Category: mapping

Of the 195 countries around the world, almost half can be considered islands. To meet the definition, these must be non-continental land surrounded by water. Though these island countries all meet the water at every border, they can be very different.

Some are huge, others tiny, a few are ancient, and many are newer than you might guess. Importantly, 45 of the 93 countries are considered associated states, dependencies, or other notable territories, meaning that while they’ve declared their independence as countries, though it hasn’t been universally recognized as such. And as you’ll see on the map, they are all quite geographically distributed, but all of them qualify as island escapes.

We’ll cover the largest of the 93 total island countries, the smallest, and lots of other details about these places. While these island nations can be more susceptible to the effects of climate change due to their proximity to water, some house huge populations. Additionally, we’ll highlight the oldest (and youngest) of these isles and demonstrate how you can obtain a summary of all your map markers from the map below.

View Island Countries in a full screen map

The map is based on this Wikipedia entry of island countries, which differentiates between widely-acknowledged countries and those that only consider themselves countries. You’ll also see each island’s size (one of the largest is 2.2 million km2!), with more details about individual islands below.

10 Largest Country Islands

Of the world’s established countries, 48 happen to be islands, AKA non-continental land surrounded by water. A reminder: the other 45 on the map aren’t universally considered countries. Let’s see which is the largest of these nations, along with the rest over 50,000 km2.

1. Indonesia: 1,904,569 km2
2. Madagascar: 587,041
3. Papua New Guinea: 462,840
4. Japan: 377,976
5. Philippines: 300,000
6. New Zealand: 268,680
7. United Kingdom: 244,820
8. Cuba: 109,238
9. Iceland: 102,775
10. Ireland: 70,273

Indonesia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea are clustered in Maritime Southeast Asia. To the North is Japan while two other island countries (the United Kingdom and Ireland) reside in the British Isles, not too far from Iceland.

Then there are the associated states, dependencies, and other notable territories that sprawl across hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. One of these is bigger than even the largest independent island country: Greenland. An autonomous territory of Denmark, Greenland’s 2,166,086 km2 is 1.14 times the size of Indonesia. As for the second largest of the associated state islands, Norway’s Svalbard is 62,045 km2. The rest range from 18,275 (New Caledonia) to only 12 km2 (Tokelau). But enough about the largest of these country islands, let’s scale down our focus to the smallest.

Smallest Isles

All the islands on the map may be countries but they come in a wide variety of sizes. Take Indonesia, the largest sovereign island country: it’s more than 90,000 times the size of the tiniest, noted on the list below.

1. Nauru: 21 km2
2. Tuvalu: 26
3. Marshall Islands: 181
4. Saint Kitts and Nevis: 261
5. Maldives: 298
6. Malta: 316
7. Grenada: 344
8. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 389
9. Barbados: 430
10. Antigua and Barbuda: 440

Of these independent island countries, half are located in the Caribbean: Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, and Antigua and Barbuda. Now let’s move on from size to another metric.

Island Nations Population: Most & Least

Physical size isn’t everything. Other metrics make an island country stand out, like how many people choose to live there. The top ten most populated sovereign states have over 664 million residents combined, as you’ll see below.

Name	Population	Area (km2)	Pop density (per km2)
Indonesia	267,670,543	1,904,569	138
Japan	125,710,000	377,976	337
Philippines	101,398,120	300,000	295
United Kingdom	65,587,300	244,820	246
Madagascar	26,251,309	587,041	35.2
Republic of China	23,550,077	36,188	633
Sri Lanka	20,277,597	65,610	314
Haiti	11,439,646	27,750	350
Cuba	11,245,629	109,238	102.3
Dominican Republic	10,878,246	48,442	208.2

This table may appear a lot like the list of largest country islands (after all, Indonesia still resides on top). However, the Republic of China (also known as Taiwan), Sri Lanka, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic were added in place of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Iceland, and Ireland when it comes to the largest populations.

And while half of the smallest island countries (size-wise) are located in the Caribbean, it’s also home to three of the most populated (10+ million each): Haiti, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. In Maritime Southeast Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines are two of the most populated island nations. Puerto Rico is the most populous associated state or territory with 3,690,923 people.

On the other hand, the island country of Singapore is highly populated when its relatively smaller size is taken into account. Discover other densely populated islands on the map or continue to learn about the least populated.

Least Populated Country Islands

Those who live in any of the following lesser independent populated island countries likely all know each other, so let’s take a look.

Name	Population	Area (km2)	Pop density (per km2)
Tuvalu	12,373	26	475.88
Nauru	13,635	21	649
Palau	20,000	459	43.6
Saint Kitts and Nevis	51,300	261	164
Marshall Islands	62,000	181	342.5
Dominica	71,293	754	105
Antigua and Barbuda	86,295	440	194
Seychelles	87,500	455	192
Kiribati	98,000	811	135
Federated States of Micronesia	101,351	702	158.1

Tuvalu and Nauru are the least populated country islands by a long shot. Tuvalu, which was the second smallest size-wise, is actually the least populated island while Nauru, the #1 smallest is the second least populated. Nauru is also one of the five islands with tiny populations located in Micronesia. Other islands that may be familiar from the smallest islands table include Marshall Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda.

