The Largest Islands in the World

Three times the size of Texas, Greenland is a part of Denmark, though a home-rule government attends to domestic affairs. Its people are primarily Inuit.

As a result of rainfall exceeding 300 inches a year, New Guinea’s Fly-Digul shelf and bordering highlands are among the wettest places on Earth—and one of the least-inhabited.

Covered in dense rainforest, Borneo boasts some of the world’s most diverse flora and fauna, including the monster flower (Rafflesia arnoldii), the largest in the world.

Located just 250 miles off the coast of Africa, Madagascar is home to some very unique wildlife, including nearly 40 species of lemurs (in fact all lemur species are native to Madagascar) and 800 species of butterflies.

The largest island in Canada, located in the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut, Baffin was named for William Baffin, a 17th-century English navigator. It is uninhabited aside from a few small coastal villages.

The second largest of the Greater Sunda Islands of the Malay Archipelago, Sumatra’s three national parks—Mount Leuser, Kerinci Seblat, and Bukit Barisan Selatan—were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.

The largest of Japan’s four primary islands, Honshu contains the nation’s highest mountain, Mount Fuji, and largest lake, Lake Biwa.

This body, located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, holds the distinction of containing the world’s largest island within an island within an island.

Great Britain comprises England, Scotland, and Wales. It is part of the United Kingdom, which also includes Northern Ireland and several smaller offshore islands.

Named in 1852 for Francis Egerton, 1st earl of Ellesmere, this desolate island, located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is believed to have been visited by Vikings in the 10th century.