 1.95 4 2,051.282
196  Kazakhstan 2,669,800 0  0
196  Turkmenistan 488,100 0  0
196  Azerbaijan 86,100 0  0
196  Uzbekistan 425,400 0  0
196  Afghanistan 647,500 0 0
196  Andorra 468 0 0
196  Armenia 28,454 0 0
196  Austria 82,444 0 0
196  Burundi 25,650 0 0
196  Burkina Faso 273,800 0 0
196  Bhutan 47,000 0 0
196  Belarus 207,600 0 0
196  Bolivia 1,084,390 0 0
196  Botswana 585,370 0 0
196  Central African Republic 622,984 0 0
196  Chad 1,259,200 0 0
196  Czech Republic 77,276 0 0
196  Ethiopia 1,119,683 0 0
196  Hungary 92,340 0 0
196  Kosovo 10,887 0 0
196  Kyrgyzstan 191,300 0 0
196  Laos 230,800 0 0
196  Lesotho 30,355 0 0
196  Liechtenstein 160 0 0
196  Luxembourg 2,586 0 0
196  Malawi 94,080 0 0
196  Moldova 33,371 0 0
196  Mongolia 1,554,731 0 0
196  Macedonia 24,856 0 0
196  Mali 1,220,000 0 0
196  Nepal 143,181 0 0
196  Niger 1,266,700 0 0
196  Paraguay 397,300 0 0
196  Rwanda 24,948 0 0
196  Serbia 77,474 0 0
196  San Marino 61 0 0
196  Switzerland 39,770 0 0
196  Slovakia 48,800 0 0
196  Swaziland 17,203 0 0
196  Tajikistan 142,700 0 0
196  Uganda 199,710 0 0
196  Vatican City 0.44 0 0
196  Zambia 740,724 0 0
196  Zimbabwe 386,670 0 0
 

Members Login

Social Networking

Merchandise:
T-Shirts & more for Quizmasters

Our T-Shirt Shop