geographics expertsagree on which commonwealth tout the most coastal gas mileage . With shores extending along the Atlantic , Arctic , and Pacific oceans , Canadaclaims the title of world ’s longest coastline . While that fact is n’t dispute , the exact size of the country ’s coasts is harder to pin down .
Depending on the source you cite , the distance of Canada ’s shoreline varies by tens of thousands of miles . World AtlasandWorld Population Reviewboth give a entire length of 202,080 kilometers , or 125,567 miles , while Canada’snational statistical officelists 243,042 kilometers , or 151,019 miles of coastline .
This discrepancy comes from the phenomenon known as theCoastline Paradox . measure coasts is n’t as simple as determining the length of a country as the Corvus wing . The borders where the demesne fill the sea do n’t work a unbowed telephone circuit . Instead , they incorporate aeroembolism and nooks that variety in small way over the trend of a day and in bigger ways over years . Measuring shorelines in pocket-sized units technically results in more precise numbers , but they ’re also impossibly large and not very practical in the real world .
This is why cartographer select to look at coastlines on a bigger graduated table . Even so , two cartographers process with dissimilar unit of measurement — say Roman mile instead of units of 100 miles — will get different numbers for the same piece of seaside land .
We may never know the exact distance of Canada ’s glide , but we can still say that it ’s the largest in the world . That ’s because we can compare its coastline to those of other land measured on the same plate . All common units of measurement used by cartographers range it above other body politic with impressive coastal actual estate , such as the moon curser - ups Indonesia , Norway , and Russia . valuate these places on a molecular tier may give different results , but that ’s not a project experts are eager to enter on anytime soon .
