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Countries with the Longest Coastlines

We compiled a list of the 20 countries with the longest coastlines. How many can you name?
Full list, based on original research by the Quizmaster
Includes overseas regions, dependencies, and autonomous areas
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: April 19, 2019
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First submittedAugust 16, 2010
Times taken387,837
Average score85.0%
Rating4.79
Quiz and answer stats >>
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Kilometers
Country
137,000
Canada
73,100
Russia
69,500
United States
52,500
Indonesia
48,800
Denmark
(includes Greenland)
34,100
Australia
31,300
Chile
Kilometers
Country
27,400
Norway
18,700
Brazil
17,300
Philippines
16,800
China
16,700
United Kingdom
15,600
Mexico
15,500
Japan
Kilometers
Country
12,200
France
11,200
Papua New Guinea
11,000
India
10,300
New Zealand
9,480
Greece
6,520
Sweden
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104 Recent Comments
Thanasi
+23
Level 33
May 13, 2019
Madagascar?
Finlay
+5
Level 51
May 13, 2019
apparently not when its bigger than the uk and has lots of islands
Mair30
+7
Level 24
Oct 26, 2020
The U.K. has overseas possessions that are islands is probably why.
WashingMachine
+28
Level 67
Nov 16, 2020
The U.K's coastline is more twisty and jagged than Madagascar's.
kitsims
+7
Level 84
Aug 19, 2021
Yes, it's definitely down to the shape of the actual country rather than the overseas possessions, which are tiny.
Finlay
+4
Level 51
May 13, 2019
good quiz. i got them all, but i didnt get denmark till the very end.
wolverineinohio
+30
Level 45
May 13, 2019
The coastline paradox makes it virtually impossible to accurately measure a country's coastline.
Sifhraven
+5
Level 72
May 24, 2019
how is it impossible to measure a coastline?? you just follow the edges, the coastline...
joshuil
+26
Level 57
Jun 4, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFjq8PX6F7I
GeoPhilia
+8
Level 56
Mar 11, 2020
I would have recommended the same video if I was earlier than you. Great explanation by RLL.
EnlightWolif
+1
Level 48
Dec 18, 2024
It doesn't converge with precision, but you can just set a precision level and compare
SpartanLlama
+7
Level 73
May 13, 2019
I only missed Papua New Guinea.
Yeeee123
+4
Level 40
May 26, 2019
Same here
SpartanLlama
+2
Level 73
Aug 19, 2021
And I did again lol
elijahmrls2
+1
Level 36
Apr 14, 2025
yeah same here
kito
+5
Level 44
May 13, 2019
the uk, france, philippines, and greece make sence uk and france have a bunch of islands and a large part of greece is islands so is the philippines.
AllHailKingHomer
+7
Level 78
May 13, 2019
PNG for the win
Quizodor
+2
Level 52
May 15, 2019
why is australia's coastline so small. Greeland has a quarter of the area but a much bigger coastline; wtf?
Sifhraven
+10
Level 72
May 24, 2019
coastline isnt as the crow flies, but the actual coastline, so every inlet and tiny island is measured.
GeoPhilia
+13
Level 56
Mar 11, 2020
Fjords and Coastline Paradox
Sifhraven
+8
Level 72
May 24, 2019
How is greece the lowest guessed in a quiz about coastlines??
Yeeee123
+1
Level 40
May 26, 2019
Idk
Kenneth3748
+4
Level 53
May 4, 2022
because greece's coastline doesnt look that big when the philippines and png are on here
drlancy
+2
Level 57
Jun 6, 2019
Thought some more of the islands nations would appear like Micronesia, Solomon Islands or Marshall Islands. Still got them all, but took some thinking.
SierraKelley
+2
Level 26
Dec 21, 2020
I thought so too at first but the size of them is just too small in comparison to the big countries that the coastline/area ratio doesn't matter
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 63
Jan 15, 2022
If you want a version with smaller island countries try Smallest Countries with the Most Coastline.
ministeri
+1
Level 53
Jun 11, 2019
Got 5 points on my first go. Quite easy, if I say so myself :P
ArturTamilin
+1
Level 64
Jul 14, 2019
Forgot France😀
Parinter
+4
Level 43
Jul 19, 2019
Woaw How can Sweden beat Argentina
Hollywood
+12
Level 61
Jul 23, 2019
Argentina isn’t on the list?
BramHartsuff
+1
Level 44
Oct 15, 2020
same
Xtrordinary
+1
Level 70
Dec 17, 2024
That is correct. You aren't on the quiz yet.
AtilaFelipe
+5
Level 40
Oct 6, 2019
No Madagascar?
Skebander
+2
Level 76
Oct 11, 2019
The wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_length_of_coastline is very interesting with its two lists from different sources. the numbers are totally different. For example, Finland is 70th on one list with 1700 km and 10th on the other with 30000+.
hannakengu
+3
Level 59
Dec 29, 2019
My guess (based on being a Finnish person, not an online source). The first one, with 1700km, is calculating only the coastline of the mainland, and possibly even that one by cutting some corners. The 30000+ includes coasts of all the islands, of which there are a LOT.
JamieNFFC
+3
Level 50
Dec 21, 2019
I got 19 and forgot Russia

I got Papua New Guinea and Philippines but forgot Russia.

