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Top 10 Largest Archipelagos in the World by Number of Islands

The Archipelago Sea in Finland contains over 50,000 islands, making it the largest archipelago in the world by island count, followed by the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Updated August 30, 2026 10 ranked 3 sources

Quick answer: 1. Archipelago Sea, 2. Canadian Arctic Archipelago, 3. Stockholm Archipelago, 4. Thirty Thousand Islands, 5. Malay Archipelago, 6. Indonesian Archipelago, 7. Lake of the Woods Islands, 8. Japanese Archipelago, 9. Småland Archipelago, 10. Öregrund Archipelago.

An archipelago is a group of islands clustered in a body of water. The largest archipelagos in the world contain tens of thousands of individual islands, ranging from massive polar archipelagos spanning millions of square kilometers to sprawling freshwater island groups in the Great Lakes. This list ranks the ten largest archipelagos by the estimated number of islands they contain. Exact counts vary depending on definitions (what qualifies as an island versus a skerry or islet), but these figures are based on commonly cited geographic surveys and official government data.

Estimated number of islands

Estimated number of islands
Archipelago Sea
50000 islands
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
36563 islands
Stockholm Archipelago
30000 islands
Thirty Thousand Islands
30000 islands
Malay Archipelago
25000 islands
Indonesian Archipelago
17504 islands
Lake of the Woods Islands
14632 islands
Japanese Archipelago
14125 islands
Småland Archipelago
12740 islands
Öregrund Archipelago
9722 islands

The ranking

1

Archipelago Sea

The Archipelago Sea in the Baltic Sea, part of Finland, is the world's largest archipelago by island count, with over 50,000 islands. More than 17,000 of these are smaller than 0.5 hectares, and thousands more are rocky skerries barely above water. Only about 250 islands are larger than 1 square kilometer, and roughly 60,000 people live in the region, mostly in the autonomous Åland Islands.

location: Baltic Sea, Finlandregion: Northern Europetotal_area_km2: 8300population: 60000
2

Canadian Arctic Archipelago

The Canadian Arctic Archipelago consists of 36,563 islands spread across the Arctic Ocean north of mainland Canada. Of these, 94 are major islands larger than 130 square kilometers, including Baffin Island (over 500,000 km²), Victoria Island, and Ellesmere Island. The archipelago spans 1.4 million square kilometers, an area larger than France, and is sparsely populated by Inuit communities along the coasts.

location: Arctic Ocean, Canadaregion: North Americatotal_area_km2: 1407770population: 23000
3

Stockholm Archipelago

Sweden's Stockholm Archipelago contains approximately 30,000 islands, islets, and skerries stretching from Stockholm eastward into the Baltic Sea. The archipelago features about 10,000 permanent residences and 50,000 holiday homes, making it one of the most densely inhabited island groups among the world's largest archipelagos, with regular ferry and bridge connections to the mainland.

location: Baltic Sea, Swedenregion: Northern Europetotal_area_km2: 1700population: 60000
4

Thirty Thousand Islands

The Thirty Thousand Islands — the world's largest freshwater archipelago — sprawls across Georgian Bay in Lake Huron, Canada. As its name suggests, it contains roughly 30,000 islands, ranging from tiny rocky outcrops to large forested landmasses. The archipelago is part of the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-recognized area known for its unique ecology and rugged Canadian Shield landscape.

location: Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, Canadaregion: North Americatotal_area_km2: 12000population: 5000
5

Malay Archipelago

The Malay Archipelago — the largest archipelago by land area — contains approximately 25,000 islands stretching between Southeast Asia and Australia. It includes the nations of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea. The archipelago spans the world's most biodiverse marine region and sits at the intersection of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

location: Southeast Asia / Australiaregion: Southeast Asia / Oceaniatotal_area_km2: 2000000population: 380000000
6

