IslandDB
107 islands worldwide with area, population, type, and natural history. From Greenland to the smallest atoll.
Featured
Greenland
The largest island in the world. 80% covered by ice sheet. If all melted, sea levels would...
Iceland
130+ volcanoes. Geothermal heats 90% of homes. No mosquitoes. Vikings settled 874 AD....
Bali
Island of the Gods. 20,000 temples. Rice terraces UNESCO sites....
Santorini
Massive eruption c.1600 BC may have inspired Atlantis. Blue-domed churches....
Galapagos
Darwin developed evolution theory 1835. 95% pre-human biodiversity remains. Giant tortoise...
Easter Island
887 moai statues carved 1250-1500 AD. One of most remote inhabited islands at 3,700 km fro...
Maldives
Lowest country at 1.5 m average. 1,192 coral islands. Could be uninhabitable by 2100....
Svalbard
Global Seed Vault preserves 1M+ samples. Polar bears outnumber people. Must carry a rifle ...
Continental Islands (62)
Greenland
The largest island in the world. 80% covered by ice sheet. If all melted, sea levels would...
New Guinea
Second largest island. Over 1,000 languages spoken - the most linguistically diverse place...
Borneo
Third largest island. Split between three countries. One of the oldest rainforests at 140 ...
Madagascar
Fourth largest. Separated from Africa 88 million years ago. 90% of wildlife found nowhere ...
Baffin Island
Largest island in Canada. Mostly above Arctic Circle. Inuit have lived here 3,000+ years....
Sumatra
Sixth largest. Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake on Earth. Home to Sumatran tigers, r...
Honshu
Largest Japanese island. Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka here. Mount Fuji. 80% of Japans population....
Great Britain
Largest island in Europe. Contains England, Scotland, Wales. Connected to continent until ...
Victoria Island
Second largest in Canada. Arctic Archipelago. Mostly uninhabited tundra....
Ellesmere Island
Alert, the northernmost inhabited place, is here. Polar bears and muskoxen....
Sulawesi
Distinctive K-shape. 127 mammal species, 79% endemic. Toraja funeral customs....
South Island
Southern Alps with Aoraki/Mount Cook at 3,724 m. Fiordland. Lord of the Rings filming....
Java
Most populous island on Earth. 151 million people. Borobudur temple. 100+ active volcanoes...
North Island
Auckland and Wellington here. Rotorua geothermal. Hobbiton movie set....
Newfoundland
First Viking settlement in North America at LAnse aux Meadows, 1,000 years ago....
Luzon
Largest Philippine island. Manila. Banaue Rice Terraces 2,000 years old....
Cuba
Largest Caribbean island. 250+ beaches. 900+ classic American cars from 1950s....
Mindanao
Second largest Philippine island. Philippine eagle is endemic and critically endangered....
Ireland
Third largest European island. No native snakes. Newgrange is 5,200 years old....
Hokkaido
Northernmost main Japanese island. 1972 Winter Olympics. Ainu indigenous people....
Hispaniola
Most populous Caribbean island. First European settlement in Americas, 1492....
Sakhalin
Largest Russian island. Rich in oil and gas. Indigenous Ainu and Nivkh peoples....
Sri Lanka
Formerly Ceylon. Pearl of the Indian Ocean. Sigiriya rock fortress 477 AD. Known for Ceylo...
Tasmania
Tasmanian devil found nowhere else. Thylacine went extinct 1936. 40% protected wilderness....
Sicily
Largest Mediterranean island. Mount Etna. Archimedes born here. Temples at Agrigento 2,500...
Sardinia
Nuragic civilization built 7,000 stone towers 3,500 years ago. A Blue Zone....
Cyprus
Divided since 1974. Aphrodite born here. Wine produced for 6,000 years....
Crete
Minoan civilization 5,000 years ago. Palace of Knossos. Zeus born here in mythology....
Corsica
Napoleon born in Ajaccio 1769. GR20 is Europes hardest long-distance hike....
Mallorca
30 million tourists annually. Serra de Tramuntana UNESCO site....
Malta
Megalithic Temples older than pyramids. Knights of Malta vs Ottomans 1565. Valletta first ...
Gotland
Largest Baltic Sea island. Visby UNESCO medieval walled city....
Falkland Islands
1982 war lasted 74 days. 500,000 sheep. Thriving penguin populations....
Tierra del Fuego
Land of Fire named by Magellan. Ushuaia is southernmost city....
Vancouver Island
Largest Pacific coast island. Victoria BC here. Highest cougar density in North America....
Prince Edward Island
Anne of Green Gables. 13 km Confederation Bridge. Famous for potatoes....
Socotra
Most alien-looking place on Earth. Dragon blood tree. 700 endemic species....
Zanzibar
Spice Island. Stone Town UNESCO site. Freddie Mercury born here 1946....
Kangaroo Island
Zoo without fences. Koalas, echidnas, platypuses. Remarkable Rocks 500M years old....
Bali
Island of the Gods. 20,000 temples. Rice terraces UNESCO sites....
Flores
Homo floresiensis, 1 m tall human, discovered 2003. Komodo dragons nearby....
Timor
East Timor independent 2002, newest SE Asian country....
Palawan
Puerto Princesa Underground River is a New 7 Wonder. 1,700+ islands....
Andaman Islands
Sentinelese have zero contact with outside world. Indigenous 26,000+ years....
Ibiza
Party capital of the world. UNESCO old town dates to Phoenicians 654 BC....
Rhodes
Colossus of Rhodes, one of Seven Wonders. Knights Hospitaller ruled 1309-1522....
