Category Islands

While an island is surrounded by water on all sides, a peninsula is bordered by water only on three sides. A peninsula will always be connected to the mainland on one side. Peninsulas can be small, or very large. They are found on every continent.

In Europe, Portugal and Spain form the Iberian Peninsula. The Horn of Africa, which juts into the Arabian Sea, is a huge peninsula. The nations of North Korea and South Korea make up the Korean Peninsula in Eastern Asia.

 In Australia, there is the Cape York Peninsula. And of course, the Indian subcontinent forms a huge peninsula, bordered by the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean.

Sometimes, islands are formed very close together, in clusters. Such a cluster of islands is called an archipelago.

Archipelagos can be made up of hundreds, or even thousands, of islands. These islands may differ from one another in their plant and animal life.

 Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Greece, Hawaii, Maldives, Azores, and New York City are examples of well-known archipelagos. Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago by area and population.

Continue reading “What is the difference between an island and an archipelago?”

An island is an area of land that is completely surrounded by water. Islands come in all shapes and forms. They can vary in size from a single rock, to a huge land mass.

Greenland is the world’s largest island. Australia is also surrounded by water, but it is considered to be a continent, rather than an island. It is difficult to determine the world’s smallest island, but some, like Singapore, are really tiny.

Islands can be found in the middle of the ocean, or just off the coast. They are also found in rivers, deltas, and lakes.

Islands are formed in different ways, and they are classified according to how they came into existence. Many islands have flora and fauna that are unique to them, and found nowhere else in the world.