In the puzzling question of which country in the world has the most islands, many automatically come to mind, such as Norway and Indonesia, but where does Greece stand?
At top spot is Sweden, with 267,570 islands and islets, albeit mostly uninhabited. Next is neighbouring Norway, with 239,057, including the famous and beautiful Lofoten Islands. Finland comes third with 178,947 islands.
All the islands of the Scandinavian countries are largely in the Arctic, and have nothing to do with the “summer” landscape we have in mind. Yet they are absolutely charming and peaceful.
In fourth place is Canada, on the other side of the Atlantic, with 52,455 islands in the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, making Canada the country with the longest coastline in the world.
Rounding out the top five is the US, with 18,617 islands, including well-known locations such as the Hawaiian Archipelago and islands from the District of Columbia.
These islands include Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The rest of the Top 15:
6. Indonesia – 17,504
7. Australia – 8,222
8. Philippines – 7,641
9. Japan – 6,852
10. Chile – 5,000
11. China – 5,000
12. South Korea – 4,400
13. Cuba – 4,195
14. Vietnam – 4,000
15. North Korea – 3,579
Apart from 15th, one place below North Korea is our country, Greece is in 16th place with 3,054 islands.
Much further down, in 24th place are the exotic Maldives with 1,196 islands and in 25th place the Marshall Islands with 1,156 islands.
READ MORE: A Trip to Lousios – the Magical River Where the Nymphs Bathed the Newborn Zeus.
