Top 25 Largest Islands in the World
1. Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, formerly called Sri Lanka (Ceylon), is an island nation in the Indian Ocean located in South Asia off the coast of India. Adam’s Bridge, a junction with mainland India, is now mostly deserted with limestone shoals remaining at sea level.
2. Banks Island
One of the larger members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Banks Island is located in the Inuvik region of Canada’s Northwest Territories. It is treeless and the island’s only permanent settlement, Sachs Harbor, or the village of Inuvialuit, Ikhuak, is on the southwest coast.
3. Sakhalin
Sakhalin is the largest island in Russia and is administered as part of the Sakhalin Oblast. It is about one-fifth the size of Japan and has a population of about 500,000.
4. Hispaniola
Hispaniola was the first European colony in the New World, established for his voyages by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and 1493. It is the ninth most populous island in the world and the most populous in the United States. The population is large. It is the second largest island in the Caribbean (after Cuba) and the 22nd largest in the world.
5. Hokkaido
Hokkaido, formerly known as Ezo, is Japan’s second largest island. It is also the largest and northernmost in Japan’s 47 prefectures.
6. Ireland
Politically, Ireland is divided into the Republic of Ireland, which covers less than 5/6 of the island, and Northern Ireland, which covers the southern hemisphere and is located to the northeast of the island. Ireland’s population is about 6.4 million. There are only 4.4 million people living in Northern Ireland, with a population of only 1.8 million.
7. Mindanao Island
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the country’s three island groups (the other two are Luzon and Visayas).
8. Iceland
Iceland, Europe’s least-populated, is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a mild climate despite its high latitudes outside the Arctic Circle.
9. Cuba
With a population of over 11 million, this Caribbean island nation is the 17th largest non-continental continent in the world.
10. Newfoundland Island
Newfoundland is a large Canadian island off the east coast of mainland North America and is the most populous province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada.
11. Luzon
Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, is home to the capital, Manila.
12. North Island
Home to most of New Zealand’s population, the North Island is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the country.
13. Java
Java is the most populous island in the world with 137 million inhabitants and is home to Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta.
14. South Island
The larger of New Zealand’s two main islands, the more populous North Island and South Island, is often referred to as the “Mainland”.
15. Sulawesi Island
One of Indonesia’s four major Sunda Islands and the 11th largest in the world, Sulawesi is located between Borneo and Maluku.
16. Ellesmere Island
This Canadian island is the northernmost and has only 146 inhabitants.
17. Great Britain
Also known as the UK, it is the third most populous island in the world (after Java and Honshu) and the largest island in Europe.
18. Victoria Island
Slightly larger than the UK, this northern Canadian island has only 1,000 inhabitants.
19. Honshu
Usually the first island that comes to mind when people think of Japan, Honshu is home to over 100 million people, the majority living in the metropolitan area.
20. Sumatra
Sumatra, Indonesia’s largest island, has a population of about 50 million.
21. Baffin Island
Located in the north of Canada, the island has a population of about 10,000, with a maximum population of 6,000 in the region.
22. Madagascar
Located in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of South Africa, this isolated island is home to some of the world’s most interesting flora and fauna.
23. Borneo
Borneo, the third largest island in the world, is divided into three countries: Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. The mountain in the picture is Mount Kinabalu, the highest point on the island.
24. New Guinea
The planet’s second largest island is home to the world’s largest concentration of languages (more than 1000), numerous undisclosed tribal groups, and a large amount of unexplored terrain.
25. Greenland
While some scientists believe that Greenland could actually be three islands under the ice surface, most people accept Greenland as the world’s largest non-continental continent.
