On the planet, in addition to the continents, there are many small land sections surrounded on all sides by water. They are called islands. The exact number for scientists is a mystery, but today there are data on several thousand islands.
The islands can be single and constitute whole groups, which are called archipelagos. If the land areas appeared due to the collision of two or more lithospheric plates, stretched out one after another by a narrow chain, they are called island arcs. By origin, the islands are continental and volcanic. There is also a mixed type - coral islands (reefs and atolls). But their sizes are very different.
The giant island
In order to find out which island is the largest in the world and what it is called, it is enough to look at the usual globe. The size of the island is so great that you will immediately see it - this is Greenland . Its area is 2.2 million square meters! Greenland is the Danish autonomous province. Thanks to Danish subsidies, the islanders have the opportunity to receive free education, medical care. The climate on this island is quite severe, even in the warmest period the average temperature does not exceed 10 degrees of heat, although there are jumps up to 21 degrees. The main craft, which is occupied by local people, is fishing. By the way, the population of the island in 2011 was 57.6 thousand people.
The first people who found themselves in Greenland more than 4 thousand years ago were the Eskimos who had migrated from the American continent. Up until the forties of the past millennium, Greenland was closed to the outside world, and the standard of living here left much to be desired. The war turned the island into a military springboard for the Americans. Since that time, the whole world has learned of the existence of the island. And today, Greenland can not be called open and accessible to tourists. This is not conducive to its geographical location. However, the missionary assistance of Denmark has its influence - gradually the island develops an ecological tourist infrastructure. It is to this industry that the Greenland government holds out hopes. There really is something to see. Nature itself, almost untouched by civilization, has this to it.
Top 10 largest islands of the planet
In the 10 largest islands in the world, except for Greenland, which occupies the position of leader, includes the island of New Guinea . Despite the fact that its area is three times smaller, this island was on the second place of the world rating. New Guinea is divided almost equally between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The top three leaders are the island of Kalimantan , whose area is only 37 thousand square kilometers smaller than the area of New Guinea. Kalimantan is divided between Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The fourth place belongs to the island-state of Madagascar . Its area is 578.7 square kilometers. Then comes the Canadian island of Baffin Island (507 square kilometers) and Indonesian Sumatra (443 square kilometers).
In seventh place is the largest island in Europe - Great Britain . Here are three members of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (England, Wales and Scotland). The area of this island is almost half that of the leading islands, but also impressive - 229.8 thousand square kilometers.
Completing the top ten world's largest Japanese island of Honshu island (227.9 square kilometers), as well as two Canadian island - Victoria (83.8 square kilometers) and Ellesmere (196.2 thousand square km.).