Corfu
Mythical Phaeacian island from the Odyssey. Empress Sissis Achilleion Palace....
Haida Gwaii
Canadian Galapagos. Haida people 13,000+ years. SGang Gwaay UNESCO site....
Capri
Blue Grotto. Tiberius ruled Rome from here 11 years....
Elba
Napoleon exiled here 1814, escaped after 300 days. 150+ beaches....
Mykonos
Party island. Windmills 500+ years old. Little Venice....
Zakynthos
Navagio Shipwreck Beach most photographed. Loggerhead turtles nest here....
Lesbos
Home of Sappho. 12 million olive trees. Ouzo production center....
Chatham Islands
First place to greet each new day. Black robin saved from 1 female in 1980....
Stewart Island
85% national park. Kiwi commonly seen wild. Aurora Australis visible....
Seychelles
115 islands. Coco de mer has largest seed at 25 kg. 100,000+ giant tortoises on Aldabra....
Nicobar Islands
Great Nicobar Biosphere UNESCO site. 2004 tsunami devastated....
Sjaelland
Copenhagen here. Oresund Bridge to Sweden. Hamlets Kronborg Castle....
Bornholm
Round churches, smoked herring. Occupied by Soviets 1945-46....
Aland Islands
Autonomous Swedish-speaking Finland. 6,700 islands. Demilitarized since 1856....
Whitsunday Island
Heart Reef naturally heart-shaped. Whitehaven Beach worlds best....
Fyn
Hans Christian Andersen born in Odense here. Garden of Denmark....
Volcanic Islands (34)
Iceland
130+ volcanoes. Geothermal heats 90% of homes. No mosquitoes. Vikings settled 874 AD....
Hawaii (Big Island)
Kilauea is one of most active volcanoes. Mauna Kea from ocean floor is tallest mountain at...
Maui
Haleakala crater. Road to Hana has 620 curves. Humpback whales calve here....
Oahu
Honolulu. Pearl Harbor attacked Dec 7, 1941. Diamond Head. North Shore surf breaks....
Kauai
Garden Isle. One of wettest places at 11,500 mm/year. Jurassic Park filmed here....
Faroe Islands
18 islands. More sheep than people. Highest ocean cliffs in Europe at 754 m....
Galapagos
Darwin developed evolution theory 1835. 95% pre-human biodiversity remains. Giant tortoise...
Easter Island
887 moai statues carved 1250-1500 AD. One of most remote inhabited islands at 3,700 km fro...
Bouvet Island
Most remote island on Earth. 1,700 km from nearest land. No human has ever lived there....
Tristan da Cunha
Most remote inhabited island. 250 residents, 7 surnames. 1961 eruption forced evacuation....
St Helena
Napoleon exiled and died here 1821. Jonathan the tortoise born c.1832 is oldest land anima...
Pitcairn Island
Descendants of Bounty mutineers. Only 50 residents. Most isolated jurisdiction....
Reunion
French overseas department. Piton de la Fournaise very active. Mixed Creole culture....
Mauritius
Only habitat of the dodo, extinct by 1681. Underwater waterfall illusion....
Christmas Island
50-100 million red crabs migrate to sea annually....
Norfolk Island
Bounty mutineer descendants moved from Pitcairn 1856. Norfolk pine symbol....
Lord Howe Island
UNESCO site. Only 400 tourists at a time. Southernmost coral reef....
Lombok
Mount Rinjani at 3,726 m. Gili Islands are car-free....
Canary Islands
Named after dogs, not canaries. Teide is third tallest volcano from ocean floor. Silbo Gom...
Azores
Hawaii of the Atlantic. Twin blue and green lakes at Sete Cidades....
Madeira
Island of eternal spring. Cristiano Ronaldo born here. Laurisilva UNESCO forest....
Santorini
Massive eruption c.1600 BC may have inspired Atlantis. Blue-domed churches....
Stromboli
Erupting continuously 2,000+ years. Lighthouse of the Mediterranean. Tolkien named Mount D...
Tenerife
Teide at 3,718 m is Spains highest peak. Carnaval is second largest after Rio....
Lanzarote
Timanfaya looks like another planet. Cesar Manrique architecture. Vineyards in craters....
Guam
US territory. Mariana Trench nearby at 10,994 m deepest point on Earth....
Comoros
Coelacanth found alive 1952. Perfume Islands for ylang-ylang....
Aleutian Islands
69 volcanic islands. Only WWII land battle on North American soil. 40+ active volcanoes....
Bioko
7 endemic monkey species. Capital Malabo despite being nearer Cameroon....
Gran Canaria
Miniature continent. 300+ days of sunshine. Roque Nublo volcanic rock....
Fuerteventura
Oldest Canary Island at 20M years. 150 km white sand beaches. Windsurfing mecca....
La Gomera
Columbus stopped here before crossing Atlantic 1492. Garajonay UNESCO cloud forest....
Ascension Island
Darwin planted 20,000 trees here. NASA Apollo relay station....
Halmahera
Cloves originated here, worth more than gold in medieval Europe. 26 active volcanoes....
Arctic Islands (5)
Svalbard
Global Seed Vault preserves 1M+ samples. Polar bears outnumber people. Must carry a rifle ...
Novaya Zemlya
Tsar Bomba, largest nuclear weapon (50 megatons), tested here 1961....
Devon Island
Largest uninhabited island on Earth. NASA uses it as Mars analog....
Franz Josef Land
191 uninhabited Arctic islands. Discovered 1873. Polar bears and walruses....
Banks Island
Highest density of muskoxen on Earth. Aulavik National Park....