Private island
Southeast Asia has numerous islands, with Indonesia being an archipelago of 17,000 islands and the Philippines having around 7,100. Real estate laws restrict foreigners' ability to buy property in the geographical area, and many islands either have unclear ownership rights or are already settled. Private islands that are available in Southeast Asia's real estate market are also prohibitively costly due to being in high demand by hotel developers. Developments address these difficulties by selling private islands that have villas and neighbor islands that have high-end hotels; the proximity keeps costs of habitation down.
List of island countries
This is a list of island countries. An island is a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water. Many island countries are spread over an archipelago, as is the case with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Indonesia (both of which consist of thousands of islands). Others consist of a single island, such as Nauru, or part of an island, such as Haiti. Although Australia is designated as a continent, it is often referred to as an island, as it has no land borders. Some declared island countries are not universally recognized as politically independent, such as Northern Cyprus. Some states, such as Taiwan, officially claim to hold continental territories but are "de facto" limited to control over islands.