Fifth largest island. The largest island on earth
There are a lot of islands on the world map. Namely, about 500 thousand. They are all completely different sizes. There are small ones that, literally, can fit a couple of people.
But there are also those that are comparable in area 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. The area of Ellesmere is 196 thousand square kilometers. Very few people live in this territory - only 170.But on it, traces of prehistoric inhabitants were often found. Ellesmere itself is located in the north of the country, farther than the rest of the Canadian islands. However, it belongs to the province of Nanavut. Moreover, it is part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Ellesmere is washed on all sides by the Arctic Ocean.
Victoria
Victoria occupies the ninth position in the list of the largest islands. The island is located in Canada and, of course, occupies large area than Ellesmere. Namely, a little more than 217 thousand square kilometers. For a more visual representation, Victoria is about 500 kilometers wide and long. Exactly 1707 people live on the island. That is, each has a fairly impressive piece 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 Nanavut, as well as the Northwest Territory. arctic archipelago Canada. The island boasts only two settlements - these are Holmen and Cambridge Bay. Numerous lakes are located on land, including Taha, Tahiryuak and Ferguson.
Honshu
This is the largest island Japanese archipelago. And it is also the eighth largest on the planet. The area of the island of Honshu is almost 228 thousand square kilometers. And in 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 entire country. The island has a mountainous terrain. In addition, there are quite a few 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 Honshu is home to the most big mountain and the permanent symbol of Japan is Fuji. Its height is 3 kilometers and 776 meters.Island of Great Britain
Great Britain is the most big Island British Isles. The land area is about 230 thousand square kilometers. And 60 million people live here. 
England, Scotland, Wales - Great Britain contained most of the entire United Kingdom (its area is 244 thousand square kilometers). The highest point on the island rushed into the sky at 1344 meters.
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 hemispheres. Sumatra is located in the west of the Malay Archipelago, and belongs to Indonesia. Its area is 473 thousand square kilometers. Lives on the territory of 50 million people. Coastline Sumatra is almost not dotted, near the coast you can see beautiful coral reefs.baffin land
From the equator we will be transported again to the Arctic Ocean. Here is 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 sushi now remains uninhabited. This happened due to unfavorable weather conditions. In total, 11 thousand people live on the island. Most people settled in the province of Nanavut. By the way, on Baffin Island there are many freshwater lakes. Two of them are impressive. These are Nettilling and Amajuak.Madagascar
The island of Madagascar is located to the 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. Lives in paradise 20 million people. 
They are at ease in tropical climate. From the mainland Madagascar separates mozambique channel. By the way, locals They called 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 area of the island is about 743 thousand square kilometers (about 16 million people settled on it). Three states divided the land among themselves: Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. Most of Kalimantan is in the possession of 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 New Guinea with an area of 786 thousand square kilometers. 7.5 million people found their home 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 was equally divided 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 entity. The largest settlement on the island is Nuuk. It is located in the western part. Well, the most high point Greenland, this is Mount Gunbjorn, rises to 3,383 meters. By the way, until 1921, it was believed that a cape called Morris Jesup on the island is the part of land closest to the pole.
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Every year new islands appear in the world, but the largest ones still remain in their places. Below is a list of the ten largest islands in the world by area.
Ellesmere - 196,236 km. sq.
Ellesmere is Canada's northernmost island with total area 196,236 km. sq. It is the third largest island in Canada and the tenth largest in the world. Despite the vast territory, according to 2006 data, only 146 permanent residents live on the island, in three settlements - Gries Fjord, Alert and Eureka.
Victoria Island - 217,291 km. sq.
Victoria is the second largest island in Canada and the ninth in the world (according to various sources, it is the eighth or ninth). It is located in the Arctic Ocean and is located in the southwestern part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The island was named after Queen Victoria of England in 1839. It has a total population of 1707 people (2001).
Honshu - 227,970 km. sq.
Honshu is the largest island in Japan (approximately 60% of the entire country). Located south of Hokkaido. The population of Honshu in 2010 is about 100 million people, which makes it the second densely populated island in the world (after the Indonesian island of Java).
Great Britain - 229,848 km. sq.
Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles, extending northwest of mainland Europe. 95% of its entire territory is divided between England, Scotland and Wales, which are part of the United Kingdom. It has a population of about 63 million people and ranks third in the world in terms of population after the islands of Java and Honshu.
Sumatra - 480,848 km. sq.
Sumatra is the sixth largest island in the world. It is wholly part of Indonesia. The number of inhabitants living on the island as of 2010 is more than 50 million people, which makes it the fourth island in the world in terms of population.
Baffin Island - 507,451 km. sq.
Baffin Island is an island that is part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest in the world. It is home to a little over 11,000 people (as of 2007) in eight settlements, the largest of which is Iqaluit.
Madagascar - 587,713 km. sq.
Madagascar is a large island located in Indian Ocean, y east coast Africa. Although Madagascar is not far from Africa, the flora and fauna of the island is unique - it contains 5% of all species of flora and fauna of the world, 80% of which exist only on this island.
Kalimantan (Borneo) - 748,168 km sq.
Kalimantan or Borneo is the third largest island in the world and the largest island in Asia. Located in the center of the Malay Archipelago South-East Asia. Divided between Indonesia (73%), Malaysia (26%) and Brunei (about 1%). The island has one of the oldest rainforest in the world. It has 19,800,000 inhabitants (as of 2010), most of whom live in coastal cities. The population density in Borneo is 26 people per square kilometer.
New Guinea - 785,753 sq. km.
New Guinea - the second largest island on earth, located in the west Pacific Ocean north of Australia. Divided approximately equally between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The current population of the island is about eleven million (2015). It has large natural reserves of oil, gold, copper and other ores.
Greenland - 2,130,800 sq. km.
Greenland is the largest island on Earth. It is located in the northeast of North America and is washed by the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. It is part of Denmark as an autonomous unit. The population of the island as of July 2010 is 57,600 people.
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There are hundreds of thousands of islands on our planet. They arise in the middle of rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and are surrounded on all sides by water. They could easily be compared with the continents, but the main difference between the islands is their size. All of them are much smaller than continents. What is the largest island on earth? Where is he located?
The largest islands on earth
Some of the islands are quite tiny. For example, Pontikonisi in Greece or Visovac in Croatia do not exceed 200 meters in length. Others stretch for hundreds of kilometers, accommodating numerous cities and towns.
Islands are found in any body of water. In rivers, they most often arise from accumulations that are caused by currents. In the seas and oceans, they are formed due to volcanoes or the vital activity of corals. In addition, they may be part of the continental crust that rises above the surface of the water.
The largest island on Earth, Greenland, also has a continental origin. It covers an area of 2.130 million kilometers and is home to 56,000 people. From geological and geographic points of view it refers to North America, but administratively belongs to Denmark.
Of the largest islands on the planet, Greenland is the northernmost. You can find the rest of the world record holders in the table:
New Guinea | Papua New Guinea, Indonesia |
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kalimantan | Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia |
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Madagascar | Madagascar |
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baffin land | ||
Indonesia |
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Great Britain | Great Britain |
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"Green Country"
In Greenlandic, the name of the largest island on Earth sounds like "Kalaalit Nunaat", or "land of people." But another name has taken root in the world - Greenland, or the “green country”, which was given to him by Eirik the Red. Why the navigator called the island covered with ice green, no one knows for sure. However, there are several versions of this.
Eirik the Red is considered the discoverer of the largest island on Earth. He went there in 980 after being expelled from Norway and Iceland for committing several murders. He landed on southwest coast island, which is covered with flowering vegetation in summer. Seeing a lot of greenery on, it would seem, ice land, navigator and came up with the appropriate name.
According to another version, Eirik liked the island so much that, upon returning from exile, he began to invite the Icelanders there. To be more convincing, he gave him the name Greenland. One way or another, volunteers for the development of the island were found. Under the leadership of Eirik the Red near modern Kassiarsuk they founded the first European settlement.
Greenland
The largest island on Earth in terms of area is only three times smaller than Australia and almost 50 times bigger than Denmark. It is located between Iceland and Canada, washed by the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.
Most of Greenland is located beyond the Arctic Circle - it is a zone of permafrost and permanent snow. Only 137 days a year there is the usual change of day and night, the rest of the time you can observe the polar night or polar day.
