It’s Greenland. It has 2 175 600 square kilometers. And Australia? With its 7 682 300 square kilometers, it is three times the area of Greenland, but most geographers do not consider it an island. “Due to its large size, it is considered the continental portion of Oceania”, says oceanographer Maurício Camargo, from the Center for Studies of the Sea at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). Attached to Denmark, Greenland is not an independent nation. Therefore, among the countries that have their territory entirely located on one or more islands, the largest in the world is Indonesia, with 1,904,569 square kilometers. Brazil is also present on these lists. Bananal Island, between Tocantins and Mato Grosso, is the largest fluvial island (surrounded by rivers) on the planet, with 20,000 square kilometers. The island of Marajó (PA), with 49 thousand square kilometers, is number 1 in the fluvio-maritime category (surrounded by river and sea).
– What are the Brazilian islands furthest from the mainland?
– How does an island come about?
In the middle of the sea Among the five largest islands, two are on the American continent
1st – Greenland
The largest island in the world, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Glacial Sea, 85% of its territory is covered in ice. There are 55,000 inhabitants living there — 80% are of Eskimo descent. Greenland belongs to Denmark, which is responsible for its defense and foreign relations, but has a local government with some autonomy.
2nd – New Guinea
Located in Oceania, the second largest island in the world is divided into two parts: in the eastern half is Papua New Guinea, an independent country; on the west side, a province that belongs to Indonesia. Tropical forests cover about 65% of the island, which has a great biodiversity and whose fauna is similar to that of Australia.
3rd – Borneo
The third place is neighboring New Guinea and is currently divided into four political regions: the province of Kalimantan (belonging to Indonesia), the states of Sabah and Sarawak (from Malaysia) and the sultanate of Brunei (an independent country). The flora of Borneo is among the most varied in the world.
4th – Madagascar
Located in the Indian Ocean, on the east coast of Africa, Madagascar has unique species of flora and fauna thanks to its geographic isolation. It is an independent country that has 17.4 million inhabitants, divided into 18 ethnic groups! The most important is Malayo-Polynesian, but there are also Africans, Arabs, Indians…
5th – Baffin
Belonging to Canada and located above the Arctic Circle, Baffin is a cold, arid island, almost without trees and cut by hundreds of bays and fjords. It is one of the least inhabited areas on the planet — the rare residents are small groups of Eskimo descendants.