Coastlines are places in the world where land meets with the sea.
This also means that coastlines are areas which are subject to change due to the many processes that occur at these areas.
There is a lot of wave action and other weathering processes that chip away at the rocks and either wash away the sands or build them up into sand bars.
This constant chipping and building action result in the coastline length ever changing.
This affects the configuration and measurement of the coastline from one period to another.
However, measurements have been made and the following are the top five countries with the longest coastline.
Canada
Canada is the second largest country in the world and the country with the largest area covered by water.
The length of its coastline is 202 thousand square kilometers.
The coastline runs along three different oceans; the Pacific Ocean to the West of Canada, the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Arctic Ocean to the North.
The majority of the coastline is in the Arctic Ocean.
There are many islands dotted along the coastlines.
The topography of the coastline includes, fjords around British Columbia and Quebec, sand dunes in Sable Island and the west of Nova Scotia.
Barrier Islands formed by Ice can be found around Prince Patrick.
Indonesia
The archipelago of Indonesia has a coastline of 54.7 thousand square miles thanks to the country claiming all waters at least 12 nautical miles from its islands.
In the North East of Sumatra as well as in Papua, the coastline is mostly swampy.
On the other hand, Java and other smaller islands to the east of Indonesia have very beautiful beaches that are huge attractions to tourist.
There are a lot of atolls and coral reefs along the coastlines especially in the eastern part of the country.
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Greenland
Greenland which is an independent country within Denmark has a coastline that is bordered by the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean.
The coastline is 44 thousand square kilometers long and naturally designed with fjords, glaciers and high cliffs some of which go up to 2000m.
There are also numerous icebergs along the coastline and mountain ranges some of which have been either partially or completely covered by ice.
There are numerous islands that in the most part are along the coastline.
Russia
The Russian federation has a coastline length of 37.6 square kilometers that is bounded by the Arctic and the Pacific Oceans.
The majority of Russia’s coastline is mostly on the Arctic Ocean.
Although most of the coastline, especially the area close to the Arctic Ocean is frozen, there are still many capes and peninsulas.
Many small islands can be found around the coastlines.
Philippines
The Republic of Philippines is made up of many small islands and this have accounted for its coastline length of 36.2 thousand square kilometers.
There are at least 7000 islands that make up the coastlines of the Philippines.
The coastline is very diverse ranging from beaches, coral reefs, mangroves, wetlands and rocky headlands.
The coastline is very favourable for the growth of fish as well as other marine mammals.
