The Human Truth Foundation

Which are the Best Small Island Nations?

By Vexen Crabtree 2013

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Social & Moral
Development Index
Higher is better
Points1
1Taiwan75.4
2Singapore66.9
3Maldives66.0
4Malta64.5
5Bahamas62.9
6Brunei62.9
7Jamaica62.6
8Mauritius62.2
9Cyprus62.1
10Barbados61.9
Small Islands Avg54.7
World Avg54.5
q=38.

A small island includes any with less than 50km2 of land. I have veered towards including collective names for islands (such as 'Channel Islands') and only rarely have I added entries to my database for individual islands if they're part of a grouping. This is because, generally speaking, political and demographic data is only available for the larger groupings of islands. The main emphasis of this website is on nation states that fall entirely within a given category, so, there is no attempt here to try and quantify and name every piece of habitable land!

There are 81 locations that fall within this category. By adding up all the known populations that fall within these locations, and summing their physical land areas, we can calculate population densities. Some islands and territories can end up being counted twice depending on how they are classified and divided up politically, but, mostly such errors involve only small populations. So, some data on this collection of countries in total:

Compare to other regions of the world

  1. Social and Moral Development Index and Basic Demographics
  2. Human Rights and Moral Development
  3. Religion and Beliefs
  4. Links

1. Social and Moral Development Index and Basic Demographics

The Social and Moral Development Index concentrates on moral issues and human rights, violence, public health, equality, tolerance, freedom and effectiveness in climate change mitigation and environmentalism, and on some technological issues. A country scores higher for achieving well in those areas, and for sustaining that achievement in the long term. Those countries towards the top of this index can truly said to be setting good examples and leading humankind onwards into a bright, humane, and free future. See: What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life.

Social & Moral
Higher is better
Points1		Life
Expectancy (2015)
Higher is better
Years2		Gross National
Income (2011)
Higher is better
PPP $2		UN HDI (2016)
Lower is better
Rank3		Population (2012)4Land Area (2011)
km25		People
Per km2
Lower is better
1Taiwan75.4
2Singapore66.983.21$78 16255.3m 7007 509
3Maldives66.076.96$10 3831050.3m 3001 081
4Malta64.580.73$29 500330.4m 3201 310
5Bahamas62.975.56$21 565580.4m 10 010 35
6Brunei62.979.02$72 843300.4m 5 270 78
7Jamaica62.675.82$8 350942.8m 10 830 255
8Mauritius62.274.60$17 948641.3m 2 030 647
9Cyprus62.180.33$29 459331.1m 9 240 122
10Barbados61.975.77$14 952540.3m 430 638
11St Vincent & Grenadines61.473.04$10 372990.1m 390 280
12Trinidad & Tobago61.170.52$28 049651.4m 5 130 263
13Seychelles59.673.30$23 8866387 169 460 189
14Fiji58.670.15$8 245910.9m 18 270 48
15Antigua & Barbuda58.676.24$20 9076290 510 440 206
16St Lucia57.775.20$9 791920.2m 610 291
17Dominican Rep.57.673.65$12 7569910.2m 48 320 211
18Grenada54.073.56$11 502790.1m 340 310
19Bahrain53.676.72$37 236471.4m 7601 789
20Tonga53.472.99$5 2841010.1m 720 146
21Samoa53.073.67$5 3721040.2m 2 830 65
22Cape Verde52.873.54$6 0491220.5m 4 030 125
23Dominica51.777.85$10 0969667 665 750 90
24Vanuatu51.572.11$2 8051340.3m 12 190 21
25Haiti50.563.12$1 65716310.3m 27 560 372
26Puerto Rico50.1 8 870
27Micronesia49.869.27$3 2911270.1m 3 170 35
28Solomon Islands49.168.11$1 5611560.6m 27 990 20
29Comoros49.063.57$1 3351600.8m 1 861 416
30Kiribati48.866.23$2 4751370.1m 810 127
31St Kitts & Nevis48.673.98$22 4367453 697 260 207
32Timor-Leste (E. Timor)48.168.51$5 3711331.2m 14 870 80
33Sao Tome & Principe47.266.58$3 0701420.2m 960 179
34Nauru45.5$12 05810 370
35Bermuda43.2 50
36Palau42.872.87$13 7716020 758 460 45
37Tuvalu42.8$5 3959 867 30 329
38Marshall Islands30.2$4 41255 717 180 310
Small Islands Avg54.773.34$15 78190.11.2m 5 176 226
World Avg54.571.27$17 24094.336.0m 620 450 58
q=38.

Not showing due to lack of data: Christmas Island. This page only shows places where the database has enough data to be able to come to reasonable conclusions about each place. The main focus is on nation states, but, some distinct external territories may be listed if the database has enough information about them. Averages are calculated from as many valid data points as possible, meaning, that some territories and locations that are not listed above may still be used to calculate some of the average values. Some calculations only use Independent State data - hover the cursor over values to see hints.