The folks with plenty of wide-open spaces (and the lowest population density) live in Iceland (3.1 per km2). Let’s move on from population size to another fact worth mentioning about the island countries.

Oldest of the Island Nations

Now let’s highlight the island countries that were either established or gained their independence so many years ago.

• Japan (660 BC)
• United Kingdom (1707)
• Haiti (1804)
• Dominican Republic (1821)
• Cuba (1868)
• Philippines (1898)
• New Zealand (1907)
• Republic of China (1912)
• Ireland (1919)
• Iceland (1944)

The Philippines gained separation from Spain on June 12th, 1898 and the island country later earned its independence from the U.S. in July of 1946. Both the Dominican Republic and Cuba also had two different dates of establishment. Then there are the newest nations.

Young Island Countries

As for the youngest of the bunch, East Timor is the only island country established in the 21st century. Other more recent additions to the island country roster are Brunei (1984), Saint Kitts and Nevis (1983), Antigua and Barbuda (1981), Palau (1981), and Vanuatu (1980).

Then there’s 1979, the year of island inclusion. Five island nations were established that year: Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia. To see how you can better see them, read on.

Get a Summary of Your Many Markers

It’s easier to spot trends in your data when you can see it on a map. But sometimes, even with the visualization of a map, you’re faced with too many data points to gain insights. With 48 sovereign island countries and 45 associated or territory ones—some so small, as we’ve shown, you have to zoom in to get a good picture of what’s going on.

That is, unless you have summary markers to give you an idea of what’s below. A map with Cluster View enabled does just that. Learn more about how you can convert hundreds of markers into a reasonable number that still shares the underlying story or jump into it yourself with BatchGeo.

We use maps every day, both personally and professionally. While they can help navigate to the dentist or find nearby restaurants, they can be especially powerful when combined with your company’s data. You might map your customers, leads, and assets or even enlist a custom map to help you track your business proposals. When you give a geographic context to your spreadsheets, you can add a whole new dimension of understanding.

When you combine your locations with additional data and put them both on the map, even more is possible. For example, imagine if you could show your mapped locations—whatever they may be—alongside the boundaries and borders of a city, county, or zip code. In this post, we’ll walk you through how to do just that. By exporting your map from BatchGeo and importing it into Google Earth, you’ll be able to turn on the appropriate boundary layer(s) and see your data in a new way. Whether you wish to do so with counties to see which points are inside or outside each county or with cities or ZIP and postal codes, Google Earth has multiple border options, all of which we’ll demonstrate below.

Export Your BatchGeo Map

First things first, you’ll want to export your map from BatchGeo. Do this so that you can then import it into Google Earth to show the locations alongside your preferred boundaries—such as a city, county, or postal code.

But before doing so, you’ll want to have a map of your data ready. You can quickly copy-paste a list of locations from a spreadsheet to create a map.

Create A Map of Your Locations

Of course, the first step in any online mapping endeavor is to properly prepare your data. You’ll want an address and other location data within your spreadsheet, which might look something like this:

Then you can follow these simple steps to create your map:

1. Open your spreadsheet
2. Select (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A) and copy (Ctrl+C or Cmd+C) your data
3. Open your web browser and navigate to batchgeo.com
4. Click on the location data box with the example data in it, then paste (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V) your own data
5. Check to make sure you have the proper location data columns available by clicking “Validate and Set Options”
6. Select the proper location column from each drop-down
7. Click “Make Map” and watch as the geocoder performs its process

The end result is an interactive map, like this sales example below.

View Sales in a full screen map

And for more about map-making on the web, check out our in-depth guide on the subject.

Create KML File

With your map primed and ready, right-click and select the Export to Google Earth option, our automatic KML creator which allows you to export KML from Google Maps, or in this case, the Google Maps API BatchGeo uses to map your data.

You can learn more about our Excel to KML feature, which converts any spreadsheet into a shareable format used by Google Earth and other geographic tools. The next step will be to bring this downloaded KML file of your BatchGeo map into Google Earth.

Import into Google Earth

Now you’re ready to show your map’s locations alongside boundaries. The process involves adding your BatchGeo map into the platform that can show cities, counties, or zip codes: Google Earth.

While Google markets a “newer” web version, it doesn’t have the same boundary options as its desktop companion. Therefore, we’ll be using the desktop app most tend to associate with the platform. If you don’t already have the free Pro software, you can download it here.

Then, to import Google Earth KMLs, follow the steps outlined below:

• Open Google Earth Pro on your desktop
• Click File > Import… and select the KML file we previously downloaded from BatchGeo

With your BatchGeo locations transferred into Google Earth, we can now turn on our desired city, county, or ZIP boundary settings.

