Which island is the largest in area. The title of "The world's largest island" goes to...
When talking about the largest islands, as a rule, they mean the islands with the largest area. We will not break the tradition and give the top of the largest islands in the world by area.
Recall that the island differs from the mainland in smaller size, but it must be surrounded on all sides by water, and at high tide at least part of it must remain on the surface.
10 Ellesmere
Ellesmere is the tenth most big islands Earth. It belongs to Canada and is part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands.
Ellesmere is all cut up by fjords and one-third covered with ice. Living conditions are very harsh: in winter the temperature is up to -59 degrees, and in summer it rarely exceeds +7 (although it can also be +20); the polar day and night last for 5 months, and there is so little precipitation, so that in many places there is not even snow, only bare rocks.
The population does not exceed 150 people. The vegetation is exclusively herbaceous; blooming poppies, saxifrage and other polar flowers form a picturesque carpet in summer. There are many animals on Ellesmere, among them the rare Peary caribou and the Melville island wolf (smaller, with white or silver hair).
It's another one north island belonging to Canada. Still, it is not located in such high latitudes, so its nature is more diverse, and its population is larger (about 1,700 people).
The reason for this is the high humidity: the whole island is covered with swamps, lakes, streams and rivers. In summer, the temperature is up to +12, in winter - an average of -20 degrees, and the wind is very strong and gusty, which creates extremely uncomfortable living conditions.
Vegetation in Victoria is not rich: grasses, polar tree species, mosses. But animal world presented excellently. There are many birds on the island, including snowy owls, as well as polar bears and wolves, arctic foxes and musk oxen.
Seals and walruses rest on the coast, and killer whales and whales walk in the waters off the coast of the island. There are also many commercial fish (herring, tuna).
8 Honshu
And here we have a quite densely populated island, main island Japanese archipelago, on which the country's capital is located rising sun and about 75% of its population is concentrated.
Interested in
It is here that the most big cities Japan: Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Yokohama. The whole island is covered with mountains, volcanoes predominate (for example, Fujiyama, and Asama is active volcano), and he himself lies at the junction of the formation plates, which provokes frequent earthquakes.
Devastating typhoons are not uncommon here in autumn. The climate of Honshu is defined as monsoonal: in summer the temperature is about +25, in winter it is rarely below -5. The rainy season starts in June-July. The flora and fauna of the island is very rich. Forests cover more than 2/3 of the area.
In the spring, Honshu is extraordinarily beautiful because of the blooming azaleas, sakura and peonies, and in the autumn the most favorite flowers of the Japanese bloom - chrysanthemums, to which even the traditional festival is dedicated.
The animal world includes many relict and endemic species: white-breasted bear, Japanese crane, giant salamander, big-billed crow and others. But Honshu is especially rich in fish and seafood, because 700 species of fish and more than 1000 species of shellfish live off the coast.
7 Great Britain is one of the largest islands of the Earth
The island of Great Britain is densely populated island, according to this indicator, it ranks third after Java and Honshu. Here is located most of states of Great Britain.
Scientists believe that the first people appeared on the island 800 thousand years ago: this is how the stone tools found on its territory are dated. The ancient Romans mentioned Great Britain in the 3rd century BC.
The climate on the island is maritime, which ensures mild winters, comfortable temperature summer and more than half of the rainy days of the year. Although there are areas in which it is much drier.
Forests and large animals in Great Britain, unfortunately, are almost exterminated: magnificent beech and hornbeam groves occupy no more than a tenth of the island.
Of the animals, mostly not very large mammals survived, but more than 130 species of birds and a lot of fish, as well as seals and whales
6 Sumatra
The hot tropical island, which is the sixth largest in the world, is at the same time the fourth largest in terms of the number of people living on it.
The island is part of Malay Archipelago and refers to Indonesia. Sumatra is an extremely humid island. It has a huge number of rivers, streams, lakes. This is where the most big lake South-East Asia- Toba. It is located in the caldera ancient volcano and so great that there is an island on it, on which there is also a lake.
Sumatra is very rich in volcanoes: there are many of them, and a good dozen of them are active. However, this does not frighten numerous tourists who want to see medieval buildings, windsurf or dive, enjoy beach holiday on the coast, almost everywhere covered with dark (volcanic) sand.
And here you can also walk in the equatorial forests of tree ferns, palm trees and ficuses, marveling at the richness of the Sumatran fauna. There are many endemic species here. For example, the Sumatran tiger and rhinoceros, as well as the rare woolly wing, the Indian elephant, the pig-tailed macaque and others. There are even 450 species of birds on the island!
