# Counties that are just an island **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 29, 2026, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169 "2026-01-29T21:27:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/1 "2026-01-29T21:27:44Z")
Grand Isle County, Vermont. Several connected islands. Any others? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/2 "2026-01-29T21:29:55Z")
In Washington State, there is Island County. > **[Island County, Washington](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_County,_Washington)** > > Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 86,857. Its county seat is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor. > The county's name reflects the fact that it is composed entirely of islands. It contains two large islands, Whidbey and Camano, and seven smaller islands (Baby, Ben Ure, Deception, Kalamut, Minor, Smith, and Strawberry). Island County was created out of Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the legislature ... > The county’s name reflects the fact that it is composed entirely of islands. It contains two large islands, [Whidbey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whidbey_Island) and [Camano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camano_Island), and seven smaller islands (Baby, Ben Ure, Deception, Kalamut, Minor, [Smith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Island_(Washington)), and [Strawberry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Island_(Deception_Pass,_Washington))). [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSPanzwP3cUShU19KkpJvE8T4To50glBJUzjw&s) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSPanzwP3cUShU19KkpJvE8T4To50glBJUzjw&s) ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/3 "2026-01-29T21:35:23Z")
Manhattan(New York County) and Staten Island( Richmond County). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/4 "2026-01-29T21:39:49Z")
Hawaii? Four counties. Or is that cheating? ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/5 "2026-01-29T21:40:51Z")
The town of New Shoreham is entirely comprised of the actual island Block Island, in the state of Rhode Island which is not an island. New Shoreham is part of Washington County, which also comprises most of the mainland area known as South County, which has no legal existence, but is the summer vacation destination of much of New England. [Damn - I caught myself waiting for my fellow Rho Dislander Tripolar to mention this. Miss that doper!] ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/6 "2026-01-29T22:06:07Z")
Nantucket County and Dukes County (Martha’s Vineyard and surrounding islands) in Massachusetts should qualify. Not sure if this is what the OP is looking for, but Long Island in New York contains four counties - Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. And I have to nitpick on the earlier mention of New York county - there’s a tiny bit on the mainland, the neighborhood of Marble Hill which is surrounded by the Bronx on three sides and the Harlem River on the south, is part of New York county, as well as all of Manhattan island and a few other surrounding islands. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/7 "2026-01-29T22:08:51Z")
Isle of Wight, UK ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/8 "2026-01-29T22:14:10Z")
If you want to include Alaska’s census areas and boroughs, there are a few others - Aleutians West and Kodiak for sure, possibly Sitka San Juan county in Washington state should also count (the San Juan Islands). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/9 "2026-01-29T22:20:04Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > In Washington State, there is Island County. And San Juan County. > **[San Juan County, Washington](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_County,_Washington)** > > San Juan County is a county in the Salish Sea in the far northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,788. The county seat and only incorporated town is Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island. The county was formed on October 31, 1873, from Whatcom County and is named for the San Juan Islands, which are in turn named for Juan Vicente de Güemes, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo, the Viceroy of New Spain. > Although the islands have no state highways, the... San Juan County comprises San Juan Island, Orcas Island, Lopez Island, Shaw Island, Blakely Island, Crane Island, and Decatur Island. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/10 "2026-01-29T22:21:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > And San Juan County. Good point! Island County came to mind first because, well, it’s literally “Island County”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/11 "2026-01-29T22:21:27Z")
