Insular Nations: Island Countries Not Connected to Continents

These sovereign island nations have no land borders with continental mainlands:

Major Insular States

Greenland (Denmark): World's largest island (2.16M km²). Arctic/Atlantic. Autonomous territory, not UN member.
Madagascar: 4th largest (587,000 km²). Indian Ocean, 400 km off Mozambique. Unique biodiversity (90% endemic).
Iceland: 103,000 km². Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Volcanic/glacial. 370 km from Greenland, 1,000 km from Norway.
New Zealand: 268,000 km² (two main islands). South Pacific. 2,000 km from Australia.
Japan: 377,000 km² (4 main islands + 14,000+). Pacific Ring of Fire. 200 km from Korea/Russia.
Philippines: 300,000 km² (7,641 islands). Southeast Asia. 1,000 km from mainland.
Indonesia: 1.9M km² (17,000+ islands). Spans Asia/Oceania. Largest archipelago state.
United Kingdom: 243,000 km² (Great Britain + NI + smaller). 34 km from France (Channel Tunnel).
Sri Lanka: 65,000 km². Indian Ocean. 55 km from India (Palk Strait).
Taiwan: 36,000 km². Pacific. 180 km from China.

Microstates & Others

Maldives, Malta, Bahamas, Cape Verde, São Tomé & Príncipe, Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands, FSM, Singapore, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iceland, Ireland, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti/Dominican Republic (Hispaniola), Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Brunei (Borneo).

Distinction

"Not connected to continents" = no land bridge. Many share continental shelves (UK-Europe, Sri Lanka-India, Taiwan-China, New Guinea-Australia). True oceanic islands (Hawaii, Galápagos, Reunion) are volcanic, never connected.