An island has water all around it, and a peninsula has water on three sides, as you learned in Islands and Peninsulas. Here are the biggest ones on Earth.
Key idea
Greenland is the largest island (about 2.17 million km²). Next come New Guinea, Borneo and Madagascar. Great peninsulas include the Arabian (the largest), Iberian, Scandinavian, Italian and Korean peninsulas.
| Largest islands | About (km²) | Shared by |
|---|---|---|
| Greenland | 2,166,000 | A self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark |
| New Guinea | 786,000 | Indonesia and Papua New Guinea |
| Borneo | 743,000 | Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei |
| Madagascar | 587,000 | Madagascar |
| Baffin Island | 507,000 | Canada |
| Peninsula | Countries |
|---|---|
| Arabian | Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait |
| Iberian | Spain and Portugal |
| Scandinavian | Norway and Sweden |
| Italian | Italy (with San Marino and the Holy See) |
| Korean | North Korea and South Korea |
| Balkan | Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and others |
Why it works
Size alone does not decide what is a continent. Australia is about 3.5 times bigger than Greenland, but geographers count it as a continent because it sits on its own continental plate and has a long separate history. So the largest island is the largest piece of land that is not a continent: Greenland.
Worked example: Island or peninsula?
Italy is joined to the rest of Europe in the north and has sea on its other three sides. Is it an island or a peninsula? What about Sicily, just off its toe?
- Water on three sides and joined to land on one: a peninsula.
- Sicily has water all around: an island.
Answer: Italy is a peninsula; Sicily is an island.
Common mistake
Calling Australia the largest island. Australia is a continent, so Greenland is the largest island. Also, Greenland looks bigger than it is on many maps: it is a little bigger than Mexico, not the size of Africa.