Which are the Best Small Island Nations?

A small island has less than 50km² of land. Most entries are for collective groupings such as 'Channel Islands') and only sometimes do individual islands have their own individual entries. This is because, generally speaking, political and demographic data is only available for the larger groupings. The main emphasis 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 85 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:

• Population: 43.9m
• Land Area: 248 457km²
• Independent States: 35
• Other Territories: 50
• Compare to other regions of the world

1. Summary Data
2. Social and Moral Development
3. Demographics and Migration
4. Responsibility Towards The Environment
5. Culture, Peace and Inequality
6. Modernity and Learning
7. Health
8. Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance
9. Religion and Beliefs
10. Links

1. Summary Data

#economics #human_development #population #wealth

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:

• Compare to other regions of the world
• Which are the Countries for International Contributions, Creativity, Peace and Inequality?
• The Population of the Earth
• Homosexuality in Animals and Humans

2. Social and Moral Development

#charitability #climate_change #culture #education #equality #freedom #gender_equality #health #human_development #human_rights #modernity #morals #peace #politics #prejudice #technology #the_environment #the_internet #tolerance

Here are each country's overall scores across the categories that make up the Social and Moral Development Index. This is followed by lists of how each country scores in each individual data set.

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: Which are the Best Countries in the World? The Social and Moral Development Index.

For more, see:

• "Which are the Countries for International Contributions, Creativity, Peace and Inequality?" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

3. Demographics and Migration

#birth_control #demographics #emigration #health #immigration #life_expectancy #longevity #migration #overpopulation #population #small_islands

Population:

Migration:

Of countries classed as small islands, those with the highest percent of immigrants in their populations are Bahrain (48.4%), Singapore (46.0%) and Nauru (32.7%), although the average for Small Islands is 11%. And which countries are seeing most people emigrate? Dominica (104.8%), Samoa (67.3%) and Grenada (65.5%), with an average group rate of 26%.

For full commentary and data, see:

• Which Small Island Nations Have the Most Immigrants Or Emigrants?

4. Responsibility Towards The Environment

#biodiversity #climate_change #deforestation #energy #environmentalism #food #internationalism #meat #over-exploitation #sustainability #the_environment #veganism #vegetarianism

Islands are most susceptible to the effects of climate change₁₄ such as rising seas and the salination of water tables. The IPCC (2013) predicted that waters are expected to rise 26-82cm this century₁₅, which has already ransacked Tuvalu and is gradually submerging many other islands. They are valuable assets for studying other effects of human over-exploitation of the planet, as their isolated and smaller-scale environments make it easier to study biodiversity, climate change and natural cycles; the cause-and-effect of things like over-hunting can be studied with fewer confounding factors.

Islands have long been hailed by environmentalists as the first-line against pollution and emissions, which meshes well with people's perceptions of islands as being closer to nature₁₆. Across the world, island colonists were the first to come into association for the purpose of lobbying distance governments into enforcing sustainable practices₁₇. A collection of "small island developing states" (SIDS) have become a powerful lobbying voice within the United Nations as AOSIS, collectively trying to coerce rich nations into curbing behaviours that are causing climate change, although they have not had much success.

Ambassador Moses, chair of AOSIS, talks of the "Loss and Damage" plans included in Doha that address concerns that island nations are suffering permanent losses as a result of climate change. Risks include the increased susceptibility to natural events such as floods, water table salination and loss of coastlines and land₁₈. These claims are corroborated by the IPCC reports, but in general now the predictions are held to be on the optimistic side₁₉.

All countries' current and historical approach towards the environment is gauged via 21 datasets, including multiple decades of data on its forested percent change 2000-2020, its environmental performance, energy to GDP efficiency, its sign-up rate to major international accords on protecting the environment, the rate of rational beliefs on the environment in the population, reducing annual meat consumption per person and its score on the Green Future Index.

The countries that do the best (Sri Lanka, Uruguay and Switzerland) tend to have avoided the excesses of early industrial countries, and have not yet repeated the same mistakes of environmental destruction - at least, not on the same scale. The regions with the best average results per country are Central America, South America and Scandinavia. The worst are Eritrea, The Vatican City and Timor-Leste (E. Timor), and the worst regions Micronesia, Australasia and Melanesia.