Links:

2. Human Rights and Moral Development

Social & Moral
Higher is better
Points1		Gender Inequality (2015)
Lower is better6		Nominal Commitment to HR (2009)
Higher is better
Treaties7		Press Freedom (2013)
Lower is better8		LGBT Equality (2013)
Higher is better
Score9
1Taiwan75.4238215
2Singapore66.90.0754343-20
3Maldives66.00.31153110-20
4Malta64.50.2218233025
5Bahamas62.90.361110
6Brunei62.963545-120
7Jamaica62.60.4214988-100
8Mauritius62.20.38142647-40
9Cyprus62.10.1220138325
10Barbados61.90.2911-100
11St Vincent & Grenadines61.415-100
12Trinidad & Tobago61.10.32122312-120
13Seychelles59.6162919-130
14Fiji58.60.3610326915
15Antigua & Barbuda58.613-150
16St Lucia57.70.356-120
17Dominican Rep.57.60.4714283420
18Grenada54.07-100
19Bahrain53.60.23126275-20
20Tonga53.40.6662670-100
21Samoa53.00.44923840
22Cape Verde52.815143320
23Dominica51.712-90
24Vanuatu51.51010
25Haiti50.50.5912240910
26Puerto Rico50.110
27Micronesia49.8530
28Solomon Islands49.110-160
29Comoros49.092452-70
30Kiribati48.83-10
31St Kitts & Nevis48.69-100
32Timor-Leste (E. Timor)48.117287220
33Sao Tome & Principe47.20.52710
34Nauru45.550
35Bermuda43.210
36Palau42.840
37Tuvalu42.85-130
38Marshall Islands30.2420
Small Islands Avg54.70.3610.32766-25.3
World Avg54.50.3615.13249-07.3
q=38.

3. Religion and Beliefs

Religiosity (2009)
Lower is better
%10		Disbelief In God (2007)
Higher is better11		Jews
(2010)12		Christians
(2010)12		Muslims
(2010)12		Hindus
(2010)12		Buddhists
(2010)12		Folk ReligionUnaffiliated
1Antigua & Barbuda0.1%93.0%0.6%0.2%0.1%3.6%1.7%
2Bahamas0.1%96.0%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.3%3.1%
3Bahrain940.6%14.5%70.3%9.8%2.5%0.1%1.9%
4Barbados0.1%95.2%1.0%0.4%0.1%0.1%1.9%
5Brunei00.1%9.4%75.1%0.3%8.6%6.2%0.4%
6Cape Verde0.1%89.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%1.5%9.1%
7Comoros970.1%0.5%98.3%0.1%0.1%1.0%0.1%
8Cyprus750.1%73.2%25.3%0.1%0.2%0.1%1.2%
9Dominica0.1%94.4%0.1%0.1%0.1%3.0%0.5%
10Dominican Rep.8770.1%88.0%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.9%10.9%
11Fiji0.1%64.4%6.3%27.9%0.1%0.1%0.8%
12Grenada0.1%96.6%0.3%0.7%0.1%1.3%1.0%
13Haiti00.1%86.9%0.1%0.1%0.1%2.2%10.6%
14Jamaica30.1%77.2%0.1%0.1%0.1%4.5%17.2%
15Kiribati0.1%97.0%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.8%
16Maldives0.1%0.4%98.4%0.3%0.6%0.1%0.1%
17Malta860.1%97.0%0.2%0.2%0.1%0.1%2.5%
18Marshall Islands0.1%97.5%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.3%1.5%
19Mauritius0.1%25.3%16.7%56.4%0.1%0.7%0.6%
20Micronesia0.1%95.3%0.1%0.1%0.4%2.7%0.9%
21Nauru0.1%79.0%0.1%0.1%1.1%8.1%4.5%
22Palau0.1%86.7%0.1%0.1%0.8%0.8%1.2%
23St Kitts & Nevis0.1%94.6%0.3%1.5%0.1%1.3%1.6%
24St Lucia0.1%91.1%0.1%0.3%0.1%0.5%6.0%
25St Vincent & Grenadines0.1%88.7%1.5%3.4%0.1%2.0%2.5%
26Samoa0.1%96.8%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%2.5%
27Sao Tome & Principe0.1%82.2%0.1%0.1%0.1%2.9%12.6%
28Seychelles0.1%94.0%1.1%2.1%0.1%0.1%2.1%
29Singapore70130.1%18.2%14.3%5.2%33.9%2.3%16.4%
30Solomon Islands0.1%97.4%0.1%0.1%0.3%1.3%0.2%
31Timor-Leste (E. Timor)0.1%99.0%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%
32Tonga0.1%98.9%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%
33Trinidad & Tobago90.1%65.9%5.9%22.7%0.3%1.9%1.9%
34Tuvalu0.1%96.7%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%1.3%
35Vanuatu0.1%93.3%0.1%0.1%0.1%4.1%1.2%
36Taiwan240.1%5.5%0.1%0.1%21.3%44.2%12.7%
37Christmas Island-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
38Cocos (Keeling) Islands-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
39Norfolk Island-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
40New Caledonia0.1%85.2%2.8%0.1%0.6%0.2%10.4%
41French Polynesia0.1%94.0%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.5%4.9%
42Mayotte0.1%0.7%98.6%0.1%0.1%0.5%0.2%
43St Barthelemy-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
44St Martin-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
45St Pierre & Miquelon0.1%94.7%0.2%0.1%0.1%0.1%3.8%
46Wallis & Futuna0.1%97.4%0.1%0.1%0.1%1.2%0.6%
47Cook Islands0.1%96.0%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%3.2%
48Niue0.1%96.4%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%3.3%
49Tokelau0.1%99.0%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%
50Guernsey-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
51Isle of Man0.1%84.1%0.2%0.2%0.1%0.1%15.4%
52Jersey-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
53Anguilla0.1%90.6%0.3%0.4%0.1%2.9%4.0%
54Bermuda0.3%75.0%1.1%0.1%0.5%3.0%19.4%
55British Virgin Islands0.1%84.5%1.2%1.2%0.1%8.4%3.9%
56Cayman Islands0.8%83.5%0.4%0.9%0.1%4.5%9.4%
57Falkland Islands0.1%67.2%0.3%0.1%0.2%0.1%31.5%
58Montserrat0.1%93.5%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.2%4.8%
59Pitcairn Islands-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
60St Helena0.1%96.5%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%3.3%
61Turks & Caicos Islands0.1%92.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%2.7%4.6%
62Northern Mariana Islands0.1%81.3%0.7%0.1%10.6%5.3%1.0%
63Puerto Rico0.1%96.7%0.1%0.1%0.3%0.8%1.9%
64American Samoa0.1%98.3%0.1%0.1%0.3%0.4%0.7%
65Guam0.1%94.2%0.1%0.1%1.1%1.5%1.7%
66US Virgin Islands0.3%94.8%0.1%0.4%0.1%0.1%3.7%
67Faroe Islands0.1%98.0%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%1.7%
68Guadeloupe0.1%95.9%0.4%0.5%0.1%0.4%2.5%
69Martinique0.1%96.5%0.2%0.2%0.1%0.2%2.3%
70Réunion0.1%87.6%4.2%4.5%0.2%0.4%2.0%
71Aland Islands-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
72Aruba0.4%91.9%0.2%0.1%0.1%1.3%6.0%
73Svalbard-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
74Ascension Islands-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
75Tristan da Cunha-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
76Curaco-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
77Channel Islands0.1%85.2%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%14.2%
78Saba-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
79Sint Eustatius-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
80Bonaire-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
81Hawaii-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%-1.0%
Small Islands Avg84.88.00.1%80.2%8.3%2.2%1.4%2.1%4.6%
World Avg75.19.90.5%60.6%22.4%2.0%3.5%2.7%7.9%
q=81.

