Good day, dear readers of the site “I and the World”! Today we want to tell you about the islands and we will definitely highlight the largest island in the world. Even the largest of them differ from the continents in their size - they are smaller than continents and are surrounded by water on all sides. But even during high tides they are not sinkable, because... are above sea level.
We present to you the top 10 largest islands, and which is the largest and what it is called, you will find out by reading the article to the end.
In 10th place is Ellesmere - 196,236 sq. km
Snow, eternal glaciers, remains of prehistoric animals - this is how Ellesmere Island can be described. The map shows that this is the northern island of Canada with a population of only 150 people.
It was discovered by the English sailor and traveler William Baffin in the 17th century. It is difficult to live here due to the very harsh climate.
The closest Canadian city is difficult to get to – 3,578 km. Even the North Pole is much closer - 817 km, but local residents probably don’t need to go there.
Next on the list is Victoria Island - 217,290 sq. km
The English navigators were very brave, since they discovered many territories. Victoria was also discovered by the Englishman Thomas Simpson in the early 19th century and named it after his queen.
At first, only meteorologists lived here, and only towards the end of the 20th century did Eskimos begin to move here, engaging in fishing activities.
The island's area can fit, for example, the small country of Belarus.
8th place - Honshu - 227,970 sq. km
According to legend, in the old days the Gods decided to divide the ocean and cut the water with a huge sword. And when they raised the sword, 4 drops slowly fell down and formed islands. The largest turned into an island called Honshu. It’s a pity that the drops fell on seismically unstable places, because earthquakes are frequent on the island.
The famous Fuji volcano rises here. Currently, about 103 million people live on the island and they are not crowded anywhere.
This is where major cities are located: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima - and all this is Japan.
7th place is occupied by Great Britain – 229,848 sq. km
Great Britain is also an island, and it is the largest in Europe.
The beginning of the history of the island is considered to be 43 BC. e. Since ancient times, the Noto people lived here, and later modern people began to populate the territory. A chain of white chalk rocks stretches along the island. It is said that because of the white color, Great Britain came to be called by the Roman word Albion (white).
The territory is densely populated and more than 61 million people live here.
Sumatra is in 6th place - 471,066 sq. km
Located in one of the parts of Indonesia. The territory is crossed almost in the middle by the equator, so Sumatra is located in two hemispheres at once.
Tsunamis and earthquakes happen quite often here, but with 50 million people living here, it's not too much of a concern.
The Toba volcano exploded here 73,000 years ago, triggering an 1,800-year ice age.
The lands of Sumatra have many mineral resources: gold, nickel, tin, iron, coal, oil, but all these riches belong to Indonesia. Go on a trip to the shores of Sumatra; it’s better to fly by plane: pirates are rampant on the waters.
5th place - Baffin Island - 507,451 sq. km
And again we are in Canada! And again the English discoverer is William Baffin. In the 17th century, he was looking for a way to the shores of fabulous India. Well, before reaching my destination, I accidentally discovered the island and the nearby sea.
Everything was named after the sailor. What is good in the land of polar cold?
Of course there is a rich world of animals: deer, polar bears, polar owls, white wolves, arctic foxes. Well, there are as many as 11 thousand people! Many people do not like the polar cold and frost even in July.
In 4th place is Madagascar - 587,713 sq. km
This is both a state and an island, the shores of which are washed by the waters of the Indian Ocean and are home to more than 24 million people.
Madagascar has recently become known throughout the world for the cartoon of the same name. Look, very funny!
Scientists believe that the island broke away from Africa on one side and from India on the other, so there is very rare flora and fauna here. And there are a huge number of different spices, for example, tsilanindimilahi pepper.
3rd place belongs to the island of Kalimantan - 748,168 sq. km
It was divided by three states at once: Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. How many countries, so many preferences. Some call it Borneo, others call it Kalimantan - translated as “diamond river”, because there are a huge amount of diamonds here. Of course, this is not a private island of one of the states. They just have an influence on him.
The first people settled here about 40,000 years ago and currently the population has increased to 20 million people.
