The Big Board · Updated October 2026 · 4 min
Which Country Has the Most Beaches?
We counted eleven countries the same way, in the same month. Spain names the most beaches. Australia has the most sand. Croatia's, all of it together, covers 4.6 km².
Of the eleven countries we have counted, Spain has the most named beaches on the map: 4,595. Italy is second with 2,113 and Australia third with 2,097. Every country was counted the same way in October 2026: every beach mapped in OpenStreetMap inside the country's own border, with beaches of the same name within 3 km counted once. But naming is not having. Australia has 7,547 beach shapes on the map, more than anyone, and a coastal scientist who walked the whole coast counted 10,685.
The board, October 2026
| # | Country | Named beaches | All beach shapes on the map | Total beach area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 4,595 | 5,672 | 128.9 km² |
| 2 | Italy | 2,113 | 5,941 | 136.2 km² |
| 3 | Australia | 2,097 | 7,547 | 449.3 km² |
| 4 | Greece | 1,937 | 6,361 | 54.3 km² |
| 5 | Portugal | 1,001 | 1,362 | 43.2 km² |
| 6 | Croatia | 791 | 2,836 | 4.6 km² |
| 7 | Indonesia | 660 | 3,091 | 51.3 km² |
| 8 | Philippines | 655 | 3,605 | 41.7 km² |
| 9 | Mexico | 488 | 1,173 | 79.5 km² |
| 10 | Thailand | 450 | 1,206 | 31.1 km² |
| 11 | Peru | 293 | 616 | 66.1 km² |
Counted by us from OpenStreetMap in October 2026, one method for every country: each natural=beach feature inside the national border. A named beach is one with its own name on the map, counted once within 3 km. Area is the measured surface of every mapped beach shape. The true numbers are higher everywhere: this is what has been mapped.
97×
more mapped beach in Australia than in Croatia, by area
449.3 km² against 4.6 km². Croatia has 2,836 beach shapes on the map; most of them are pebble coves.
Every country has more beaches than it has names for them.
Why Spain names the most
Spain's count includes the Balearic and Canary Islands, and Spain's beaches are unusually well named on the map: 4,595 names for 5,672 beach shapes. Australia has 2,097 names for 7,547 shapes, and Indonesia 660 for 3,091. A beach with no name on the map still counts in the second column, which is why Australia and Greece both pass Spain there.
The real answer
Andrew Short, a coastal scientist at the University of Sydney, catalogued 10,685 beaches around Australia. Nothing on our board comes close, so for beaches that exist, Australia wins. For beaches somebody has bothered to name, it is Spain.
What is not on the board
Countries we have not counted yet, among them the United States, Brazil, Canada and the rest of the Caribbean. Indonesia, a country of thousands of islands, has only 660 named beaches on the map, which says more about the map than about Indonesia.
Asked
- Which country has the most beaches?
- Probably Australia: the coastal scientist Andrew Short catalogued 10,685 beaches there, and it has the most beach shapes on the map of any country we counted (7,547). For named beaches, Spain leads with 4,595 in our October 2026 count.
- How many beaches does Spain have?
- 4,595 named beaches on the map in our October 2026 count, including the Balearic and Canary Islands, and 5,672 beach shapes in all. The true number is higher; this is the mapped floor.
- How many beaches are there in Australia?
- About 10,685, by Andrew Short's catalogue. OpenStreetMap has 7,547 beach shapes in Australia, 2,097 of them with a name (our count, October 2026).
- How many beaches does Greece have?
- 1,937 named beaches and 6,361 beach shapes on the map, in our October 2026 count.