Countries by Coastline Length

Ranking

Values shown in kilometers.

Analysis

Coastlines are one of geography's most valuable assets. They shape trade routes, enable fishing industries, support tourism, and determine naval reach. Countries with long coastlines often have built-in economic advantages, from port access and maritime trade to offshore resources and global connectivity. But not all coastlines are equal—rugged, island-rich coastlines can be far longer than smooth continental ones, even in smaller countries.

Canada dominates the rankings with an extraordinary 202,080 kilometers of coastline, largely due to its Arctic Archipelago of more than 36,000 islands. Indonesia ranks second with 54,716 kilometers, reflecting its vast spread of islands across Southeast Asia. Greenland, Russia, and the Philippines round out the top five, all benefiting from highly fragmented coastlines. Countries like Japan, Norway, and Australia also rank high because of fjords, peninsulas, and island chains that dramatically increase shoreline length.

Geography creates striking contrasts. The United States ranks ninth despite its size, because much of its coastline is relatively smooth compared to countries with complex island systems. Meanwhile, smaller nations like Greece and Croatia rank high relative to their land area due to highly indented coastlines and thousands of islands. At the other extreme, more than 40 countries are completely landlocked, including Afghanistan, Switzerland, and Ethiopia, giving them zero coastline and fundamentally different economic and strategic constraints.

Measuring coastline length is famously difficult due to the coastline paradox: the smaller the measurement scale, the longer the coastline appears. As a result, different sources may report significantly different figures for the same country. Some measurements include islands and minor inlets, while others focus only on mainland coastlines. Despite these limitations, coastline length remains a useful comparative metric for understanding geography, trade potential, and access to global markets.

Methodology

Coastline length measures the total length of a country's shoreline along oceans and seas, typically expressed in kilometers. Values vary significantly depending on measurement methods, resolution, and whether islands, fjords, and minor indentations are included. This dataset reflects commonly cited national totals compiled from multiple geographic sources, including historical data from the CIA World Factbook and other reference datasets as aggregated by Wikipedia. Because of the coastline paradox—the phenomenon where measured length increases with finer measurement detail—coastline figures should be interpreted as approximate rather than exact. Landlocked countries are assigned a value of zero. Some entries include notes where coastlines are partially defined by inland seas (such as the Caspian Sea) or where island contributions significantly affect totals.