Where is the largest number of islands. The largest islands of the Earth: descriptions

Do you know how many times the most big Island Is Russia smaller than the largest island in the world? Read the post and find out.

No. 10. Ellesmere (Canada) - 196,236 km2

Ellesmere is the most north island Canada is one of the ten largest islands in terms of 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 Japanese archipelago and ranks 8th in the ranking of the largest islands 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 the 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 an earlier history. Great Britain was inhabited by the Noto people several hundred thousand years ago. Modern man arrived at British Isles before the beginning of the last ice age, but retreated to southern Europe due to the glaciers that cover the territory of 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 of the island, the population is about 11 thousand people. largest locality islands - 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. Is located in Indian Ocean at 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. The locals call Madagascar 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 in the center 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

New Guinea ranks second in the rankings. New Guinea is divided between papua new guinea and Indonesia. 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. green country, as it is also called this island, belongs to Denmark. Due to ice cover (84% of the surface) and adverse climatic conditions most of the islands are 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.

over half a million. Some of them have natural origin, others are the result of climate change, natural phenomena or human activity. Do you know the answer to the question: "What is the largest island on Earth?"

Gorgeous Greenland

Greenland is considered the largest piece of land in the middle of the oceans. Its territory is equal to 2.176 million square kilometers, which is approximately 1/8 of the whole of Russia. Almost all of the land is covered with glaciers, so Greenland is considered a sparsely populated country. It is permanently inhabited by all
15,000 people. Are considered heavy climatic conditions. thermometer chart in winter period drops to - 47 C. V summer time the maximum mark reaches + 10 C.

New Guinea

The island is smaller than Greenland. Its territory is 786 thousand sq. km. It lies on the route between Asia and Australia in pacific ocean. Despite the small territory, two states are located here: Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The second independent entity is home to about
7.5 million people. That is, for each square kilometer there are about 10 people each - a fairly low figure compared to other countries with good weather conditions for life.

Borneo (Kalimantan)

Slightly inferior to New Guinea. The area of ​​the island, located next to the Philippines, is 743 sq. km. However, its territory is densely populated - about 16 million people live here. Borneo is surrounded by the islands of Java and Sumatra, next to the Malay Peninsula. Distinctive feature Kalimantan is that two rivers with the same names flow through it, one of which has received the status of the longest among the islands.

Madagascar

Close to the coast South Africa there is an amazing reserve with unusual fauna. Madagascar occupies 587 thousand square kilometers. The island stretches for 1500 km in length, its width is only 600 km. It leads in terms of population in the category "What is the largest island in the world." There are about 20 million permanent residents here, that is, 1300 more than in Greenland.

baffin land

The island belongs to Canada. Its location is determined at the same latitude as that of Greenland. The climate is harsh and difficult conditions for life. It is for this reason that on a land plot of 507 sq. km. only 11 thousand people live.

Sumatra

In sixth position in the list of "What is the largest island in the world" is Sumatra, which belongs to Indonesia. The area of ​​the island is
473 thousand sq. km. Geographically, the area is notable for the fact that after the eruption of the Toba volcano on its territory, glacial period. A huge funnel 100 m wide was formed here.

Honshu

The size of Honshu is much smaller than the other listed islands, and is only 228 thousand square kilometers. But it is considered densely populated - 103 million people live on it. Despite the high demographic level, the territories are technically developed. Honshu is a huge metropolis with over 35 million people.

Before talking about which is the largest island on Earth, you should understand what an island is in general. Some, when they hear this word, draw images in their imagination resort areas, for example, Crete, Maldives, Sicily, for others, pictures from action-adventure films immediately pop up before their eyes.

small and big islands the world and the truth keep many mysteries and secrets, and new ones are still being discovered Interesting Facts about these pieces of land, surrounded on all sides by water.

The largest island on earth. Name

In total, there are over 500 thousand islands on our planet. They all have different sizes: there are tiny ones, and just huge ones. Do you know which is the largest island in the world? Many mistakenly believe that this is Australia. It would seem that everything is correct - this piece of land has an area of ​​\u200b\u200b7600 thousand square meters. km and is surrounded by water on all sides. But still, Australia is considered to be and not actually an island. Then what is Greenland, which is three times smaller than Australia, but larger than most modern countries. Below we will tell about it in more detail.