The territory is also called riverine, because the longest of the island rivers, the Kapuas River (1143 km), flows here.
Residents of one of the cities walk here every day along the equator, as if along a boulevard, because the city is located right on the equator line. The beautiful sandy beach attracts many tourists.
New Guinea takes 2nd place – 786,000 sq. km
There are few continents in the world, and although Australia is its smallest continent, it lays claim to many nearby territories. So New Guinea belonged to this country until the middle of the 20th century, but then it still granted independence. There is still an uninhabited corner here that attracts researchers with rare specimens of plants and animals.
In some places in New Guinea, primitive life has been preserved. These lands were discovered not by an Englishman, but by a navigator from Portugal in the 16th century. According to legend, he looked at the curly hair of the aborigines and named the new land Papua - “curly.” The current population is 9.5 million people.
And finally, 1st place – Greenland – 2,130,800 sq. km
Green Island - Greenland, owned by Denmark, is the largest of the world's islands.
Why it’s green is unclear, because there’s a lot of ice around. History is silent about this. Greenland is home to about 57,000 people, but most of it is covered by glaciers and is therefore uninhabited.
Local Eskimos have been fishing since ancient times. But the first Europeans settled here in 875.
Greenland passed from Denmark to Norway several times. You ask: which country does it belong to now? Little Denmark. And if to its 43,000 sq. km add Greenland, then Denmark will be the 13th largest in the world. Now the local population is engaged not only in fishing, but also raising deer and sheep, and also extracting oil.
Tourism here is well developed - about 20,000 tourists come here every year. It is high time to recognize Greenland as a continent, because it is only three times smaller than Australia.
I would also like to tell you about the Greek island of Crete
Here legends and myths live next to modern reality. Every year up to 4 million tourists visit these beautiful places.
And many people want to become local property owners, and the quality of these houses is excellent. They say: “Greece has everything,” but Crete also has everything - a wonderful climate, a huge number of attractions, calm beaches and, of course, shopping.
We talked about the largest and most amazing islands on the planet. The list of wonderful places can be extended, but we will stop at ten. These are picturesque corners of nature. But there is a concept - an artificial island created by man. That's what we'll talk about in the following articles. Follow our publications and recommend reading to your friends. In the meantime, we say goodbye, see you again!
There are a great many islands on the world map. Namely, about 500 thousand. They are all completely different sizes. There are small ones that can literally fit a couple of people.
But there are also those whose area is comparable to entire countries. What are the largest islands in the world?
Ellesmere
Canada's Ellesmere Island is the third largest in the country (after Baffin Island and Victoria). And it is one of the ten largest islands on the planet. Ellesmere's area is 196 thousand square kilometers. Very few people live in this territory - only 170.But traces of prehistoric inhabitants were often found on it. Ellesmere itself is located in the north of the country, further than the other Canadian islands. However, it belongs to the province of Nunavut. Moreover, it is part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Ellesmere is washed on all sides by the Arctic Ocean.
Victoria
Victoria occupies ninth position in the list of the largest islands. The island is located in Canada and, naturally, occupies a larger area than Ellesmere. Namely, a little more than 217 thousand square kilometers. For a more visual representation, Victoria is about 500 kilometers in width and length. Exactly 1,707 people live on the island. That is, each person has a fairly impressive plot of land. There are very few hills on the island, and all of them are no more than one kilometer above sea level. 
Victoria, like Ellesmere, belongs to the province of Nunavut, as well as the Northwest Territory of the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The island boasts only two settlements - Holman and Cambridge Bay. On land there are numerous lakes, including Taha, Tahiryuak and Ferguson.
Honshu
This is the largest island of the Japanese archipelago. And it is the eighth largest on the planet. The area of the island of Honshu is almost 228 thousand square kilometers. And on this territory (which, by the way, is not too strikingly different from Victoria Island) 103 million people settled. However, this is not surprising for Japan. By the way, Honshu occupies a little more than half of the territory of the entire country. The island has a mountainous terrain. In addition, there are quite a lot of volcanoes on it. The mountains dictate their weather conditions, so in the southeast and northwest the difference in climate is obvious. It is worth noting that the largest mountain and the permanent symbol of Japan is located on Honshu - Fuji. Its height is 3 kilometers and 776 meters.UK Island
Great Britain is the largest island of the British Isles. The land area is about 230 thousand square kilometers. And 60 million people live here. 
