List of countries by length of coastline - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of countries by length of coastline - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The coastline paradox states that a coastline does not have a well-defined length. Measurements of the length of a coastline behave like a fractal, being different at different scale intervals (distance between points on the coastline at which measurements are taken). The smaller the scale interval (meaning the more detailed the measurement), the longer the coastline will be.^[1] This 'magnifying' effect is greater for convoluted coastlines than for relatively smooth ones. For example, as seen on satellite image websites, the length of Canada's very convoluted coastline at a scale interval of 500 km is only about 20,000 km, less than a tenth of the value given in the table. On the other hand, Australia's coastline at 500 km intervals is about 12,500 km, around half the value in the table.^[2]