It should have been called the "ice land", because 84% of the territory is covered with ice here. The non-melting cover reaches several kilometers in thickness. If it melted, then the level of the World Ocean would rise by 6-7 meters. largest glacier- Jacobshavn. With a speed of 7 kilometers per year, it is the fastest moving in the world.
Despite the abundance of ice, Greenland is not devoid of life. The island is inhabited by many butterflies, spiders, beetles, partridges, gulls and eiders, deer, musk oxen, lemmings, polar wolves and polar bears live. The surrounding waters are home to fish, shrimps, whales, seals and walruses.
Climate
The lands of the largest island in the world are covered with vegetation only off the coast. It is very poor and is represented by dwarf trees, mosses, lichens, heather and tundra grasses. This is not surprising, because in Greenland there are arctic and subarctic types of climate. For the most part, it is severe, continental, near the coast - softer, marine.
On the coasts, the weather is very unstable, blizzards often form and winds blow, precipitation falls. The most favorable conditions are in the southwest of the island. There, average temperatures range from -7 °C in January to +10 °C in July, and fogs often occur in summer. It is coldest in the eastern and northern shores where the temperature drops to -35 °C.
Population
Greenland is one of the few countries in the world where the majority of the population is represented by indigenous people. About 90% of the population are Eskimos (Inuit), and only 10% are Danes and other Europeans.
The ancestors of modern Greenlandic Eskimos arrived on the island around the 13th century. Prior to that, it was inhabited by peoples close to the Aleuts and Chukchi, as well as the Vikings. But for some reason they all disappeared. Perhaps due to the inability to adapt to a sharply deteriorating climate (it is assumed that in the early Middle Ages it was much warmer).
The culture of the Greenlanders is a mixture of Inuit traditions with European ones. The Eskimos still believe in spirits, and build dwellings from ice blocks, needles. Folk clothes are now considered festive. Seal skin capes have long replaced sports jackets, but many wear national shoes.
The Europeans brought writing with them by teaching the local Inuit. They built cities on the island, brought medicine, education and Christianity with them. With their arrival, some of the traditional activities of the Eskimos disappeared, but fishing and breeding of musk oxen remained. Many Inuit work in industry, transportation, and the service sector.
Life in Greenland
The country covers not only the territory of the largest island of the Earth, but also the adjacent islands: Ymer, Holm, Kuhn, Claverin, Eggers and others. It gained autonomy within Denmark in 1979. After the referendum in 2009, she received even more rights and opportunities for self-government. official language is Greenlandic, but all citizens must also learn Danish. The currency here is the Danish krone.
On the largest island of the Earth there are no railway lines, there are no roads between cities. From one point to another can be reached by airliner or ship. There are other options, such as snowmobiles or dog sleds.
All settlements on the island are located on the southern and west coasts, on a narrow strip between eternal ice and the ocean. The largest of these is the capital Nuuk, which has a population of 16,500.
Greenland is considered the most sparsely populated country. But this does not prevent her from being one of the world leaders in suicide. Approximately every fourth inhabitant of the country makes an attempt to settle accounts with life.
Attractions
Endless ice of bizarre shapes, winding fjords and drifting icebergs. If that's not enough, don't worry, Greenland still has a lot to boast about. On the largest island of the Earth is the largest national park in the world. Its area is 970,000 km2.
To explore the local fjords and see how icebergs are "born", tourists are offered on passenger ships, and for thrill-seekers there are always kayaks. Greenland offers year-round skiing, snowboarding, sledding and climbing. ice mountains. You can see the northern lights on the island. Best time for this comes in December and January, when the polar night falls on Greenland.
Enjoying all natural beauties islands, you should go to the city of Nuuk. In the capital, you can see typical Greenlandic architecture, visit museums, and most importantly, get to know Santa Claus himself. Here, on the shores of the cold Baffin Sea, is his home.
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 North Arctic oceans, 80% covered by eternal ice, the autonomous Danish territory has a temperate climate and a total area of 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
The second largest in terms of area big island New Guinea became 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 with 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.
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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 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 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 start of the last ice age but retreated to Southern Europe because of 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. 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. 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 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
New Guinea ranks second in the ranking. 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 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.
