Island facts: the far-flung and the disputed
Islands break most of the rules the rest of geography runs on. They can be a whole country a few metres above sea level, or a fragment of Europe an ocean away from Europe, and their populations are small enough that a single decision changes the statistics for the entire nation.
Which is the largest island in the world?
Greenland
Greenland is about 2.17 million km2. Australia is larger but is classed as a continent. The distinction is conventional rather than physical.
Source: Standard geographic convention; areas from national surveys
Which island is divided between three countries?
Borneo
Borneo is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. It is the only island split three ways between sovereign states. Hispaniola is shared by two, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Source: National boundary records
Tristan da Cunha is best known as what?
The remotest inhabited island
About 2,400 km from Saint Helena and 2,800 km from South Africa, with roughly 240 residents. There is no airstrip; the only way in is a several-day boat trip.
Source: Tristan da Cunha government
What is unusual about Surtsey, off the coast of Iceland?
It rose from the sea recently
A volcanic eruption built it between 1963 and 1967. It is kept off-limits so scientists can watch life colonise brand-new land without interference.
What is the average elevation of the Maldives?
About 1.5 m
The Maldives averages roughly 1.5 m, with its highest natural point under 3 m. That is the lowest of any country, and the reason sea-level rise is an existential rather than economic question there.
Which self-declared micronation occupies a former sea fort off England?
Sealand
Roughs Tower, a wartime platform in the North Sea, was occupied in 1967 and declared a principality. No state recognises it, and it sits inside UK territorial waters as extended in 1987.
Source: UK Territorial Sea Act 1987; contemporary reporting
Roughly how many islands does the Philippines have?
About 7,600
A 2016 survey raised the count to about 7,641 as better mapping found more. Only around 2,000 are inhabited.
Source: Philippine National Mapping and Resource Information Authority
How far is Easter Island from the nearest inhabited land?
About 2,000 km
Pitcairn, with a few dozen residents, is roughly 2,075 km away. Continental Chile, which governs Easter Island, is about 3,500 km east.
Source: Chilean government geographic data
Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic is notable for being what?
The most remote island
It is about 1,700 km from Antarctica and 2,600 km from South Africa, almost entirely covered by glacier. Norway claims it; nobody lives there.
Source: Norwegian Polar Institute
In 2023 Japan recounted its islands. What happened to the number?
It more than doubled
Better digital mapping raised the official count from 6,852 to about 14,125. No new land appeared. The old survey simply could not resolve the smallest islets.
Which is the largest uninhabited island in the world?
Devon Island
Devon Island covers about 55,000 km2 with no permanent residents. Its cold desert terrain is used to rehearse Mars missions.
Source: Natural Resources Canada; NASA Haughton-Mars Project
Roughly how many people live on Pitcairn, one of the least populated territories?
About 50
Around 50 people live there, most descended from the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. Reaching it takes a multi-day boat trip from French Polynesia.
Source: Pitcairn Islands Government