The largest islands of the Earth: descriptions

Before talking about what is the largest island of the Earth, it should be understood that in general is an island. Some people, when they hear this word, draw images of resort areas in the imagination, for example, Crete, Maldives, Sicily, others immediately come up with pictures of adventure action-packed films.

Small and large islands of the world and truth keep a lot of mysteries and mysteries, and there are still new interesting facts about these pieces of land, surrounded on all sides by water.

The largest island of the Earth. Name

In total, there are over 500,000 islands on our planet. They all have different sizes: there are tiny, and just huge. Do you know which is the largest island on Earth? Many people mistakenly believe that this is Australia. It would seem that everything is true - this land area has an area of 7600 thousand square meters. Km and surrounded on all sides by water. But still, Australia is considered to be an island continent, and not actually an island. Then which is the largest island in the world? This is Greenland, inferior to the size of Australia in three times, but it is larger than most of today's countries. Below we will talk more about it.

Greenland - the largest island of the Earth (+ photo)

The area of this part of the land is 2130.8 thousand square kilometers. Geographic miracle belongs to Denmark and could significantly increase the area of this country, but this is hampered by relief and climate: over 80 percent of the earth's surface is covered by an ice shield. And this is not surprising, because Greenland is in the immediate vicinity of the North Pole, and it is washed by the waters of the Arctic and partially Atlantic oceans. All this makes Greenland one of the most unusual, bright, majestic and beautiful places on our planet. The landscapes of the island are so beautiful that they catch their breath. That's just a few people can live there, because even in summer the air warms to a temperature just above zero degrees. What can we say about winter, when the normal phenomenon is frosts to -50 Celsius!

Nevertheless, severe weather conditions do not stop tourists, and many come to the island to see with their own eyes the majestic ice, to observe the unique animal world of the harsh but so beautiful Greenland. It is recommended to visit it in the summer, when in addition to everything you can admire also white nights.

This is the largest island in the world. But on our planet, there are many other significant land areas surrounded by water. They are also interesting, so we will continue to consider the largest islands of the Earth.

New Guinea

This is the second largest island (786 thousand square kilometers) in the world. In contrast to Greenland, it is completely located in the Pacific Ocean, in its western part. Accordingly, the climate here is completely different. Tropics, rich and varied nature, warm and affectionate sea - that's what New Guinea has to offer travelers . It is interesting that this island was divided by two countries, which is not often found. One site belongs to Papua New Guinea, and the other to Indonesia.

Of course, every state would like to get the whole island at its disposal, but half of it is already good! New Guinea scientists consider one of the last corners on the planet, which is not yet fully known. Not long ago an area was discovered on the island, later named New Eden, with dozens of unknown or considered extinct plants and animals. And, most surprisingly, the inhabitants of the "Garden of Eden" were not at all afraid of people.

Kalimantan

Of course, describing the largest islands of the Earth, you can not ignore this part of the land. Kalimantan has an area of 743.33 thousand square kilometers and, like New Guinea, it is rich in nature and beautiful landscapes. The island belongs at once to three states: more than 70% of the territory is managed by Indonesia, almost all the rest is owned by Malaysia, and only a small area went to Brunei.

As Kalimantan crosses the equator, the climate here is appropriate: hot and humid. Most of the area (over 80 percent) is occupied by tropical forests, where wild tribes live . Now they have become more civilized and are pleased to show tourists their fighting dances, and also sell souvenirs.

Madagascar

After the release of the animated film with the same name about Madagascar, probably, everyone learned. Since then, this large island, with an area of 587,041 thousand square kilometers, has become a dream of a large number of travelers. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and its main attraction and wealth are the amazing inhabitants, most of which are endemic, that is, they are not found anywhere else. This and numerous lemurs, and chameleons, and giant fossa, and geckos, and bats, and turtles. Zoologists and botanists are simply merrified by delight, having come here, and discover new species of fauna and flora. But those who are not very interested in the flora and fauna, it will be more interesting to enjoy the magnificent beaches of Madagascar!

Baffin's Land

The five largest islands in the area are closed by this inhospitable and cold part of the land belonging to Canada (the area is 507.451 thousand square kilometers). The climate here is similar to the Greenland, it is the same windy and frosty, but at the same time attractive and fascinating with its severity. In addition to a small number of inhabitants, Scandinavian gods also live here , at least no one forbids thinking like that! Baffin Island is famous for its mountainous objects: one of the highest in the world of the breaks of the Tor and the dining room of Mount Asgard.

Sumatra

It so happened that some of the largest islands of the Earth, if not entirely, at least partially belong to Indonesia. That Sumatra, which has an area of 473 thousand square kilometers, is in charge of this country. This island is almost equally divided equator, respectively, it is located immediately in the two hemispheres of our planet.

Sumatra stretches in the western part of the Malay Archipelago and is included in the group of large Sunda Islands. The coastline is indented here, and near the coast there are coral reefs.

United Kingdom

The area of this land area surrounded by water is 229,848 thousand square kilometers. Like the other largest islands on Earth, Great Britain is very interesting for viewing. Here are located Scotland, England and Wales. The coastline has a length of 966 kilometers from north to south, and the island's width reaches 483 kilometers.

Honshu

This is the eighth largest island in the world (227.97 thousand square kilometers) and the largest in the Japanese archipelago. It accounts for 60 percent of the total area of Japan. The relief here is mountainous, so there are many volcanoes. There is also the permanent symbol of the Land of the Rising Sun - Mount Fuji.