Island Countries 2026

An island country is a country that is made up of one or more islands, or land that is surrounded completely by water. Island nations are very unique because of their locations. The main supply of food is fish, and these countries rely heavily on imports from continental nations.

The economies of island nations are also different. Because they are more isolated from trade and economy and have to face such challenges as high shipping costs, these countries typically have very small economies and are significantly impacted by global changes in the economy.

Most island nations have very small populations, although there are some exceptions, such as Japan. There are many island nations around the world. The largest by population is Indonesia, which has a population of over 255 million people.

The second largest island country in the world is Japan, which has a population of over 127 million. There is one additional island country with a population exceeding 100 million, and that nation is the Philippines.