This article contains a list of countries and dependencies 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.
Coastline paradox
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. This "magnifying" effect is greater for convoluted coastlines than for relatively smooth ones.
Data sources Data marked The World Factbook or TWF is derived from the book published by the Central Intelligence Agency and covers 198 countries and 55 territories. 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 necessarily not 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,"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."In addition to coastline lengths, The World Factbook is the source of the land area used to calculate the "coast/area ratio" for both coastline measurements. 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.
List
Data are from the CIA World Factbook and the World Resources Institute. Non-sovereign areas are listed in italics. + Location Coastline(km) Land area() Coast/arearatio(m/) Note (CIA) (WRI) (CIA) (WRI) 1,634,701 World total includes countries not listed and coastline for disputed areas. 265,523 53,199 Includes coastline of outlying islands. 95,181 The European Union is included because it has certain attributes associated with independent countries. However, the EU is not a federation in the strict sense. (Denmark) 110,310 Russia has an additional 850 km of coastline along the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked. 33,900 29,020 66,530 133,312 (Disputed) 17,209 30,017 15,147 Includes coastline of outlying islands. 19,717 11,098 17,181 23,761 9,226 5,316 33,379 8,140 78,563 1,295 5,664 Includes coastline of outlying islands. 9,880 20,197 8,397 8,506 7,268 Includes coastline length for the Canary Islands. 7,330 9,935 9,323 2,956 14,519 (Norway) 11,238 11,409 Excludes minor outlying islands. 3,898 7,066 26,384 5,875 (Australia) <3 >1,000,000 (France) Does not include Saint Paul Island and the Crozet Islands (data unavailable) or the Adélie Land claim to Antarctica. 2,009 6,762 3,751 4,953 7,572 3,132 (France) 5,830 4,009 5,637 6,942 5,898 5,891 Includes coastline of outlying islands. Iran has an additional 740 km of coastline along the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked. 3,362 12,478 3,624 (France) 3,624 4,597 3,446 Includes coastline of outlying islands. 2,810 14,708 3,149 2,830 1,977 2,025 2,252 1,754 2,007 (United States) 6,437 3,461 2,825 2,871 2,069 1,612 (United Kingdom) 31,119 1,927 1,961 4,638 (Denmark) 2,599 895 1,557 1,121 (Disputed) <5 >200,000 1,915 2,019 3,122 2,245 1,878 Includes coastline in the Gulf of Fonseca (163 km). 1,268 (China) 955 (United Kingdom) 1,096 671 2,002 3,306 842 909 758 1,586 1,327 (Disputed) 797 (United States) 1,094 756 566 747 1,154 1,914 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). 1,127 1,032 909 463 1,799 1,677 445 (United Kingdom) 1,996 620 2,106 (Netherlands) 649 704 457 3,176 469 1,615 443 376 756 603 205 Israel has an additional coastline along the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee (both landlocked), with a total length of 63 km. 198 294 696 269 268 212 (United States) 390 496 205 255 269 (United Kingdom) (United Kingdom) 166 289 152 (Australia) (France) (United States) (Norway) 153 252 (New Zealand) (France) (United States) (United Kingdom) 180 (Australia) (New Zealand) 97 (United Kingdom) Excluding Ascension Island (data unavailable). 258 (United States) Includes Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, and Palmyra Atoll. 264 (United Kingdom) Figure represents total area rather than land area. (United Kingdom) 503 (Australia) (United Kingdom) (Netherlands) 107 76 (New Zealand) (United Kingdom) (Netherlands) Figure represents the coastline of the entire island, including Sint Maarten (administered by the Netherlands). 105 53 (United Kingdom) (United Kingdom) 41 (China) 36 (Palestine) (United Kingdom) 177 (Australia) (Norway) (Australia) 27 Jordan has an additional 50 km of coastline along the Dead Sea, which is landlocked. 23 (United States) (United Kingdom) (France) (Disputed) (France) NA (Netherlands) NA Coastline included in figure for Saint Martin (administered by France). (United Kingdom) NA 0 4,528 Kazakhstan has a coastline with the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked, with a total length of 1,894 km. 0 1,289 Turkmenistan has a coastline with the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked, with a total length of 1,768 km. 0 871 Azerbaijan has a 713-km coastline along the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked. (Palestine) The West Bank has a 40-km coastline along the Dead Sea, which is landlocked. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Figure represents total area rather than land area. 0 0 0 0 0 1,707 0 0 (France) 763 (France) 581 (France) 369 (Netherlands) 361 (France) 219
See also Coastal India Coastline of Brazil Coastline of China Coastline of Malta Coastline of New Zealand Coastline of the United Kingdom Coastline of Western Australia List of countries bordering on two or more oceans List of U.S. states by coastline
Notes
References
Further reading
fi:Luettelo valtioiden rantaviivan ja maarajojen pituuksista