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Various countries around the world can boast of having the most of something. The most lakes is an accolade belonging to Canada — it has around 879,000 — while the country with the most trees is Russia, where around 45% of the landmass is considered forest.
But when it comes to the number of islands, what country tops the list? Greece, perhaps? Maybe Indonesia? What about Canada, home of the Arctic Archipelago?
The winner — by quite some margin — is Sweden. This Northern European nation is home to a whopping 221,800 mostly uninhabited islands, according to Statista, a German company that provides statistics. This number includes islands as small as 270 square feet (25 square meters), according to a 2005 study in the journal Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography. That's about the size of a one-car garage.
Finland, the runner-up, has an estimated 188,000 islands, while Norway, which rounds out the top three, is a long way behind, with around 55,000, according to Statista.
All three countries are part of the Nordic region (which also includes Iceland and Denmark). That raises an interesting question: Why does this part of the world have so many islands?
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