Perhaps surprisingly, the Florida Keys are not a county of their own. They’re a section within Monroe County; a county that has vastly more mainland area than island area. But all of Monroe County’s mainland area is uninhabited Everglades swamp / nature preserve. So from the population’s perspective, it’s an all-island county that was given a big block of mainland nature preserve / swamp to manage also. The county seat is in fact Key West out on the tippy end of the island chain. It surely doesn’t fit the OP’s definition strictly, but maybe gets an honorable mention or an asterisk by its name. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/12 "2026-01-30T00:31:37Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Grand Isle County, Vermont. Several connected islands. The northern most part of the county (Alburgh and Rouses Point) aren’t an island, they’re attached to the Canadian mainland. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/13 "2026-01-30T01:31:17Z")
Dare County NC is mostly islands (the Outer Banks) but also includes a big chunk on the mainland. Some of the Louisiana Parishes south of New Orleans are mostly islands and swamp, but some of each is part of the mainland. > [@Wilson](#): > > If you want to include Alaska’s census areas and boroughs, there are a few others - Aleutians West and Kodiak for sure, possibly Sitka Aleutians West - Yes Aleutians East - No Kodiak - No (a big chunk is on the mainland) Sitka - Yes Hoonah-Angoon - No Prince of Wales-Hyder - Yes ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/14 "2026-01-30T10:53:34Z")
There are a number of Australian instances of LGAs (local government area), our equivalent of a US county, which are islands including: Cocos (Keeling) Islands Christmas Island Lord Howe Island Kangaroo Island King Island Norfolk Island Groote Eylandt Rottnest Island is not an LGA Gawd knows how many instances there are on Indonesia. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/15 "2026-01-30T14:10:04Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Gawd knows how many instances there are on Indonesia. Good one! The OP is OK with “counties” that span multiple islands. Indonesia has 17,000+ islands. Every bit of Indonesia is an island. A couple of those islands are shared with other countries, but that doesn’t seem disqualifying. Per wiki, the country is divided into 38 provinces which are further divided into 416 “regencies” viewed as county-equivalents, plus 98 “cities” which are partly viewed as urbanized county-equivalents. So unlike US practice of putting big cities inside one or more counties, the Indonesians break the big cities out as simultaneously municipalities and county-like entities of their own. A very few US biggish cities are like that, with St. Louis and Jacksonville being two well-known examples (each with differing details). So depending on how one chooses to keep score, Indonesia has 416 or 514 county-like entities. Every one of which is composed only of islands. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/16 "2026-01-30T15:02:30Z")
I guess all of Puerto Rico’s municipalities (the equivilent of counties) would count, but two of them are islands of their own: - Vieques - Culebra Each of the the three US Virgin Islands are separate administrative districts - St Croix - St Thomas - St John Guam has 19 municipalites that function as counties, all on one island. American Samoa has 3 administrative disctricts that act as counties, and 15 counties that really aren’t. The Eastern and Western disctricts share the island Tutuila, and the island of Aunu’l is tacked on the Western disctrict. The disctrict of Manu’a consists of three smaller islands. There are also two unorganized atolls. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has 4 administrative districts spread over 14 islands. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/17 "2026-01-30T15:35:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The county seat is in fact Key West out on the tippy end of the island chain. Do they have satellite courthouses? I think a lot of people would balk at a 4+ hour round trip (from Key Largo area up north) to do jury duty, especially if it’s multiple days that you need to go back & forth. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/18 "2026-01-30T15:39:52Z")
Anglesey off the North Coast of Wales (technically still part of the “historic county” of Gwynedd but practically it’s own county, with it’s own county council, cos British local politics is complicated) ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/19 "2026-01-30T16:26:41Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Aleutians West - Yes > Aleutians East - No > Kodiak - No (a big chunk is on the mainland) > Sitka - Yes > Hoonah-Angoon - No > Prince of Wales-Hyder - Yes I stand corrected on Kodiak. But Hyder is on the mainland, so Prince of Wales-Hyder wouldn’t count. Sitka counts if it’s allowed that the county shares an island with another county - Sitka covers only half of Chichagof Island. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169/20 "2026-01-30T16:29:55Z")
> [@Wilson](#): > > But Hyder is on the mainland, so Prince of Wales-Hyder wouldn’t count. You’re correct, Google Maps made that part difficult to see. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-that-are-just-an-island/1027169.md?page=2)