How could I forget it's the biggest country in the world.

SirPhilippines
+2
Level 70
Dec 17, 2020
Why are you thinking Philippines is not known???
MoP444
+9
Level 15
Aug 19, 2021
Philippines is like the Cuba of asia, everyone knows about it, but you forget it really easily
bostjan
+6
Level 71
Feb 25, 2020
There is no accurate way to measure coastline arbitrarily well from a map. Because of that, many paradoxes will be inevitable. How is Madagascar absent, when Papua New Guinea is present, for example? One would think Argentina or South Africa surely have as much coastline as Sweden, but it's a weird thing, measuring length of a curve that doesn't have statically defined position or curvature. Anyway, fun quiz nonetheless.
AlexThirkell
+3
Level 75
Jan 6, 2021
a paradox ≠ something unexpected
bostjan
+1
Level 71
Jun 18, 2021
Paradox (noun) a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated may prove to be well founded or true.
AlexThirkell
+3
Level 75
Aug 21, 2021
What is the contradictory idea?

surprising ≠ contradictory

I think it's surprising that PNG has more coastline than Madagascar (was that the original thing?) but it's not paradoxical.

p.s. I take issue with that Google definition of paradox - we could rename the interesting facts as "paradoxes" if that were right!

bostjan
+1
Level 71
Aug 25, 2021
So, there is a very clear difference between "contradictory" and "seemingly contradictory." If you don't like the definition, and you don't like my word usage, provide your own definition and we can go from there, otherwise you are not really making a convincing point.
Cartmenez
+1
Level 37
Jun 7, 2023
As a matter of fact there is no such thing as the length of a coastline. Mathematically, the length of a curve is the limit of smaller and smaller linearizations of the curve. This procedure however is senseless when it comes to a coast: The length will just go towards infinity, because eventually you will have to take into account every small stone that sticks out of the water.

Every data on lengths of coastlines is the result of arbitrarily setting the 'fineness' of the linearization.

McKenzieFam
+1
Level 67
Apr 2, 2020
Missed Sweden! Got Norway, tried Finland, didn't get anything, decided not to try Sweden, and then I was stuck with 19/20.
JonOfKent
+1
Level 57
Apr 21, 2020
That Norway should have not just more coastline than Brazil but SO MUCH more is really surprising. Very interesting quiz!
Staypawsom3YT
+1
Level 39
Apr 24, 2020
Someone please explain how I got all of them lol. I mean I guess i’m Filipino but oh well
NQChien
+2
Level 67
May 14, 2020
Really suspect Sweden being in this list!
chitrajainn
+2
Level 55
Jul 19, 2020
Forgot India and I live here 😦
Earthisround
+2
Level 24
Sep 23, 2020
Surprised to see that turkey is not in list but Greece is
Dontforget
+1
Level 70
Oct 24, 2020
I got every single country except the USA and I live in the country right beside it. Help me lol
ooftownroad
+1
Level 63
Oct 20, 2022
Ironic that your name is Dontforget
Mair30
+1
Level 24
Oct 26, 2020
Quite amazing what a difference having many islands makes to ‘distance’ of a coastline. Countries that are apparently pretty small have huge coastlines while much larger nations like Saudi Arabia, which despite bordering both the Red and Arabian seas has a smaller coastline even though it looks pretty big on a map.
nitrogenous
+1
Level 23
Nov 19, 2020
i forgot japan
Jetpunkmaster000
+1
Level 46
Dec 10, 2020
Japan was the last for me.
LuigiDood227
+1
Level 69
Jan 5, 2021
No Madagascar?
Splodgylodgyy
+1
Level 64
Apr 24, 2021
Madagascar has 1600km bigger coastline than Sweden which actually has 3200, not 6500
Shadow24
+1
Level 20
Jun 1, 2021
I forgot Greece
aloepottt
+1
Level 47
Jun 1, 2021
me too it does not look that big lol
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 73
Jun 13, 2021
Missed Papua New Guinea which I apparently did the last time I took this so I'm still at 19 smh
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 73
Dec 14, 2021
Same thing again
GeographyPerson2
+1
Level 32
Aug 1, 2021
Why is there no Argentina?
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 63
Jan 15, 2022
Most of Argentina's coastline is blocked by Chile.
Mfundo
+1
Level 35
Aug 19, 2021
Where is South Africa?
Dollyfroggy
+6
Level 63
Feb 21, 2022
It's the southern tip of Africa. It borders Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.
gvgubyibi
+2
Level 28
Oct 6, 2021
i got all but Papua New Guinea
Sheepyboy
+4
Level 62
Nov 9, 2021
I missed India I’m stupid
Nissan
+3
Level 33
Dec 18, 2021
I really typed in california..
Mfundo
+1
Level 35
Jan 14, 2022
Where is Madagascar?
Alecoitade
+1
Level 41
Jan 23, 2022
Italy has 7.5km2 so more than Sweden.
ElementalPixel
+1
Level 71
May 6, 2022
How would you get squared km from measuring coastline? Km2 are used for measuring area, not perimeters.
Ravisseur
+1
Level 59
Feb 20, 2022
I'm tired of always forget philippines in all quizes :,(
xtremeyoylecake
+1
Level 47
Sep 17, 2024
This comment is what made be get 100%

