TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As an archipelago, Indonesia is known as the country with one of the highest number of islands. However, there are several countries with more islands than Indonesia.

According to worldatlas.com, Sweden is ranked first in the list of countries with the most number of islands with 267,570 islands. Stockholm Archipelago in Sweden houses 30,000 islands, of which around 200 are inhibited.

Only around 24,000 islands in Sweden are open to the public, on account of the country's tradition of right to public access. According to worldometers.info, Sweden's population on January 10, 2024, are 10,644,555 people inhibiting less than 1,000 islands. Sweden's population is equivalent to 0.13 percent of the total world population.

Following Sweden, Norway is another country with the most islands in the world. Home to 5,495,495 people, there are 239,057 islands in Norway. One of the most popular touristy islands in Norway is Lofoten Islands.

The third country with the most islands is Sweden and Norway's neighboring nation, Finland with 178,947 islands. Many of Finland's islands stretch from the southwest of the country to the Baltic Sea.

Another interesting fact in the list is Japan, which discovered in March 2023 more than 7,000 new islands in its territory, based on a Geospatial Information Authority of Japan survey. Meanwhile, Indonesia placed at 6th with 17,504 islands. Below is the detailed list of the top 10 countries with the most islands in the world:

1. Sweden: 267,750

2. Norway: 239,057

3. Finland: 178,947

4. Canada: 52,455

5. United States: 18,617

6. Indonesia: 17,504

7. Japan: 14,125

8. Australia: 8,222

9. Philippines: 7,641

10. Chile: 5,000

RAHMAT AMIN SIREGAR

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