England, Scotland, Wales - Great Britain contains most of the entire United Kingdom (its area is 244 thousand square kilometers). The highest point on the island reached 1,344 meters into the sky.
Sumatra
The sixth largest island is called Sumatra. The equator divided it into two almost identical parts. Therefore, it turns out that the island is located in both earth’s hemispheres. Sumatra is located in the west of the Malay Archipelago and belongs to Indonesia. Its area is 473 thousand square kilometers. Lives in an area of 50 million people. The coastline of Sumatra is almost unbroken; near the coast you can see beautiful coral reefs.Baffin Island
From the equator we will be transported again to the Arctic Ocean. It is home to the fifth largest island in the world. Its name is Baffin Island. This island is Canadian territory. And it is the largest of the country's islands. The area of Baffin Island is 507 thousand square kilometers. And most of the land now remains uninhabited. This happened due to unfavorable weather conditions. In total, 11 thousand people live on the island. The people mostly settled in the province of Nunavut. By the way, there are many freshwater lakes on Baffin Island. Two of them are of impressive size. These are Nettilling and Amajuaq.Madagascar
The island of Madagascar is located east of Africa. Its area is 587 thousand square kilometers. And this allows the island to take fourth place in the list of the largest islands in the world. 20 million people live in this paradise. 
They thrive in tropical climates. Madagascar is separated from the mainland by the Mozambique Channel. By the way, local residents nicknamed their homeland the island of boars.
Kalimantan
Malay Borneo or Kalimantan. It is the third largest island in the world. It is located in southeast Asia in the very center of the Malay Archipelago. The island's area is about 743 thousand square kilometers (about 16 million people settled on it). The land was divided among three states: Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. Most of Kalimantan is under Indonesia (which is divided into four provinces). But the part that belongs to Malaysia is divided into two states.New Guinea
So, the second largest island on Earth. This is New Guinea with an area of 786 thousand square kilometers. 7.5 million people found their homeland here. The island is located in the Pacific Ocean and is a link between Asia and Australia. New Guinea is separated from Australia only by the Torres Strait. 
The island is divided equally between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It is worth noting that the Indonesian part belongs to Asia.
Greenland
Well, the largest island in the world. Greenland has a record size - 2 million 131 thousand square kilometers, but not a record population - more than 57 thousand people. And not surprisingly, most of the land is occupied by glaciers, which make it difficult for people to live on the territory.Greenland. The largest island in the world
The shores of the island are washed by two oceans: the Atlantic and the Arctic. Greenland belongs to Denmark and is an autonomous unit. The largest settlement on the island is Nuuk. It is located in the western part. Well, the highest point in Greenland, Mount Gunbjorn, rises to 3 thousand 383 meters. By the way, until 1921 it was believed that a cape called Morris Jesup on the island was the part of land closest to the pole.
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What is an island? For many, these are resort areas like the Maldives, Sicily or Crete. For others, pictures from action-packed adventure films appear before their eyes. Indeed, the islands of the world are full of secrets and mysteries, and scientists never tire of publishing unusual facts about these small pieces of land, surrounded by water on all sides.
So the youngest island recently came of age. He is 21 years old. He was born in July 92 after a volcanic eruption near Bogoslov Island in the Aleutian Islands archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. Its length is 400 meters and its height is 90 meters.
TOP 10: largest islands in the world
However, the island cannot always be measured in hundreds of meters. There are many on the world map that represent entire maritime states.
Let's talk about the latter. . By tradition, we’ll start with the last line of the hit parade.
10th place - Ellesmere Island
10th place goes to the Canadian island Ellesmere. This part of the land with an area of 203 thousand square meters is located in the Arctic Ocean.