Thank you kind fellow

Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 63
Feb 21, 2022
I made a version with multiple sources, including Quizmaster's source.
jbro
+1
Level 72
Mar 7, 2022
How is New Zealand here but Madagascar is not?
justanerd
+1
Level 33
Mar 28, 2022
love how the caveat gives you all the answers
Rashford10
+3
Level 25
May 21, 2022
I personally really disliked the quiz, because of bad answers.

For example Norways coastline is actually 100 915km and not 27 400km.

Anyotha
+1
Level 36
Jun 22, 2022
How is D.R. Congo having a coastline of 211km, according to the source?
CambodianQuizzer
+1
Level 70
Jun 8, 2023
It has a tiny part touching the Atlantic.
Nerdlovesflags
+2
Level 20
Aug 6, 2022
Umm Sweden has a coastline of just over 3,000km… not 6,000.
rhjouben
+2
Level 48
Oct 3, 2022
why is Greenland included by Denmark in this quiz but not in the "Biggest Countries by Area" quiz
MattGeo
+1
Level 31
Oct 7, 2022
100% with 22 seconds left, very nice quiz.
soleplayer
+1
Level 47
Oct 13, 2022
Guessed all but missed Greece (Isn't Argentina's coastlines are longer than Greece?)
shaniquanderson
+1
Level 58
Nov 1, 2023
im saying like i needed a quadruple take for my brain to comprehend that Argentina wasn't on the list
Eveliina
+1
Level 33
Oct 16, 2022
How is Sweden on the list?
Jango
+2
Level 63
Nov 23, 2022
I wish you'd make your mind up whether Australia is a country or a continental landmass, because I've just now done a quiz where it wasn't counted as a country...
kalbahamut
+5
Level 81
Dec 24, 2022
Australia is both a country and the continental landmass of Oceania. Not that hard to understand. In the same way that Iceland is both a country and an island in the North Atlantic. What quiz are you talking about? Is it one where you're required to name islands or countries on islands? Giving you Australia as a gimme on that quiz doesn't negate the fact that it's a country. There are no quizzes on the site that don't count Australia as a country.
SirPhilippines
+1
Level 70
May 1, 2023
About the coastline paradox: Does it even matter if we use the same base length (i.e. 10 km) as a measuring stick to measure all coastlines?
ElliottGeoGod
+1
Level 40
May 3, 2023
Got papua new guinea, forgot russia
Ioana29
+1
Level 44
Jun 8, 2023
bro I missed UK....
ErenJaeger2005
+1
Level 67
Jun 8, 2023
Ah, I missed Greece. They have a lot of islands butI wasted all my time typing in big african countries with coastlines.
Oops2007
+1
Level 58
Jun 8, 2023
omg i forgot china mexico and india-
IBRK
+1
Level 75
Dec 18, 2023
Sweden being here and not Madagascar is really surprising
BenjaBanana
+1
Level 28
Jan 6, 2024
Is it bad that I got papua new guinea but not canada
Mumzerz
+1
Level 59
Feb 7, 2024
Cool but i think that bc of its weird shape Guinea Bissau actually has the eighth longest coastline in the world (crazy)
Ainmclarach
+1
Level 66
Jun 21, 2024
I believe that Guinea-Bissau has the eighth longest coastline in Africa, not the world. Still very impressive for a country of that size, but not quite that long.
VincentCanQuiz
+1
Level 56
Mar 18, 2024
Only missed Papua New Guinea
notsoysauce
+2
Level 28
Jul 3, 2024
wrong information. India's total coastline is 7516.6 km not 11000
bigred34
+1
Level 50
Jul 3, 2024
How madagascar isnt listed, I'll never know.... Just the visual on a map looks entirely longer than France.

Edit: according to google search France's coastlines are 5500 km. Madagascar is 6000km.

Xtrordinary
+1
Level 70
Dec 17, 2024
The source is orignal research and any source will differ on length for any country because of the coastline paradox
Amin1992
+1
Level 33
Sep 11, 2024
I THOUGHT I TYPED JAPAN! WHHHYYYY???
kadber342008
+1
Level 43
Nov 11, 2024
Where is Turkey? According to Wikipedia Turkey has longer coastline than Sweden and india.
Xtrordinary
+1
Level 70
Dec 17, 2024
Turkey is south of the Black Sea and bordes Bulgaria, Greece, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia.
Alexquiz17
+1
Level 92
Dec 17, 2024
Mercator is to blame for a lot of this controversy
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