Britain has more coastline than Brazil – but which country has the most seaside?

The UK, believe it or not, has more coastline than Brazil
The UK, believe it or not, has more coastline than Brazil Credit: National Trust Images/Richard Wi

Love to be beside the seaside? Then you won't be disappointed in the destinations that appear in darker colours on the map below – they boast the longest coastlines in the world.

Canada has the most coast of all - a staggering 202,080 kilometres, according to the CIA World Factbook - though the chilly waters mean it's far from ideal for beachgoers. Ditto Greenland and Russia, numbers three and four, respectively.

A far better bet would be Indonesia, with its 54,716km of seaside (it has 18,307 islands, so its high ranking is hardly a surprise); The Philippines, fifth overall, with 36,289km; Japan, sixth with 29,751km; Australia, seventh with 25,760km; and Norway, eighth, with 25,148km (yes it has some beautiful beaches, though the water is a little chilly).

The UK's coastline is surprisingly long. All those coves and islands (and presumably, overseas territories) mean it is, remarkably, longer than Brazil's, Chile's, Mexico's and India's.

The 20 countries (and two territories) with the longest coastlines

  1. Canada - 202,080km
  2. Indonesia - 54,716km
  3. Greenland - 44,087km
  4. Russia - 37,653km
  5. Philippines - 36,289km
  6. Japan - 29,751km
  7. Australia - 25,760km
  8. Norway - 25,148km
  9. United States - 19,924km
  10. Antarctica - 17,968km
  11. New Zealand - 15,134km
  12. China - 14,500km
  13. Greece - 13,676km
  14. United Kingdom - 12,429km
  15. Mexico - 9,330km
  16. Italy - 7,600km
  17. Brazil - 7,491km
  18. Denmark - 7,314km
  19. Turkey - 7,200km
  20. India - 7,000km
  21. Chile - 6,435km
  22. Croatia - 6,268km
Canada is king of coast
Canada is king of coast Credit: GETTY

Countries with hardly any coast

The east coast of the Adriatic Sea is an international chorus line which runs Italy-Slovenia-Croatia-Montenegro-Albania-Greece, right? Well yes, pretty much. But not quite. Look at the map more closely and you will notice that Bosnia also shares in this waterfront bounty. There it is – all 12 miles of it – interrupting Croatia's charge to the south-east, around 40 miles north-west of Dubrovnik. This little continuity gap is a quirk of politics and geography – but it is enough for Bosnia to have a resort town of its own. That would be Neum, a typically pretty Balkan enclave of orange rooftops and fine beaches. If you wanted to stay here, you could book yourself into the Grand Hotel Neum (00387 36 880 222; hotel-neum.com). 

Tiny coastlines can be found in other relatively big nations. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a sliver of seaside, 37km, on the northern side of the Congo River. 

Slovenia has a helping of just 47km. Portorož is its biggest resort; the Kempinski Palace is the place to stay

Lithuania's 90km seaside includes half of the Curonian Spit, a World Heritage Site and home to some of Europe's highest sand dunes.

The world's 45 landlocked nations

And if you simply must have sun and sand on holiday, you should definitely avoid those countries that appear in grey on the map above - they have no coastline whatsoever.

Worse still would be Liechtenstein or Uzbekistan, the only doubly landlocked countries on Earth (ie. they are entirely surrounded by landlocked countries - Liechtenstein by Switzerland and Austria; Uzbekistan by Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan).

  1. Afghanistan
  2. Andorra
  3. Armenia
  4. Austria
  5. Azerbaijan
  6. Belarus
  7. Bhutan
  8. Bolivia
  9. Botswana
  10. Burkina Faso
  11. Burundi
  12. Central African Republic
  13. Chad
  14. Czech Republic
  15. Ethiopia
  16. Hungary
  17. Kazakhstan
  18. Kosovo
  19. Kyrgyzstan
  20. Laos
  21. Lesotho
  22. Liechtenstein
  23. Luxembourg
  24. Macedonia
  25. Malawi
  26. Mali
  27. Moldova
  28. Mongolia
  29. Nepal
  30. Niger
  31. Paraguay
  32. Rwanda
  33. San Marino
  34. Serbia
  35. Slovakia
  36. South Sudan
  37. Swaziland
  38. Switzerland
  39. Tajikistan
  40. Turkmenistan
  41. Uganda
  42. Uzbekistan
  43. Vatican City
  44. Zambia
  45. Zimbabwe
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