5 Baffin Island
Listing the largest islands in the world, it is impossible to ignore Baffin Island, the island large area and very bizarre outlines, owned by Canada.
Baffin Island is, in fact, a continuation (geologically) of the Canadian Shield, so the mountains on the island should be considered part of the Andes. And there are many mountains, including quite high ones.
The island is not rich in population: the climate here is harsh, a significant part of the island is located beyond the Arctic Circle, frosts are not uncommon even in summer.
For a long time it was believed that the island was discovered by Baffin. But the latest data archaeological sites allow us to assert that the island was known to the ancient Vikings and is mentioned in their sagas under the name Helluland.
The harsh climate does not allow much development of vegetation, the flora here is poor. Of the animals, there are arctic foxes, polar bears, lemmings, reindeer, polar hares and, of course, walruses and seals. hits the island and big amount birds, including snowy owls.
4 Madagascar
Talking about which island is the largest in the world, it is impossible to ignore Madagascar, located near Africa and only recently emerged from the protectorate of France. At present, the island is independent republic Madagascar, the government in which is replaced every now and then as a result of various upheavals and military coups.
However, the history of Madagascar is also full of such events. There were also attempts to seize the island by force, and various tricks. For some time, Madagascar was even a base for pirates who robbed the ships of merchants hurrying to India.
The climate in Madagascar is tropical and monsoonal, which allows many plants to flourish, including many endemics. And the most famous is the fire tree (royal delonix) - a ten-meter tree of extraordinary beauty, strewn with bright scarlet flowers.
Among the animals there are also many endemic ones, for example, fossa is a cross between a puma and a mongoose.
There are also such interesting animals in Madagascar as lemurs (there are more than fifty species of them!), bristly hedgehogs, chameleons, viverras, turtles, a huge number of insects, fish (for example, the famous moray eels), birds. It’s a pity that you won’t be able to swim here: the coast is full of sharks.
3 Kalimantan
The island of Kalimantan, which occupies the third place in the ranking, is often called Borneo - after the name of the state of Brunei, which was once big and powerful, and now occupies only a small part of the island. The rest is divided between Indonesia and Malaya - Kalimantan is the only island on Earth, which belongs to three states at once.
Over the centuries, various parts of the island passed under the rule of one or another state; V different places and in different time the British, and Holland, and even Japan were noted here. And only in the period from the middle to the end of the last century, the modern political status of Kalimantan was established.
The equatorial climate and high humidity are favorable for a huge number of plants and animals, many of which are endemic and have not yet been properly studied. Orchids and carnivorous plants, king cobra and reticulated python, proboscis and giant flying foxes - you can't list them all!
Huge hot island pacific ocean divided between the states of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
The climate is equatorial, there are quite high (up to 4900 m) mountains, and along the coast there is an impenetrable (it can only be overcome by canoeing) strip of mango forests.
In New Guinea, expanse of flora and fauna: there are 11 thousand species of plants (various palm trees, bananas, melon tree, etc.) and more than one and a half thousand animals, including marsupial badgers and birds of paradise. On the island, scientists have found a place that they called the "Garden of Eden": there are many unseen creatures that are not at all afraid of humans.
1 The largest island is Greenland
Which country owns the largest island in the world? Answer: Denmark. Greenland is its autonomy.
More than 80% of the island is covered by glaciers; from the west and east, outlet glaciers (descending tongues into the sea) form, which give rise to icebergs. In the east of Greenland is also the most high mountain Arctic - Gunbjorn. Its height is 3700 m.
The climate is not very severe, but changeable: in winter the temperature is up to -11 degrees, in summer - about +20, but it is not uncommon for years when the thermometer does not overcome the zero mark for the whole summer!
Plants can be found in areas free from the glacier. These are mainly meadows, crooked forests, junipers. But polar animals, fish and insects are quite widely represented: walruses, whales, seals, polar bear, polar deer, seagull, shark and dozens of unique endemic beetles (700 species of insects in total).
Do you know how many times the largest island in Russia is smaller than the big island peace? Read the post and find out.
No. 10. Ellesmere (Canada) - 196,236 km2
Ellesmere is Canada's northernmost island and is one of the ten largest islands by area in the world. Due to the harsh climate, the population of the island is about 150 people.
The remains of prehistoric animals have been repeatedly found on the territory of Ellesmere. The first settlers were nomads from Siberia. In 1250, the Thule people, the ancestors of the Eskimos, settled on the territory. But by the middle of the 18th century, the island became deserted.
The island was discovered in 1616 by the English navigator William Baffin.
No. 9. Victoria (Canada) - 217,291 km2
In ninth place in terms of area is Victoria Island (Canada). The island was discovered in 1838 during the expedition of the British explorer Thomas Simpson.
