What is an Island? According to Wiki an island is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. So not Australia, but yes to Greenland! It’s all too confusing for me, let’s just find out what then ten biggest islands are and see if we can understand why they are classes as islands along the way…

10 – Ellesmere Island – (Approximate Area: 75,765 sq Miles)

Due to it being so cold, not much grows on Ellesmere Island, in fact, the Arctic willow is the only woody species that does!

9 – Victoria Island – (Approximate Area: 83,896 sq Miles)

Not only is it one of the world’s biggest Islands, but it also contains the world’s largest island within an island within an island!

8 – Great Britan – (Approximate Area: 84,186 sq Miles)

This is just classes as England, Wales and Scotland of course, not Irland as that is only part of the Great British Isles.

7 – Honshu – (Approximate Area: 88,839 sq Miles)

Honshu is home to 105 million people and 25% of those people resides in the Greater Tokyo Area.

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6 – Sumatra – (Approximate Area: 163,011 sq Miles)

Sadly Sumatra has lost almost 50% of its tropical rainforest in the last 35 years, but work is ongoing to try and stop that decline. Let us hope it is not too little too late.

5 – Baffin Island – (Approximate Area: 195,926 sq Miles)

Named after English explorer William Baffin, Baffin Island is the largest island in Canada and the territory of Nunavut.

4 – Madagascar – (Approximate Area: 226,657 sq Miles)

The Island of Madagascar split from the Indian peninsula around 88 million years ago and is so unique, it is thought that 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth!

3 – Borneo – (Approximate Area: 289,961 sq Miles)

This Island is divided between 3 countries Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and Indonesia to the south, but 73% of the island is Indonesian territory.

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2 – New Guinea – (Approximate Area: 3.4,980 sq Miles)

The world’s second-largest island is divided among two countries: Papua New Guinea to the east, and Indonesia to the west.

1 – Greenland – (Approximate Area: 840,000 sq Miles)

Just smaller than Australia, which is considered a continent, Greenland is made of 3/4’s ice! An Iceland Island!