Island

A small island

An island is a piece of ground that is surrounded by a body of water such as a lake, river or sea. Water is all around an island. Islands are smaller than continents.

The largest island in the world is Greenland, unless Australia is believed to be an island.

Most people think Australia is a continent because it is more than three times bigger than Greenland.

Some islands are their own countries. Examples of islands that are their own countries include Cuba, Iceland, and Madagascar. There are many others. Other islands have more than one country, such as Borneo and Hispaniola.

Large islands

In Europe

• Great Britain 218,595 km²
• Iceland 101,826 km²
• Ireland 81,638 km²
• The island in the north of Novaja Zemlja 47,079 km²
• Spitsbergen 38,981 km²
• The island in the south of Novaja Zemlja 33,246 km²
• Sicily 25,662 km²
• Kotelny and Faddeyesky 24,000 km²
• Sardinia 23,812 km²
• Nordaustlandet (archipelago of Svalbard, Norway) 14,247 km²
• Cyprus 9,234 km²
• Corsica 8,741 km²

Other places

• Greenland 2,130,800 km²
• New Guinea 785,753 km²
• Borneo 748,138 km²
• Madagascar 587,041 km²
• Baffin 507,451 km²
• Sumatra 677,658 km²

Types of island

There are many kinds of island.

• Continental islands are made when a part of it breaks off.
• Barrier islands
• Volcanic
• Atoll