In the 50s of the 20th century, there were several settlements on the island in which meteorologists lived. By the end of the 20th century, the population increased to detect the Eskimo settlers who took up fishing activities here.
No. 8. Honshu (Japan) - 227,970 km2
Honshu is the largest island in the Japanese archipelago and is the 8th largest island in the world. The island of Honshu is home to the largest Japanese cities: Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Hiroshima, etc.
The island is covered with many volcanoes, some of them active. The population of the island is over 103 million people.
No. 7. United Kingdom (UK) - 229,848 km2
Great Britain ranks 7th in the list of the largest islands in the world and is the largest island among british isles and in Europe as a whole.
The beginning of the history of Great Britain is considered the period of the Roman conquest in 43 BC, but the island had more early history.
Great Britain was inhabited by the Noto people several hundred thousand years ago. Modern man arrived in the British Isles before the start of the last ice age, but retreated to Southern Europe due to the glaciers covering the island. According to archaeological finds, after 12,000 BC. e. The British Isles were repopulated. Around 4000 BC e. the island was inhabited by people of the Neolithic culture.
To date, the population of the island of Great Britain is more than 61 million people, which makes it the most densely populated area in Europe.
No. 6. Sumatra (Indonesia) - 443,066 km2
Sumatra is the sixth largest island in the world. It is located in two hemispheres at once, since the Equator passes almost in the middle of the island. The island belongs to Indonesia and is part of the Malay Archipelago. It is located in a zone of frequent earthquakes and tsunamis.
To date, the population of the island of Sumatra is more than 50 million people. The main cities of Sumatra: Medan, Palembang, Padang. People of many nationalities live in Sumatra, about 90% profess Islam.
Approximately 73 thousand years ago, the Toba volcano exploded on the island of Sumatra. This event resulted in 1800 years of ice age and the reduction of the human population to 2000 people.
The name of the island comes from the Sanskrit word samudra - "ocean" or "sea".
No. 5. Baffin Island (Canada) - 507,451 km2
Baffin Island is the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest in the world. Due to the harsh climatic conditions islands, the population is about 11 thousand people. The largest settlement of the island is Iqaluit.
The first description of the island was made by William Baffin in 1616, and the island was named after him.
No. 4. Madagascar (Madagascar) - 587,713 km2
The fourth line of the ranking is occupied by the island of Madagascar. Located in the Indian Ocean east coast Africa. The island is the state of Madagascar (the capital of Antananarivo). To date, the population of the island of Madagascar is more than 24 million people.
locals Madagascar is called the red island because of the color of the soil. More than half of the animals living in Madagascar cannot be found on the mainland, and 90% of the plants are endemic.
No. 3. Kalimantan (Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei) - 748,168 km2
Kalimantan or Borneo is the third largest island in the world. It is divided between 3 states: Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The island is located in the center of the Malay Archipelago.
Kalimantan on local language means diamond river. It is named so due to its rich resources, in particular, a large number of diamonds.
The first people settled in Kalimantan about 40 thousand years ago. To date, the population of the island is about 20 million people. More than 300 ethnic groups live on the island.
No. 2. New Guinea (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea) - 785,753 km2
There are still places in New Guinea where no man has been. This place attracts researchers of flora and fauna, as they can meet the rarest species of animals and plants here. It is home to over 11,000 plant species, 600 unique bird species, over 400 amphibian species, 455 butterfly species, and about a hundred known mammal species.
New Guinea has been inhabited by humans since at least 45,000 BC. e. from Asia. More than a thousand Papuan-Melanesian tribes originated from the first settlers. The absence of large animals suitable for domestication on the island hindered the development of agriculture and made cattle breeding impossible. This contributed to the preservation of the primitive communal system in large territories New Guinea up to the present day. The mountainous landscape contributed to the isolation of people from each other, as a result of which a huge variety of languages \u200b\u200bappeared on the island.
New Guinea was discovered by the Portuguese Don Jorge de Menezes, who landed on the island in 1526. According to legend, he gave the island the name "Papua", which translates as curly, this is due to the curly hair of the local natives.
To date, the population of the island of New Guinea is more than 9.5 million people.
On the territory of New Guinea, there is an ancient agricultural settlement of Cook, showing the isolated development of agriculture over 7-10 millennia and included in the List world heritage UNESCO.
No. 1. Greenland (Denmark) - 2,130,800 km2
The largest island in the world is Greenland. The Green Country, as they call it this island, belongs to Denmark. Due to the ice cover (84% of the surface) and adverse climatic conditions, most of the island is not inhabited. To date, the population of Greenland is more than 57 thousand people. The largest settlement of the island is Nuuk (Gothob).
