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Britain has more coastline than Brazil – but which country has the most seaside?

The UK, believe it or not, has more coastline than Brazil
The UK, believe it or not, has more coastline than Brazil

Love to be beside the seaside? Then you won't be disappointed in the destinations that appear in darker colours on the map below – they boast the longest coastlines in the world.

Canada has the most coast of all - a staggering 202,080 kilometres, according to the CIA World Factbook - though the chilly waters mean it's far from ideal for beachgoers. Ditto Greenland and Russia, numbers three and four, respectively.

A far better bet would be Indonesia, with its 54,716km of seaside (it has 18,307 islands, so its high ranking is hardly a surprise); The Philippines, fifth overall, with 36,289km; Japan, sixth with 29,751km; Australia, seventh with 25,760km; and Norway, eighth, with 25,148km (yes it has some beautiful beaches, though the water is a little chilly).

The UK's coastline is surprisingly long. All those coves and islands mean it is, remarkably, longer than Brazil's, Chile's, Mexico's and India's.

The 20 countries (and two territories) with the longest coastlines

  1. Canada - 202,080km

  2. Indonesia - 54,716km

  3. Greenland - 44,087km

  4. Russia - 37,653km

  5. Philippines - 36,289km

  6. Japan - 29,751km

  7. Australia - 25,760km

  8. Norway - 25,148km

  9. United States - 19,924km

  10. Antarctica - 17,968km

New Zealand - 15,134km

China - 14,500km

Greece - 13,676km

United Kingdom - 12,429km

Mexico - 9,330km

Italy - 7,600km

Brazil - 7,491km

Denmark - 7,314km

Turkey - 7,200km

India - 7,000km

Chile - 6,435km

Croatia - 6,268km

Canada is king of coast - Credit: GETTY
Canada is king of coast Credit: GETTY

And if you simply must have sun and sand on holiday, you should definitely avoid those countries that appear in grey on the map above - they have no coastline whatsoever.

Worse still would be Liechtenstein or Uzbekistan, the only doubly landlocked countries on Earth (ie. they are entirely surrounded by landlocked countries - Liechtenstein by Switzerland and Austria; Uzbekistan by Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan).

The world's 45 landlocked nations

  1. Afghanistan

  2. Andorra

  3. Armenia

  4. Austria

  5. Azerbaijan

  6. Belarus

  7. Bhutan

  8. Bolivia

  9. Botswana

  10. Burkina Faso

  11. Burundi

  12. Central African Republic

  13. Chad

  14. Czech Republic

  15. Ethiopia

  16. Hungary

  17. Kazakhstan

  18. Kosovo

  19. Kyrgyzstan

  20. Laos

  21. Lesotho

  22. Liechtenstein

  23. Luxembourg

  24. Macedonia

  25. Malawi

  26. Mali

  27. Moldova

  28. Mongolia

  29. Nepal

  30. Niger

  31. Paraguay

  32. Rwanda

  33. San Marino

Serbia

Slovakia

South Sudan

Swaziland

Switzerland

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Uganda

Uzbekistan

Vatican City

Zambia

Zimbabwe