Canada has the longest coastline of any nation on the planet. With a coastline totaling 56,453 miles (just over 90,852 km), the country accounts for roughly 15% of the coastlines around the world. While landlocked countries like Austria or Kazakhstan encompass large amounts of land mass, they possess borders rather than coastlines. Nations that are often assumed to have a great deal of coastline, such as Russia and Brazil, include significant borders with other nations and do not have coastlines long enough to compete with Canada. In addition to Canada, the top 5 nations with the longest coastlines in the world are Indonesia, Greenland, Russia, and the Philippines.
Facts about Coastlines and Borders:
- Many nations around the world have both coastlines and borders. For example, the United States has coastlines along two oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, as well as borders with Canada to the north and Mexico to the South.
- Landlocked nations are countries that only have borders and do not have any coastlines at all. As of 2011, there were a total of 44 countries and other areas that were identified as being landlocked.
- As of 2011, there are two nations in the world that are classified as double-landlocked. Lichenstein and Uzbekistan not only do not have any coastlines of their own, but are also surrounded by other nations that are landlocked.
By Malcolm Tatum
, Writer
Malcolm Tatum, a former teleconferencing industry professional, followed his passion for trivia, research, and writing to become a full-time freelance writer. He has contributed articles to a variety of print and online publications, including WiseGEEK, and his work has also been featured in poetry collections, devotional anthologies, and newspapers. When not writing, Malcolm enjoys collecting vinyl records, following minor league baseball, and cycling.