Greenland - the largest island on Earth (+ photo)

The area of ​​this part of the land is 2130.8 thousand sq. km. The geographical miracle belongs to Denmark and could significantly increase the area of ​​​​the specified country, but this is hindered by the relief and climate: more than 80 percent of the earth's surface is covered by an ice sheet. And this is not surprising, because Greenland is located in close proximity to the North Pole, and it is washed by the waters of the Arctic and partially Atlantic Oceans. All this makes Greenland one of the most unusual, vibrant, majestic and beautiful places on our planet. The landscapes of the island are so beautiful that only few people can live there, because even in summer the air warms up to a temperature slightly above zero degrees. What can we say about winter, when frosts down to -50 Celsius are considered normal!

Still harsh weather do not stop tourists, and many come to the island to see with their own eyes majestic ice, to observe the unique wildlife of the harsh, but so beautiful Greenland. It is recommended to visit it in the summer, when, in addition to everything, you can also admire the white nights.

Here it is - the largest island in the world. But on our planet there are many other significant areas of land surrounded by water. They are also interesting, so we will continue to consider the largest islands of the Earth.

New Guinea

This is the second largest island (786 thousand square kilometers) in the world. Unlike Greenland, it is located entirely in the Pacific Ocean, in its western part. Accordingly, the climate here is completely different. Tropics, rich and diverse nature, warm and gentle sea - this is what New Guinea can offer travelers. Interestingly, this island ended up being divided by two countries, which is rare. One site belongs to Papua New Guinea and the other belongs to Indonesia.

Of course, each state would like to have the entire island at its disposal, but even half is not bad! Scientists consider New Guinea to be one of the last places on the planet that has not yet been fully explored. Not so long ago, an area later called New Eden was discovered on the island, with dozens of unknown or thought to be extinct plants and animals. And, most surprisingly, the inhabitants of the "Garden of Eden" were not at all afraid of people.

kalimantan

Of course, when describing the largest islands of the Earth, one cannot ignore this part of the land. Kalimantan has an area of ​​743.33 thousand square kilometers and, like New Guinea, is distinguished by the richness of nature and the beauty of landscapes. The island belongs to three states at once: Indonesia controls more than 70% of the territory, Malaysia owns almost the rest, and only a small area went to Brunei.

Since Kalimantan crosses the equator, the climate here is appropriate: hot and humid. Most of the area (over 80 percent) is occupied by rainforests where they live Now they have become more civilized and are happy to demonstrate their martial dances to tourists, as well as sell souvenirs.

Madagascar

After the release of the animated film of the same name, everyone probably knew about Madagascar. Since then this large island, with an area of ​​587.041 thousand square kilometers, has become the dream of a large number of travelers. It is spread out in the Indian Ocean, and its main attraction and wealth are amazing inhabitants, most of which are endemic, that is, they are not found anywhere else. These are numerous lemurs, and chameleons, and giant fosses, and geckos, and bats, and turtles. Zoologists and botanists are simply thrilled to come here and discover more and more new species of representatives of fauna and flora. Well, for those who are not very interested in vegetable and animal world, it will be more interesting to enjoy magnificent beaches Madagascar!

baffin land

The five largest islands in terms of area are closed by this inhospitable and cold part of the land, which belongs to 507.451 thousand square kilometers). The climate here is similar to that of Greenland, it is just as windy and frosty, but at the same time attractive and mesmerizing with its severity. In addition to a few residents, they also live here, and at least no one forbids thinking so! Baffin Island is known for its mountainous features: one of the highest cliffs in the world, Thor, and the mesas of Asgard.

Sumatra

It so happened that some of the largest islands of the Earth, if not entirely, then at least partially, belong to Indonesia. So Sumatra, which has an area of ​​473 thousand square kilometers, is controlled by this country. This island is almost equally divided by the equator, respectively, it is located in two hemispheres of our planet at once.

Sumatra is located in the western part of the Malay Archipelago and is part of the group of large Sunda Islands. Coastline here it is slightly indented, and not far from the coast there are coral reefs.

Great Britain

The area of ​​this piece of land, surrounded by water, is 229.848 thousand square kilometers. Like the other largest islands on Earth, Great Britain is very interesting to see. Scotland, England and Wales are located here. The coastline has a length of 966 kilometers from north to south, and the width of the island reaches 483 kilometers.