Indonesian Archipelago

Indonesia alone comprises 17,504 islands officially recognized by the Indonesian government, of which approximately 6,000 are inhabited. As the world's largest archipelagic state, Indonesia spans three time zones and bridges the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Its most famous islands include Java (home to over 150 million people), Sumatra, Borneo (shared with Malaysia and Brunei), Sulawesi, and Papua.

location: Southeast Asiaregion: Southeast Asiatotal_area_km2: 1900000population: 280000000
7

Lake of the Woods Islands

Lake of the Woods, straddling the border of Ontario, Manitoba, and Minnesota, contains 14,632 islands — one of the highest island counts of any lake in the world. Its shoreline is over 105,000 kilometers long, more than the entire coastline of the United States, due to the extreme fragmentation created by its countless islands and peninsulas.

location: Ontario / Manitoba, Canada, and Minnesota, USAregion: North Americatotal_area_km2: 4349population: 15000
8

Japanese Archipelago

Japan consists of 14,125 islands, though the five main islands — Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa — account for 97% of the country's land area. The archipelago stretches approximately 3,000 kilometers from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south, forming part of the Pacific Ring of Fire with over 100 active volcanoes.

location: East Asiaregion: East Asiatotal_area_km2: 377975population: 124000000
9

Småland Archipelago

The Småland Archipelago along Sweden's southeast coast contains approximately 12,740 islands, making it one of the world's largest island groups. The archipelago stretches from Västervik in the north to Karlskrona in the south, known for its rugged granite coastline, forested islands, and vibrant maritime culture.

location: Baltic Sea, Swedenregion: Northern Europetotal_area_km2: 1200population: 10000
10

Öregrund Archipelago

The Öregrund Archipelago in the Baltic Sea, located in Uppsala County, Sweden, contains approximately 9,722 islands. Part of the larger Roslagen coastal region, the archipelago is known for its red wooden cottages, sheltered harbors, and popular summer boating routes that connect Stockholm's northern skerries to the open Baltic.

location: Baltic Sea, Swedenregion: Northern Europetotal_area_km2: 1000population: 5000

Full comparison

# Name locationregiontotal_area_km2population
1 Archipelago Sea Baltic Sea, FinlandNorthern Europe830060000
2 Canadian Arctic Archipelago Arctic Ocean, CanadaNorth America140777023000
3 Stockholm Archipelago Baltic Sea, SwedenNorthern Europe170060000
4 Thirty Thousand Islands Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, CanadaNorth America120005000
5 Malay Archipelago Southeast Asia / AustraliaSoutheast Asia / Oceania2000000380000000
6 Indonesian Archipelago Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia1900000280000000
7 Lake of the Woods Islands Ontario / Manitoba, Canada, and Minnesota, USANorth America434915000
8 Japanese Archipelago East AsiaEast Asia377975124000000
9 Småland Archipelago Baltic Sea, SwedenNorthern Europe120010000
10 Öregrund Archipelago Baltic Sea, SwedenNorthern Europe10005000

How we ranked this

Archipelagos are ranked by the estimated number of islands, based on commonly cited figures from geographic surveys, national mapping agencies, and peer-reviewed sources. The definition of an island varies by source — some count every landmass above water at high tide, while others set minimum size thresholds. The figures below represent the most widely cited estimates for each archipelago. Data sourced from WorldAtlas and Wikipedia.

FAQ

What defines an archipelago versus a group of islands?

The terms are often used interchangeably, but an archipelago typically refers to a cluster of islands that share a common geological origin, are located in the same body of water, and are often considered a single geographic unit.

Why do island counts vary between sources?

Different sources use different definitions of what qualifies as an 'island.' Some count every landmass above water at high tide, while others set a minimum size threshold or exclude small skerries and rocks. This is why counts can differ between surveys.

Which archipelago has the largest land area?

The Malay Archipelago is the largest by land area, covering over 2 million square kilometers across Southeast Asia. The Indonesian Archipelago alone accounts for the majority of this area.

Sources