Top 10 Countries With the Longest Coastlines

While sadly we are not talking about miles and miles of beach, we are talking about countries with the longest areas of land to water. They might be cliffs, beaches or even just shipping lanes, but they go on for miles, much further than any human eye can see…

 


 

New Zealand Coastline
New Zealand Coastline

10 – New Zealand (Length of Coastline: 9,403 Miles)

What is the meaning of coastal environment?
In general, the coastal environment can be defined as that area lying at the interface between land and sea (or other large body of water).

United States Coastline
United States Coastline

9 – United States (Length of Coastline: 12,380 Miles)

What does coast mean in geography?
The coast is the land along a sea. The boundary of a coast, where land meets water, is called the coastline. Waves, tides, and currents help create coastlines. When waves crash onto shore, they wear away at, or erode, the land.

Norway Coastline
Norway Coastline

8 – Norway (Length of Coastline: 15,626 Miles)

How coastal landforms are created?
Coastal erosion landforms. Characteristics and formation of headlands and bays, cliffs and wave-cut platforms, caves, arches and stacks. 6) Have a go at this Stacks exercise. Coastlines are littered with the evidence of erosion and the power of the sea.

Australia Coastline
Australia Coastline

7 – Australia (Length of Coastline: 16,006 Miles)

How are caves arches stacks and stumps formed?
Weathering and erosion can create caves, arches, stacks and stumps along a headland. Caves occur when waves force their way into cracks in the cliff face. The water contains sand and other materials that grind away at the rock until the cracks become a cave. Hydraulic action is the predominant process.

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Japan Coastline
Japan Coastline

6 – Japan (Length of Coastline: 18,486 Miles)

How will climate change affect coastal areas?
Climate change can affect coastal areas in a variety of ways. Coastlines are sensitive to sea level rise, changes in the frequency and intensity of storms, increases in precipitation, and warmer ocean temperatures.

Philippines Coastline
Philippines Coastline

5 – Philippines (Length of Coastline: 22,548 Miles)

What is the coastal ecosystem?
Coastal ecosystems are areas where land and water join to create an environment with a distinct structure, diversity, and flow of energy. They include salt marshes, mangroves, wetlands, estuaries, and bays and are home to many different types of plants and animals.

Russia Coastline
Russia Coastline

4 – Russia (Length of Coastline: 23,396 Miles)

What is hydraulic action?
Hydraulic action (HA) is erosion that occurs when the motion of water against a rock surface produces mechanical weathering. Most generally, it is the ability to move water (flowing or waves) to dislodge and transport rock particles.

Greenland Coastline
Greenland Coastline

3 – Greenland (Length of Coastline: 27,394 Miles)

How does the sea erode the coast?
This often involves destructive waves wearing away the coast. There are five main processes which cause coastal erosion. These are corrosion, abrasion, hydraulic action, attrition and corrosion/solution. Corrosion is when waves pick up beach material (e.g. pebbles) and hurl them at the base of a cliff.

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Indonesia Coastline
Indonesia Coastline

2 – Indonesia (Length of Coastline: 33,998 Miles)

Why does a cliff collapse?
With the weight of rainwater on top and the lack of foundation caused by erosion at the bottom, a cliff can easily detach and collapse. Cliffs can also collapse as the result of rock slides, which is when whole slabs of rock detach from an inclined face and collapse.

Canada Coastline
Canada Coastline

1 – Canada (Length of Coastline: 125,566 Miles)

What is a coast in geography?
The coast is the land along a sea. The boundary of a coast, where land meets water, is called the coastline. Waves, tides, and currents help create coastlines. When waves crash onto shore, they wear away at, or erode, the land.

Author: Gus Barge

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