Links:

Current edition: 2013 Nov 06
Last Modified: 2017 Mar 22
http://www.humantruth.info/small_islands.html
Parent page: Compare International Statistics by Region and Continent

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References: (What's this?)

Crabtree, Vexen
(2017) "What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life" (2017). Accessed 2017 Jun 22.

Gallup
(2009) Religiosity. gallup.com/poll/142727/.... The survey question was "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" and results are charted for those who said "yes". 1000 adults were polled in each of 114 countries.

Lynn, Harvey & Nyborg
(2009) Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations. Richard Lynn, John Harvey and Helmuth Nyborg article "Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations" in Intelligence (2009 Jan/Feb) vol. 37 issue 1 pages 11-15. Online at www.sciencedirect.com, accessed 2009 Sep 15.

Pew Forum. Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
(2012) The Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Major Religious Groups as of 2010. Published 2012 Dec 18, accessed online 2013 May 01.

United Nations
(2013) Human Development Report. This edition had the theme of The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World. Published on the United Nation's HDR website at hdr.undp.org/.../hdr2013/ (accessed throughout 2013). UN Development Program: About the Human Development Index.
(2017) Human Development Report. Published by the UN Development Programme. Data for 2015. Analysis conducted by the UN Development Report Office. Available on hdr.undp.org/..

Footnotes

  1. "What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life" by Vexen Crabtree (2017)^^^
  2. UN (2017) Table 1. Higher is better.^
  3. UN (2017) Table 1. Lower is better.^
  4. UN (2013) Table 14.^
  5. World Bank data on data.worldbank.org accessed 2013 Nov 04.^
  6. UN (2017) Table 5. Lower is better.^
  7. Max possible=24. Total amount of treaties ratified. Nominal Commitment to Human Rights report published by UCL School of Public Policy, London, UK, at ucl.ac.uk/spp/research/research-projects/nchr accessed 2011 Apr 30.^
  8. Reporters Without Borders Report "2013 World Press Freedom Index: Dashed hopes after spring" at fr.rsf.org/.../classement_2013_gb-bd.pdf accessed 2013 Feb.^
  9. Higher is better. Sources:^
  10. Gallup (2009) .^
  11. Zuckerman, P. (2007). Atheism: contemporary numbers and patterns. In M.Martin (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. In "Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations" by Lynn et al. (2009).^
  12. Pew Forum (2011) - data for 2010.^

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