9th place - Victoria Island
In 9th place is another Canadian island with a beautiful name. Victoria. Its area is slightly larger than the previous one - 213 thousand square meters. It is located next door, in the ice of the same Arctic.
8th place - Great Britain island
8th place is rightfully given to the island Great Britain. It is located on an area of 230 thousand square kilometers. Washed by the Atlantic Ocean. Among the unusual facts, it is worth noting that a huge number of people live on this island. More than 60 million islanders live on the island of Great Britain.
7th place - Honshu Island
7th place on the list is occupied by a Japanese island Honshu. It has an area of just under 230 thousand square kilometers in the Pacific Ocean. The largest Japanese cities are located on the island of Honshu: Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, etc. According to the latest data, its population exceeds the British one. About 100 million people.
6th place - Sumatra island
By the way, Indonesia is called the “country of a thousand islands”. Scientists have counted more than 13,500 islands on the territory of the state. 12,000 of them are uninhabited. Moreover, most of these small pieces of sushi don't even have geographical names.
5th place - Baffin Island
5th place was taken by another Canadian island - Baffin Island. It is located on an area of 507 thousand square kilometers in the Arctic Ocean.
4th place - Madagascar island
In 4th place is the island, which became especially famous after the animated film of the same name. Madagascar. It occupies just under 600 thousand square kilometers in the Indian Ocean.
The most interesting things are ahead. Let's move on to the top three. Who is included in the list of the three largest islands in the world?
3rd place - Kalimantan island
3rd place goes to the island of Kalimantan, or Borneo in other words. It is also located in the Indian Ocean and belongs to three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Its area is 743 thousand square kilometers.
2nd place - New Guinea island
New Guinea takes silver. It occupies 786 thousand square kilometers in the Pacific Ocean. By the way, from the point of view of the residential territory of a geographical object, this island could claim first place. Two countries have spread their possessions on this piece of land: Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
1st place - Greenland island
The title of “World's Largest Island” goes to an amazing country – Greenland . Its area is 2 million 131 thousand square kilometers. The island is located off the northeastern coast of America. It is separated from Canada by the Smith and Robson Straits in the northwest, the Baffin Sea and Davis Strait in the west, and the Labrador Sea in the southwest. On the northern side, Greenland is washed by the Arctic Ocean, or more precisely, the Lincoln Sea. To the northeast of the island is the Greenland Sea, to the southeast is the Denmark Strait. On the south side is the Atlantic.
Climate
The climate in Greenland is different: marine, subarctic, arctic and even continental arctic. Cyclone is the most frequent guest on the island. This means that there are constantly strong winds, sudden changes in weather and precipitation.
The average temperature on the coast in winter is from - 7 to - 37 degrees Celsius. In the interior of the island the conditions are quite harsh: up to -47. In summer, the temperature does not rise above +10 along the entire coast, and in the depths it remains below zero.
Flora and fauna
Plants here can only be found in areas free of glaciers. On these tiny pieces of the island there are birches, willows, rowan trees, alder and even juniper. As for animals, they are exclusively northern on the island. No surprises: polar bears, bowhead whales and seals, walruses, polar wolves and reindeer.
How could this place get a name that literally translates as “green land”?
Legends of history
The island of Greenland was discovered by the Vikings. They came here in the 10th century. There are even several legends about how the name appeared. Some believe that in medieval times the island had a completely different climate, warm. Blooming greenery gave this name to its land. Others express their opinion about the cunning of the first settlers. Allegedly, they gave the island such a fabulous name to attract people here.
Since 1536, Greenland was considered Danish territory. This was due to the fact that Norway was under the yoke of the Danes, and the countries were united into a single state. However, in 1905 Norway gained independence and claimed the island for itself. But Denmark was not going to give up Greenland without a fight. The issue was resolved through the Permanent Court of International Justice. She made a decision: to leave Greenland as a Danish colony.
The largest island in the world, Greenland, belongs to Denmark to this day. 84% of the territory is solid ice. But, despite this, there are settlements on the island. The largest is Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. The city is located on the west coast. Just over 15 thousand people live here.
