Greenland, one of the largest islands in the world

Largest Islands in the World

List of the Largest Island in the World – What is an Island?

There is endless debate on what actually constitutes an island. In theory, the continental landmasses could be considered huge islands because they are surrounded by sea. For example, if Australia were to be counted among the largest islands in the world it would easily take first place – because it’s three times bigger than Greenland. But it isn’t, so it’s not included in this list of the 25 biggest, officially recognized, islands on Earth.

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Largest islands in the world Size km2 Size sq. miles Sovereignty Location Population Capital (bold) or Largest City
Greenland 2,166,086 836,326 Denmark North Atlantic / Arctic 56,750 Nuuk
New Guinea 786,000 303,475 Papua New Guinea, Indonesia Pacific 7,500,000 Port Moresby is capital of Papua New Guinea and largest city on the island
Borneo 752,000 290,347 Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, Malaysia & Indonesia Indian Ocean 16,500,000 Bandar Seri Begawan is the capital of Brunei, Kuching is the state capital of Sarawak, Malaysia.
Madagascar 587,041 226,597 Republic of Madagascar Indian Ocean 22,000,000 Antananarivo
Baffin Island 470,000 181,467 Canada Arctic / Arctic Ocean 11,000 Iqaluit
Sumatra 425,000 164,093 Indonesia Indian Ocean 51,000,000 Medan
Honshu 231,090 89,224 Japan Pacific 100,000,000 Tokyo is largest city and capital of Japan BUT the island of Honshu does not have its own capital.
Great Britain 219,330 84,683 United Kingdom Atlantic / North Sea 60,500,000 London
Victoria Island 217,290 83,896 Canada Canadian Arctic / Arctic Ocean 1900 Cambridge Bay
Ellesmere Island 196,235 75,766 Canada Arctic / Arctic Ocean 146 Grise Fiord
Sulawesi
(formerly Celebes)
 179,400 69,266 Indonesia Indian Ocean 16,000,000 Makassar is the capital of the province of South Sulawesi
South Island
 153,757 59,366 New Zealand Pacific 1,000,000 Christchurch
Java 126,650 48,900 Indonesia Indian Ocean 130,000,000 Jakarta
North Island
 114,729 44,297 New Zealand Pacific 3,330,000 Auckland is the largest city. Wellington, the capital of New Zealand is also on the north island.
Newfoundland Island
 108,860 42,030 Canada North Atlantic 480,000 St. John’s is largest city and capital of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Cuba 109,884 42,426 Republic of Cuba Caribbean 11,200,000 Havana
Luzon 108,172 41,765 Philippines West Pacific 46,500,000 Manila is the capital of Philippines and the largest city on the island.
Iceland 103,000 39,770 Iceland North Atlantic 318,200 Reykjavik
Mindanao 94,594 36,523 Philippines Pacific 14,100,000 Davao City
Ireland 84,426 32,597 Republic of Ireland + United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Atlantic / North Sea 6,200,000 Dublin is the capital city of the Republic of Ireland and largest city in Ireland.
Hokkaido 83,450 32,220 Japan Pacific 5,500,000 Sapporo is the largest city and capital of the prefecture of Hokkaido.
Hispaniola 76,480 29,529 Haiti / Dominican Republic Caribbean / Atlantic 19,442,012 Port-au-Prince / Santo Domingo
Sakhalin 72,492 27,989 Russia North Pacific 580,000 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Banks Island 70,028 27,038 Canada Canadian Arctic Ocean 136 Sachs Harbor
Tasmania 68,400 26,409 Australia Pacific 502,600 Hobart is the largest city and the state capital of Tasmania
Sri Lanka
(formerly Ceylon)		 65,610 25,332 Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Indian Ocean 20,500,000 Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo is the largest city.
Biggest Deserts | Oceans of the World 

John Donne (English poet and cleric) said No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent – at a time when some of the world’s largest islands had not even been discovered.

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