A coastline, or seashore, or shoreline is the part where land and oceans meet. This meeting between the sea and land, however, isn’t always fixed because of the tidal phenomenon, which is highly dynamic in nature. Because of this, a coastline will refer to the place where the sea and land seem to be in interaction with each one another.
Due to this dynamic nature of the worlds coastlines, measuring them with a high degree of accuracy can become a very tedious job indeed. The ‘coastline paradox‘ concept states that the length of any coastline that is part of a landmass is never very well-defined.
In fact, the length of coastlines is inversely proportional to the length of the device used for measuring as well as the accuracy of any other measuring device.
Nonetheless, the coastlines the countries around the world have been measured as accurately as possible.
Here’s the list of the top 5 countries that have the longest coastlines in our world.
Countries With The Longest Coastlines
1st Place – CANADA
Coastline of Canada = 164,988 Miles
Capital of Canada = Ottawa
Population of Canada = 35,056,064
Canada has the North Atlantic Ocean on its Eastern side, the North Pacific Ocean on its Western, and it has the Arctic Ocean on its Northern side which gives Canada the longest coastline on Earth. Moreover, Canada also shares the title of the longest land border in our world with their Southern neighbors of the United States of America. This land boarder extends to about 5,526 miles in length. Interestingly though, Canada has about 56.7% of the worlds total coastline.
2nd Place – INDONESIA
Coastline of Indonesia = 33,998 Miles
Capital of Indonesia = Jakarta
Population of Indonesia = 237,641,326
Indonesia makes up a large number of islands and it also claims almost all of the waters that surround them. The archipelago where Indonesia is located itself, lies in between the Pacific ocean, as well as the Indian ocean. There are 17 countries share coastal boundaries with the country of Indonesia, some of the bigger and more well known being Malaysia, India, Philippines, Singapore Thailand, and the country of Vietnam.
3rd Place – RUSSIA
Coastline of Russia = 23,397 Miles
Capital of Russia = Moscow
Population of Russia = 143,400,000
Russia’s coastline borders the Arctic ocean as well as the Pacific Ocean, and it extends along the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Sea of Azov, and also the Caspian Sea. Russia’s maritime boundaries are shared with many countries, some of them include China, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Ukraine and the United States of America.
4th Place – PHILIPPINES
Coastline of Philippines = 22,549 Miles
Capital of Philippines = Manila
Population of Philippines = 97,876,000
The archipelago of Philippines is is situated East of Vietnam, in between the South China Sea as well as the Philippine Sea. There are 6 countries sharing coastal boundaries with the Philippines including Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Japan, Palau as well as Malaysia. With respect to their coastline, Philippines has an advantage of its topography. Philippines is topographically highly fragmented by the sea which makes the coastline of Philippines very long.
5th Place – JAPAN
Coastline of Japan = 18,486 Miles
Capital of Japan = Tokyo
Population of Japan = 127,300,000
The Stratovolcanic archipelago of Japan is right in between the Sea of Japan and the North Pacific Ocean . Some other countries sharing Japan’s coastal borders are North Korea, South Korea, China, Philippines, and also Russia. Japan’s coastline is highly characterized by a large number of harbors that are naturally formed.
These are the top 5 countries that have the longest coastlines. Some, like Canada are well known but perhaps there was one or two on our list that caught you by surprise.
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