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Home›Fauna And Flora›Largest And Highest Islands Of The World

Largest And Highest Islands Of The World

By Joyce B. Buchanan
May 18, 2021
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An island is a piece of landmass smaller than a continent and surrounded entirely by water. Although most islands are formed naturally, others like Flevopolder and René-Levasseur Island are artificial islands, constructed by people. Islands occur in rivers and lakes, although the largest islands are found in oceans or seas. Although continental landmasses are surrounded entirely by water, they are not islands because of their massive sizes. However, some geographers refer to Australia (the smallest continent) as an island despite it being almost four times larger than Greenland.

It is difficult to figure out the number of islands on planet Earth because not all islands have been discovered. The world oceans have not been fully explored and chances are there could be more islands than the current estimated figure. However, there are thousands of islands in the oceans with varying sizes, shapes, flora, fauna, climate, and geography. Most islands are either tropical or volcanic islands, with Sumatra (Indonesia) as the world’s largest volcanic island

Although the world’s oceans and other water bodies are dotted with thousands of islands, most of these islands are have smaller surface areas. Only about 322 islands have surface areas greater than 1,000 square kilometers. Of these larger islands, about 179 have areas of at least 2,500 square kilometers, while the next 30 largest islands cover between 2,000 and 2,499 square kilometers. Five Islands, Baffin, Madagascar, Borneo, New Guinea, and Greenland, are at least 500,000 square kilometers.

Greenland is the world’s largest and only island whose area exceeds one million square kilometers. Its size, 2.13 million square kilometers, is almost one-fourth the size of Australia, the world’s smallest continent. However, New Guinea (the second-largest island) is the world’s highest island, at 5,030 meters, and home to Oceania’s highest peak. Indonesia, which possesses the western half of New Guinea (second-largest island), Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Java, is the world’s largest island country. Here are the world’s largest islands and some of the largest lake islands.

The 10 Largest Islands In The World

Rank Island Area (sq. km) Area (sq mi)

1

Greenland

2,175,600

840,004

2

New Guinea

785,753

303,381

3

Borneo

748,168

288,869

4

Madagascar

587,713

226,917

5

Baffin

503,944

194,574

6

Sumatra

443,066

171,069

7

Honshu

225,800

88,982

8

Great Britain

209,331

80,823

9

Victoria

220,548

85,154

10

Ellesmere

183,965

71,029

NOTE: Australia is widely considered as a continental landmass, not an island. It certainly is the largest island, with a size of (2,966,153 sq miles) (7,682,300 sq km).

10 Largest Island Countries

Rank Country Area (sq. km) Area (sq mi)

1

Indonesia

1,904,569

735,358

2

Madagascar

587,041

226,658

3

Papua New Guinea

462,840

178,704

4

Japan

377,915

145,913

5

Malaysia

329,847

127,355

6

Philippines

300,000

115,831

7

New Zealand

268,838

103,798

8

United Kingdom

243,610

94,058

9

Cuba

110,860

42,804

10

Iceland

103,000

39,769

10 Highest Islands In The World

Rank Island Height (feet) Height (meters)

1

New Guinea

16,503

5,030

2

Hawaii, US

13,796

4,205

3

Borneo, Indonesia

13,698

4,175

4

Formosa, China

13,114

3,997

5

Sumatra, Indonesia

12,484

3,805

6

Ross, Antarctica

12,448

3,794

7

Honshu, Japan

12,388

3,776

8

South Island, NZ

12,349

3,764

9

Lombok, Indonesia

12,224

3,726

10

Tenerife, Spain

12,188

3715

10 Largest Lake Islands In The World

Rank Island, Lake Country Area (sq. km) Area (sq mi)

1

Manitoulin, Lake Huron

Canada

2,766

1,068

2

Rene-Lavasseur, Manicouagan Reservoir

Canada

2,020

780

3

Olkhon, Lake Baikal

Russia

730

282

4

Samosir, Lake Toba

Indonesia

630

243

5

Isle Royal, Lake Superior

United States

535.4

209

6

Ukerewe, Lake Victoria

Tanzania

530

205

7

St. Joseph, Lake Huron

Canada

365

141

8

Drummond, Lake Huron

United States

347

134

9

Idjwi, Lake Kivu

DR Congo

340

110

10

Ometepe Island, Lake Nicaragua

Nicaragua

276

107

10 Largest Islands In The USA

Rank Island State Area (sq. km) Area (sq mi)

1

Hawaii

Hawaii

10,434

4,029

2

Kodiak

Alaska

9,510

3,672

3

Puerto Rico

NA

8,710

3,588

4

Prince of Wales

Alaska

6,675

2,577

5

Chichagof

Alaska

5,388

2,080

6

Saint Lawrence

Alaska

4,430

1,710

7

Admiralty

Alaska

4,362

1,684

8

Nunivak

Alaska

4,227

1,632

9

Baranof

Alaska

4,064.5

1569

10

Unimak

Alaska

4,119

1,590

10 Largest Islands In Europe

Rank Island Area (sq. km) Area (sq mi) Countries/regions

1

Great Britain

229,848

88,745

United Kingdom ( England, Scotland, Wales)

2

Iceland

101,826

39,315

Iceland

3

Ireland

84,421

32,595

Ireland, United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

4

Severny Island

47,079

18,177

Russia

5

Spitsbergen

37,673

14,546

Norway (Svalbard)

6

Yuzhny Island

33,246

12,836

Russia

7

Sicily

25,662

9,908

Italy

8

Sardinia

23,949

9,247

Italy

9

Nordaustlandet

14,443

5,576

Norway (Svalbard)

10

Cyprus

9,251

3,572

Cyprus Northern Cyprus United Kingdom (Akrotiri and Dhekelia)

John Misachi May 18 2021 in Geography



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