For more, see:

• " Countries With the Best Environmental Records" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

5. Culture, Peace and Inequality

#capitalism #charity #corruption #culture #economics #equality #extremism #happiness #health #human_development #inequality #life_expectancy #morals #peace #politics #poverty #religious_violence #social_development #terrorism

This is the final pillar of the Social and Moral Development Index; it has 22 datasets, including multiple decades of data on World Giving Index, resisting corruption, overall happiness, Creativity and Culture, Open Trading, Aid and Development, its Global Peace Index rating, Peacekeeping and Security, Refugees and UN Treaties, the impact of terrorism, Inequality in Life Expectancy, Income Inequality (Gini Coefficient) and Multidimensional Poverty.

For more, see:

• "Which are the Countries for International Contributions, Creativity, Peace and Inequality?" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

National Culture:

Despite their rather varied nature, small islands in general tend to do well in resisting corruption. The worst are Haiti and Comoros, according to Transparency International's 2022 data₂₇. The best islands at this are Singapore, the Seychelles and Taiwan.

Peace Versus Instability:

Economic Inequality and Poverty:

6. Modernity and Learning

#education #english #intelligence #it_security #maths #modernity #politics #religion #religiosity #research #science #secularisation #technology #the_internet

The most modern countries, with the best results from education, the highest levels of research, and with the easiest access to information on the Internet, are Finland, Belgium and Denmark₅₁. The worst countries are Eritrea, S. Sudan and Sierra Leone₅₁. Despite improves in global education, access to tertiary (adult) education is becoming increasingly unequal between the rich haves and the poor have-nots₅₂.

“Education, at all levels and ages, is the single most vital support for equality as well as being a country's most vital economic and social resource. [...] Every successful aspirant to modernisation and economic development, from Japan to South Korea, China to Chile, has got there with a big emphasis on education.”

Bill Emmott (2017)₅₃

15 datasets are used to calculate points for each country, including multiple decades of data on Research and Development, Secondary Education, Length of Schooling, Intellectual Endeavours, Maths, Science & Reading, Religiosity, IQ, the percent of citizens with access to the internet, Freedom On The Internet, IT Security, IPv6 Uptake and digital quality of life. The regions with the best average results per country are Scandinavia, Baltic States and Europe₅₁, whereas the worst are Melanesia, Africa and Micronesia₅₁.

For more, see:

• " Which Countries are Most Modern, With the Best Education and Internet Access?" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

Modernity and Education:

Technology and Information:

7. Health

#alcohol #birth_control #demographics #health #life_expectancy #longevity #mental_health #obesity #overpopulation #parenting #population #smoking #suicide #vaccines

The countries with the best overall approach to public health, in terms of both public policy and individual lifestyle choices, are Monaco, Liechtenstein and The Isle of Man₇₁. These countries are worth emulating. And, although often through no fault of the average citizen, the worst countries are S. Sudan, Angola and Nigeria₇₁.

21 datasets are used to calculate points for each country, including multiple decades of data on its average life expectancy, its alcohol consumption rate, its fertility rate, its smoking rate, its suicide rate, its food aid and health contributions and WHO compliance, the prevalence of overweight adults, its adolescent birth rate and its immunizations take-up. The regions with the best average results per country are Scandinavia, Europe and The Balkans₇₁, whereas the worst are Africa, Micronesia and Melanesia₇₁.

For more, see:

• "Countries With the Healthiest Cultures and Health Policies" by Vexen Crabtree (2020).

Health:

Children's Health:

8. Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance

#equality #freedom #gender_equality #human_rights #morals #politics #prejudice #Small_Islands #tolerance

The best countries amongst those classed as small islands at protecting human rights, engendering tolerance and supporting equality, are Malta, Cyprus and Taiwan and the collection as a whole does better than the global average. The worst countries are Brunei, Comoros and Bahrain.

For full commentary and data, see:

• Comparing Small Islands on Human Rights, Freedom, Tolerance and Equality

9. Religion and Beliefs

#belief #buddhism #christianity #folk_religion #god #hinduism #human_development #islam #judaism #no_religion #religion #religiosity #secularisation

Links:

• Compare to other regions of the world
• A List of All Religions and Belief Systems
• Institutionalized Religions Have Their Numbers Inflated by National Polls
• Secularisation Theory: Will Modern Society Reject Religion? What is Secularism?
• Human Religions