Several thousand years before the arrival of Europeans, the Greenlandic Eskimos, who call themselves Inuit, lived on the island. The Inuit have adapted to the extreme conditions of the Arctic climate and feel quite comfortable. They have been fishing and hunting for centuries.
Of the Europeans, the Norman Gunbjorn was the first to enter the island in 875. In 982, Erik Raudi settled on the island with several comrades, expelled from Iceland for the crimes he had committed. Later they were joined by the Norwegian Vikings. In 983, the first Norman colony was founded in Greenland.
After the settlement of Greenland by Europeans, the island was repeatedly passed from hand to hand. Until 1536, the island belonged to Norway, then became part of Denmark, in accordance with the union between Denmark and Norway. In 1721, a Danish colony called Gotthob was officially established on the island. In 1814, after the dissolution of the union between Norway and Denmark, Greenland became wholly the possession of Denmark.
The main activity of the people of Greenland is fishing. But at the end of the 20th century, reindeer and sheep breeding and oil production appeared. Tourism and air transport play an important role. More than 20,000 tourists visit Greenland every year.
The largest island in Russia (Sakhalin) is 27 times smaller than the largest island in the world (Greenland).
The largest islands of Russia:
Sakhalin - 76600 km2
Northern - 48904 km2
Southern - 33275 km2
Boiler house - 23200 km2
October Revolution - 13708 km2
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As you know, an island is considered to be any piece of land completely surrounded by water. However, not all land that is in the water can be attributed to the islands. In addition to the latter, there are also continents and continents, the most famous of which is, of course, Australia. The total area of this continent (not to be confused with the island) is approximately 7,600,000 sq. km.
The TOP 5 largest islands in the world presented below include islands whose area is noticeably inferior to Australia, but no less impressive.
The largest islands in the world: Greenland
So, the largest island of our planet, whose name literally translates as " green country, is Greenland. Located in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, 80% covered eternal ice, the autonomous Danish territory enjoys a temperate climate and with total area 2,131,500 km². Known for its white nights northern lights and local Eskimos, Greenland is also famous for its large reserves of natural resources (oil, gas). The main occupation of the 57,000 inhabitants of the island is fishing.
The largest islands in the world: New Guinea
New Guinea is the second largest island in the world. The island, washed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean, located between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, was discovered by the Portuguese in 1526. They also gave him his original name "Papua", which means "curly" in Malay. The island owes its name to the dark-skinned natives with curly, thick hair who inhabited it at that time. Today, New Guinea is a tropical island with a total area of 786,000 km2 and real paradise for tourists. Despite the large number of different types plants, birds, mammals and amphibians living on the territory of the island, scientists are still discovering in New Guinea more and more new species of various representatives of the animal and flora. It is worth noting that most animals of New Guinea are not at all afraid of people, so they can be easily picked up.
The largest islands in the world: Kalimantan
It is not for nothing that Kalimantan takes an honorable third place in the TOP-5 largest islands in the world. The area of this island, also known as "Borneo", is 737,000 km². Kalimantan is washed by four seas and two straits at the same time. Unlike Greenland, 80% of the entire territory of Kalimantan is covered tropical forests. In this connection, the forest industry of the island is extremely developed and brings considerable income to the three states located on its territory. In addition to the forest, Kalimantan is also known for its large reserves of oil, gas and diamonds, which have been actively mined here for more than one century, as the name of the island clearly indicates (translated from Malay, Kalimantan means "diamond river").
The largest islands in the world: Madagascar
The fourth in our ranking is the island of Madagascar, recently known for the cartoon of the same name. The entire territory of the island (587,040 km2) is occupied by the sovereign state of the Republic of Madagascar. The island is rich in minerals, including gold and iron rocks, more than 80% of all animals living in Madagascar are exclusively representatives local fauna. Due to the fact that for a long time the island was inhabited by a large number of wild boars, local natives and named it "Madagascar" ("Island of Boars").
The largest islands in the world: Baffin Island
The largest island of Canada, Baffin Island, located to the west of Greenland, closes the TOP-5 of the largest islands in the world. And at the same time, the most interesting places where you need a wedding photographer for your personal event! Due to the harsh climatic conditions, despite the vast territory - 508,000 km², the population of Baffin Island is a little over 11 thousand people. The island got its name from the famous English traveler and explorer William Baffin, who was the first to describe the island in the 17th century. Interesting is the fact that, despite the widespread presence of man on the other islands, central part Baffin Island has not yet been fully explored, which means that there are places on the island where no human has ever set foot.
