Islands vary in size based on size, geography, climate, flora, and fauna. The islands are listed based on the area which is greater than 2,500 km2 (970 sq mi) and several other islands over 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi). It is belived that there are 2000 islands on planet Earth and today, we will discuss the top 10 largest islands in the world,
Largest Islands in the World
1.Greenland Island-2,166,086 sq km(836,330 sq miles)
- Greenland is the largest non-continental island with an autonomous Danish-dependent territory.
- It is also the largest dependent territory by area in the world.
- The island shares its border with the Atlantic Ocean in the southeast, the Greenland Sea in the east, the Arctic Ocean in the north, and the Baffin Bay area to the west.
- The nearest countries to the green island are Canada, Baffin Bay, and Iceland.
- The total island is approximately 2,650 kilometers (1,650 miles) long along with 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) wide (east-west). This is the 12th largest country in the world based on land area.
- The capital city is Nuuk which is also the largest city in Greenland. The biggest part of the island is covered by the great inland ice with an avarage thickness of 1,500 meters.
- The unique part of Greenland is that Sun does not set from May 25th to July 25th and this phenomenon is known as the ‘midnight sun.
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2.New Guinea Island- 821,400 sq km(317,150 sq miles)
- New Guinea is the second-largest island in the world by land area and the largest island in the Southern Hemisphere.
- The island is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean which is separated by 50 km (81 mi; 93 mi) wide Torres Strait from the Australian continent.
- There are numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east. The east part of the island is the major landmass of the independent state of Papua New Guinea and the western part is known as Western New Guinea or West Papua which forms a part of Indonesia.
- Papua New Guinea Hosts 5% Of the global biodiversity and some of the world’s poisonous birds reside in the region such as hooded pitches.
- English, Hiri Motu, and Tok Pisin are the three official languages of Papua New Guinea.
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3.Borneo Island- 748,168 sq km(288,869 sq miles)
- Borneo Island is the third largest island in the world and the largest in Asia.
- It lies at the center of Maritime Southeast Asia in relation to the major Indonesian islands situated in the north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra.
- Politically, Borneo Island is divided into three countries such as Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and Indonesia to the south. This is the only island in the world which is admistered by three countries at once.
- The majority of the island is Indonesia comprising 73% of the island and the rest is made up of the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.
- Borneo island is also home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world.
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4.Madagascar Island-587,295 sq km(226,756 sq miles)
- Madagascar Island officially known as the Republic of Madagascar is one of the largest islands in the world located on the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
- French and Malagasy are the two official languages in the country.
- Madagascar Island has its own unique wildlife such as the lemur is only found in the wild in Madagascar. The island is belived to be isolated for around 70 million years and broke away from Africa around 165 million years ago and then from India nearly 100 million years later.
- Madagascar Island has a huge population of chameleons and approximately half of the world’s chameleons are found only on Madagascar island. The island is home to 60 different species of chameleons.
- Tenrecs are belived to have the first mammal to arrive on the island which is similar to moles, shrews, and hedgehogs. The largest predator on the island is the fossa which has a cat-like body and a dog-like nose but it is neither considered a dog nor a cat.
- Madagascar Island also has the 3rd largest coral reef system in the world.
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5.Baffin Island-507,451 sq km(195,928 sq miles)
- Baffin Island previously known as Baffin Land is the Canadian territory of Nunavut and the largest island in Canada and the 5th largest island in the world based on land area.
- Baffin Island has been inhabited for over 3000 Years. The Inuit people of Baffin Island have been there for thousands of years and survived by hunting caribou and other land animals and fishing at sea.
- There are many places named on Baffin Island and their translation such as Iqaluit (capital city) – “place of many fish”, Pangnirtung (hamlet) – “place of the bull caribou”, Auyuittuq (national park) – “the land that never melts”, Katannilik (territorial park) – “place of waterfalls”, Sirmilik (national park) – “place of glaciers” and Qikiqtaaluk (the Inuit name for Baffin Island) – roughly meaning “big island”
- Baffin Island has two National Parks namely Sirmilik and Auyuittuq. There are numerous glaciers that lie in these national parks.
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6.Sumatra Island- 443,066 sq km(171,069 sq miles)
- Sumatra Island’s name comes from the word Samudra which means ocean. It is located in Indonesia making it the second-largest island of Indonesia based on land area.
- Sumatra Island has its geography in such a way that it is prone to frequent earthquakes and Tsunamis. The primary reason is because of the subduction zone of Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
- Almost all the part of the island is covered with the dense rainforest. The island is also home to many endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger, Sumatran orangutan, Sumatran Rhinoceros, and Sumatran Ground-cuckoo.
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7.Honshu Island-227,898 sq km (87,992 sq miles)
- Honshu Island is one of the largest islands in the world and also one of Japan’s main islands.
- It is situated across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Seto Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Strait.
- The island was struck by a huge earthquake and a following tsunami in the year 2011.
- As of the 2017 census, the population of the island is approximately 104 million, and most of them are concentrated in the coastal areas and plains which is the Greater Tokyo Area on the Kantō Plain.
- Japan’s industrial area is located in a belt running along Honshu’s southern coast, from Tokyo to Nagoya, Kyōto, Osaka, Kobe, and Hiroshima. The highest point of Japan which is Mount Fuji is located on Honshu island only.
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8.Victoria Island-217,291 sq km(83,896 sq miles)
- Victoria Island is one of the largest islands in the world situated in Canada. This is the second-largest island of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
- The island was explored by Thomas Simpson, who is also known as the explorer of the Arctic region. It was discovered in 1838.
- It is named after Queen Victoria and it is the world’s largest island within island within an island.
- The island is nearly double the size of Newfoundland which is (111,390 km2 [43,008 sq mi]).
9.Great Britain-209,331 sq km(80,823 sq miles)
- Great Britain is one of the largest islands in the world situated in the Northwest of the European continent with a land area of 209,331 sq km.
- The United Kingdom comprises the whole island of Great Britain.
- This is the largest island in Europe by land area and is surrounded by over one thousand smaller islands and islets within the Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea, and the English Channel.
- The whole island is comprised of four countries such as England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
- The other major cities on the island are Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, and Manchester.
10.Ellesmere Island-196,236 sq km(75,767 sq miles)
- Ellesmere Island is Canada’s third-largest island and tenth largest island in the world. The total area of the island is 196,235 km2 (75,767 sq mi).
- It is a part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands.
- It comprises many ice fields and mountains and almost all of the islands covered by the Arctic Cordillera. One-fifth of the island is protected as Quttinirpaaq National Park.
- As of 2016, the population of the country was recorded at 191. There are three settlements such as Alert, Eureka, and Grise Fiord.
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Image Source: Wikimedia
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