Honshu

This is the eighth largest island in the world (227.97 thousand square kilometers) and the largest in the Japanese archipelago. It accounts for 60 percent of the area of ​​all of Japan. The relief here is mountainous, so there are many volcanoes. There is also the permanent symbol of the Country rising sun- Mount Fuji.

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 largest island in the world. 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).


This is another northern 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 the animal world is well presented. 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 The Japanese archipelago, where the capital of the Land of the Rising Sun is located 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. Most of the UK is located here.

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 the Malay Archipelago and belongs 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!


A huge hot island in the Pacific Ocean is 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).

The largest island on Earth is Greenland. The population of Greenland consists of the Greenland Eskimos and emigrated Norwegians, Danes. The native inhabitants of the island are called Inuit. Their main language is Greenlandic, Danish is popular among emigrants. The Inuit living in the north of the island still maintain a long tradition of building igloos.

Islands of the world

What is the largest island on earth? There are a lot of islands on our planet, but only four of them are really amazing in their size:

  1. Greenland. Greenland is the largest island in Europe and the world. It is located in the northeast North America and is washed by two oceans. Greenland is an autonomous entity subordinate to Denmark.
  2. New Guinea. The main advantage of Guinea is not considered to be nature and rich fauna, but the culture of various tribes living on the island.
  3. Kalimantan. The island is divided between three states.
  4. Madagascar. Madagascar, island country, known worldwide for its unique animals and rich flora. A third of the entire territory is occupied by highlands. There are many on the island extinct volcanoes sometimes earthquakes happen.

The largest island on Earth and the first settler

Eric the Red is a simple Norwegian Viking. Despite the severity attributed to the Scandinavians, he was a docile and peaceful person. As the legend goes, Eric saw that his friend had ruined the path that ran in front of his house. For this, the Viking killed a neighbor with a shovel. The act did not go unpunished. Eric was expelled from Norway to a foreign and deserted island beyond the polar circle.

One to live on huge island Eric did not want to, so he decided to bring here more people. For this he named the island green earth, or Greenland. As soon as Erik's term of exile came to an end, he returned to Norway and began to actively invite people to the island with him. He described Greenland to everyone as the most a nice place on the planet.

independent republic

Until the end of the 13th century, Greenland was an independent territory, but soon the population recognized the king of Norway as their overlord. For this, the crown promised to supply the island with products and materials that the inhabitants could not obtain or produce on their own. Despite the vassalage, the island had its own orders and laws that differed from European ones.

After some time, Denmark began to claim the largest island. Territorial claims were fully justified, since not all Norwegians were able to adapt to the difficult climate, so many Danes came to the island. In 1536, Norway and Denmark united into one country, and Greenland was legally assigned to Denmark.

Greenland is the largest island in the world

The area of ​​Greenland is 2,130,800 km². Due to the large extent of the island, the climate of one part is radically different from the climate of the other. Not everywhere in Greenland is cold: in some places in the summer the temperature rises above +20 ° C, although on average it rarely exceeds 0 ° C. IN winter time temperature falls below -20°C. Very cold winds blow near the coast, and in summer it is covered with fog.

Despite the fact that the island is called Green Land, there is nowhere to develop agriculture here. Basically people do fishing or hunting for animals, and here they live: a polar bear, an arctic fox, a reindeer. The island exports:

  1. Cod.
  2. Shrimp.
  3. Salmon.

Greenland is the largest island on Earth, rich in minerals. Mined on the island:

  1. Lead.
  2. Tin.
  3. Coal.
  4. Copper.

The colorful expanses of Greenland attract tourists from all over the world. Enjoy amazing landscapes and the beauties of the island can be at any time of the day. One of the most famous natural phenomena - northern lights. It is best observed from early autumn to mid-spring.

Flora and fauna of the island

The largest island of the Earth by area has a rather meager variety of vegetation. But the animal world is impressive: it is rich and unique. The area of ​​Greenland is huge, but there is no railway, and the length of all highways is 150 km. For local population It is best to use dog sleds.

The largest island on Earth can hardly be called a favorable land for life, travel or exploration, but the beauty of the Arctic nature will not leave anyone indifferent. It helps to survive all the hardships harsh life on the island and not quite suitable conditions for recreation.