An island is a piece of land separated from other continents. There are more than half a million such land areas on planet Earth. And some may disappear, others appear. So the youngest island appeared in 1992 as a result of a volcanic ejection. But some of them are striking in their scale. In the ranking largest islands in the world 10 most impressive positions on .
196 thousand sq. km
Opens ten largest islands in the world. Its territory belongs to Canada. It is the third largest island of this state with an area of just over 196 thousand square kilometers. This piece of land is located north of all the Canadian islands. Due to the harsh climatic conditions, it is sparsely populated by people (on average, the number of inhabitants is 200 people), but is of great value to archaeologists, as the remains of ancient animals are constantly found there. The land has been frozen over since the Ice Age.
217 thousand sq. km
Ninth place among most major islands on the ground takes . Like Ellesmere, Victoria belongs to the Canadian Isles. It got its name from Queen Victoria. The land area is 217 thousand square kilometers. and washed by the waters of the North Arctic Ocean. The island is famous for its numerous lakes. fresh water. The surface of the entire island has practically no hills. And only two settlements settled in its territory. The population density is very low, with just over 1,700 people living in this zone.
28 thousand sq. km
Ranked eighth the largest islands located pertaining to Japanese archipelago. It occupies an area of 228 thousand sq. km. The largest Japanese cities, including the capital of the state, are located on this island. The highest mountain, which is a symbol of the country - Fujiyama is also located on Honshu. The island is covered with mountains and there are many volcanoes on it, including active ones. Because of mountainous terrain The climate on the island is very changeable.
The territory is densely populated. According to the latest data, the population is about 100 million people. This factor puts Honshu in second place among the islands in terms of population.
230 thousand sq. km
ranked seventh on the list largest islands in the world, is also the largest among the British Isles and in Europe as a whole. Its territory occupies 230 thousand sq. km, where 63 million people live. Great Britain owns the bulk of the United Kingdom. The high population makes the UK the third largest island in the world in terms of the number of inhabitants. And it is the most densely populated region in Europe. Located on the island and the capital of the Kingdom - London. The climate is more temperate than in other lands in this natural area. This is due to the warm current of the Gulf Stream.
43 thousand sq. km
settled in the sixth position of the ranking largest islands in the world. The equator divides Summatra into two almost equal halves, so it is located in two hemispheres at once. The area of the island is more than 443 thousand sq. km, where more than 50 million people live. The island belongs to Indonesia and is part of the Malay Archipelago. Sumatra is immersed in tropical vegetation and washed by warm waters indian ocean. It is located in a zone of frequent earthquakes and tsunamis. Sumatra has large deposits of precious metals.
500 thousand sq. km
Opens the top five largest islands. This is the most huge island Canada, whose territory exceeds 500 thousand sq. km. It is covered with numerous lakes, but only half inhabited by people. The population of the island is only about 11 thousand people. This is due to the harsh climatic conditions of the Arctic. Average annual temperature stays at -8 degrees. Here the weather is dictated by the waters of the Arctic Ocean. Baffin Island is cut off from the mainland. The only way to reach the island is by air.
587 thousand sq. km
Next on the list the most impressive islands in terms of area - Madagascar. The island is located east of Africa, once it was part of the Hindustan peninsula. Separates them from the mainland mozambique channel. The area of the site and the state of the same name Madagascar is more than 587 thousand sq. km. with a population of 20 million. Locals call Madagascar the red island (the color of the island soil) and the boar (due to the large population of wild boars). More than half of the animals living in Madagascar are not found on the mainland, and 90% of the plants are found only in this geographical area.
748 thousand sq. km
The third level of the rating largest islands in the world occupied with an area of 748 thousand sq. km. and with 16 million inhabitants. This island has another common name - Borneo. Kalimantan occupies the center of the Malay Archipelago and belongs to three states at once: Indonesia (most of it), Malaysia and Brunei. Borneo is washed by four seas and covered with dense tropical forests, which are considered the oldest in the world. The attraction of Borneo is the most high point Southeast Asia - Mount Kinabalu with a height of 4 thousand meters. The island is rich natural resources in particular diamonds, which gave it its name. Kalimantan in the local language means diamond river.
786 thousand sq. km
- second place on the list largest islands in the world. 786 thousand sq. km. located in the Pacific Ocean between Australia and Asia. Scientists believe that the island was once part of Australia. The population is approaching the 8 million mark. New Guinea is divided between papua new guinea and Indonesia. The name of the island was given by the Portuguese. "Papua", which translates as curly, is associated with the curly hair of the local Aborigines. There are still places in New Guinea where no man has been. This place attracts researchers of flora and fauna, as they can meet here the rarest species of animals and