Turn on Google Earth’s Boundary Layer

To view the appropriate boundaries, we’ll take advantage of Google Earth Pro’s Layers dropdown, which has countless options. Our focus will be on city, county, and ZIP borders.

You can find both city and ZIP boundaries under US Government dropdown (under “More”).

As for county lines, these can be found in 2nd Level Admin Regions (under the “Borders and Labels” > “Borders” dropdowns). Simply check that box to see one or more of these boundary options going forward.

Of course, you can zoom in and out to see what side of the boundary any of your points lands on. This can be useful for sales zones or to confirm which area a customer lives in.

Pair BatchGeo‘s free mapping tool with Google Earth Pro’s Layers options for a seamless experience today.

Calling all movie fans (which, after more than a year of periodic quarantine, is probably just about everyone). It’s not every day you had a chance to buy the house from The Silence of the Lambs. The infamous Pennsylvania home went on the market in September 2020. But it’s not the only famous movie filming location you’re able to step foot in.

There are hundreds of movie locations to pay a visit. Most are clustered in three states, one of which may surprise even the most dedicated movie buff. Or, if your interest is piqued based on the types of sets (outdoors locations, hotels, prisons, etc.) you’ll find those on the map below.

View Famous Movie Locations in a full screen map

We combined data from The Active Times and Cheapism to make the map. We also added Silence of the Lambs’ house for good measure—along with images. Now let’s see where most of these famous movie houses, transportation stations, hotels, etc. are located.

The Cities & States With the Most Films

While plenty of twists and turns took place in quite a few of these film spots, where they’re located isn’t too shocking. Unsurprisingly, most of the locations where films are shot are located in major U.S. cities like N.Y.C. and L.A., as you’ll see below.

• New York City – 10 famous film locations
• Los Angeles – 9
• Chicago – 5
• London – 4
• San Francisco – 3
• Philadelphia – 3
• Winnetka – 2
• Boston – 2
• Beverly Hills – 2
• Atlanta – 2

London, England, is the only international city home to multiple famous film locations on the lists we used. Those London locales include Selfridges from Love Actually, the Notting Hill Bookshop, Buckingham Palace in Paddington, and King’s Cross Station for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

A place we didn’t recognize as a major city was Winnetka, Illinois. Both Home Alone‘s McCallister house and Uncle Buck‘s New Trier Township High School are located in the small village 16 miles north of downtown Chicago.

States With Several Sets

For film aficionados interested in road-tripping to multiple locations where films are shot, several states have more than one. Those eight states are:

• California – 23
• New York – 10
• Illinois – 8
• Pennsylvania – 4
• Massachusetts – 3
• Georgia – 3
• Ohio – 2
• Hawaii – 2

It was easy to guess California‘s place on this list. After all, three Golden State Cities were mentioned in the previous section. We also previously discovered New York‘s sets are all in the Big Apple. As for Illinois, Winnetka claims two famous movie locations. That leaves five in Chicago (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off‘s Art Institute of Chicago, the Crain Communications Building in Adventures in Babysitting, and The Untouchables‘s Union Station are just a few examples). Finally, one film set in Woodstock (Groundhog Day‘s Cherry Tree Inn), which wraps up where these famous movie sets are located. Now, let’s move on to the various types.

Types of Well-Known Movie Locations

Famous movie locations are made up of residences like the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (Pretty Woman), the Mrs. Doubtfire house, and Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment. But more public landmarks like Tiffany’s jewelry store, Alcatraz prison, and King’s Cross Station also qualify. As such, these locations may be divided into nine types of well-known film sets, including outdoor locations.

There are 16 famous outdoor locations pinned on the map. Many of these valleys, coasts, and islands are located throughout Hawaii, including Kauai’s Hanapepe Valley, where much of the Jurassic Park franchise was filmed. Additionally, James Cameron’s Avatar took place off of the Big Island of Hawaii’s Hāmākua Coast.

Multiple movie directors preferred to film throughout Ireland. The Emerald Isle’s Skellig Michael island was a location of two Star Wars movies (The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi). Additionally, the Irish beaches of Ballinesker and Curracloe were featured in Saving Private Ryan.

Outdoor locations aside, categories of famous movie locations include:

• Hotels & residences (15)
• Entertainment & shopping (12)
• Palaces, plazas, & other landmarks (11)
• Museums & prisons (10)
• Food & drink (9)
• Education & religion (9)
• Transport (7)
• Cities & towns (4)

Select one or multiple groups on the map to see the famous movie locations that fall into the nine categories. Or, keep reading for how and why to add images to your maps.

Incorporate Your Images

The places you want to visit—including your favorite movie locations—are cluttering your Notes app or spreadsheet. Instead, transfer them to a custom map so you can see where in the world you want to go.

In addition to plotting your points, you can add images you find on the web or Pinterest to your map, reminding you of why you want to visit in the first place. Start mapping your bucket list locations along with your images today at batchgeo.com.