Visualizing the World’s 100 Biggest Islands

Visualizing 100 of the World’s Biggest Islands

View the full-size version of the infographic by clicking here.

When you think of an island, the first thing that might come to mind is a small, sunny beach surrounded by warm waters. But did you know that 11% of the world’s population actually calls islands their home?

Today’s data visualization is designed by mapmaker David Garcia, and it ranks the 100 largest islands found around the world by size.

Islands in the Stream

The 100 biggest islands range from the likes of expansive Greenland to independent Guadalcanal, the largest of the Solomon Islands. But look a little closer, and you’ll see just how much the top contender outshines the rest. Greenland is almost three times the size of the second-biggest island of New Guinea, and you could fit over 408 Guadalcanal islands within it.

In the visualization, the islands are also tinted, depending on the climate they come from. Blue islands are from the polar regions, turquoise islands lie in the temperate zones, and green islands represent the lush tropics. Which of these regions hosts the most islands?

Island	Countries	Region
Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland)	Denmark	Europe
New Guinea	Papua New Guinea, Indonesia	Oceania
Pulau Borneo (Kalimantan)	Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei	Asia
Madagasikara	Madagascar	Africa
Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin Island, Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Sumatra	Indonesia	Asia
Honshu	Japan	Asia
Kitlineq (Victoria Island)	Canada	North America
Great Britain	United Kingdom	Europe
Ellesmere (Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Sulawesi	Indonesia	Asia
Te Waipounamu (South Island)	New Zealand	Oceania
Java	Indonesia	Asia
Te Ika-a-maui (North Island)	New Zealand	Oceania
Newfoundland	Canada	North America
Cuba	Cuba	North America
Luzon	Philippines	Asia
Iceland	Iceland	Europe
Mindanao	Philippines	Asia
Ireland	Ireland, United Kingdom	Europe
Hokkaido	Japan	Asia
Sakhalin	Russia	Eurasia
Hispaniola	Dominican Republic, Haiti	North America
Banks Island	Canada	North America
Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	Asia
Tasmania	Australia	Oceania
Tatlurutit (Devon Island, Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego	Panama	South America
Severny	Russia	Eurasia
Shugliaq (Southampton)	Canada	North America
Axel Heiberg (Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Melville	Canada	North America
Spitsbergen (Svalbard)	Norway	Europe
Kyushu	Japan	Asia
Taiwan	Taiwan	Asia
New Britain	Papua New Guinea	Oceania
Hainan	China	Asia
Prince of Wales (Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Yuzhny	Russia	Eurasia
Vancouver	Canada	North America
Timor	Timor Leste	Asia
Sicily	Italy	Europe
Kuganajuup Qikiqtanga (Somerset, Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Sardinia	Italy	Europe
Kotelny	Russia	Eurasia
Shikoku	Japan	Asia
Halmahera	Indonesia	Asia
Seram	Indonesia	Asia
New Caledonia	France	Europe
Bathurst (Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Prince Patrick	Canada	North America
Sumbawa	Indonesia	Asia
Nordaustlandet	Norway	Europe
October Revolution	Russia	Eurasia
Flores	Indonesia	Asia
King William (Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Negros	Philippines	Asia
Samar	Philippines	Asia
Bangka	Indonesia	Asia
Yos Sudarso	Papua New Guinea	Oceania
Panay	Philippines	Asia
Ellef Ringnes (Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Palawan	Philippines	Asia
Bolshevik	Russia	Eurasia
Bylot (Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Jamaica	Caribbean	North America
Sumba	Indonesia	Asia
Viti Levu	Fiji	Oceania
Hawai'I (Big Island)	United States	North America
Cape Breton	Canada	North America
Mindoro	Philippines	Asia
Prince Charles	Canada	North America
Kodiak (Alaska)	United States	North America
Cyprus	Cyprus, United Kingdom	Europe
Komsomolets	Russia	Eurasia
Corsica	France	Europe
Bougainville	Papua New Guinea	Oceania
Puerto Rico	United States	North America
Buru	Indonesia	Asia
Disko	Greenland	Europe
Chiloé	Chile	South America
Crete	Greece	Europe
Anticosti	Canada	North America
Cornwallis (Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Zealand	Denmark	Europe
Latangai (New Ireland)	Papua New Guinea	Oceania
Leyte	Philippines	Asia
Prince of Wales (Alaska)	United States	North America
Desolation (Kerguelen)	Antarctic Lands, France	Antarctic
Isla Soledad/ East Falkland	Argentina	South America
Graham	Canada	North America
Wellington	Chile	South America
Novaya Sibir (New Siberian)	Russia	Eurasia
Yelmalner/ Melville	Australia	Oceania
Coats (Nunavut)	Canada	North America
Prince Edward	Canada	North America
Vanua Levu	Fiji	Oceania
Chichagof (Alaska)	United States	North America
Bali	Indonesia	Asia
Guadalcanal	Solomon Islands	Oceania

It’s the Island Life for Many

North America dominates with 32 islands out of the top 100, but there’s a catch — twelve of them are uninhabitable, thanks to the frigid Arctic temperatures.

Throw the number of people into the mix and the regional overview gets even more interesting. Compared to the rest of the world, Asian islands are teeming with life.

• 28 Asian islands
  Total population: 510.4 million
• 14 European islands
  Total population: 83.8 million
• 32 North American islands
  Total population: 40.7 million
• 12 Oceania islands
  Total population: 18.3 million

Taking things a step further, we’ve remixed the visualization based on population density.

Click below to view the full-size version.

The most populated island in the world, Java is filled to the brim with 141 million people — that’s over a thousand people per square kilometer. This is in part thanks to the capital city Jakarta being located on the island, but experts warn those days may be short-lived. By 2050, scientific models predict that 95% of the city may be underwater, and that Indonesia must scramble to find a new capital.

To finish, here is the 20 most dense islands on the list, in terms of population density.

Rank by Density	Island	Countries	Population	Area (km²)	People per km²
#1	Java	Indonesia	141,000,000	138,793	1,015.9
#2	Bali	Indonesia	4,225,000	5,780	731.0
#3	Taiwan	Taiwan	23,571,000	36,193	651.3
#4	Zealand	Denmark	3,749,200	7,031	533.2
#5	Luzon	Philippines	53,336,134	109,965	485.0
#6	Honshu	Japan	104,000,000	227,960	456.2
#7	Panay	Philippines	4,477,247	12,011	372.8
#8	Kyushu	Japan	12,970,479	36,753	352.9
#9	Puerto Rico	United States	3,195,000	9,104	350.9
#10	Negros	Philippines	4,414,131	13,310	331.6
#11	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	21,440,000	65,610	326.8
#12	Great Britain	United Kingdom	66,040,000	209,331	315.5
#13	Hispaniola	Dominican Republic, Haiti	21,396,000	76,192	280.8
#14	Jamaica	Caribbean	2,890,000	10,992	262.9
#15	Mindanao	Philippines	25,537,691	97,530	261.8
#16	Hainan	China	8,670,000	33,920	255.6
#17	Shikoku	Japan	3,845,534	18800	204.5
#18	Sicily	Italy	5,057,000	25,711	196.7
#19	Flores	Indonesia	1,831,000	13,540	135.2
#20	Samar	Philippines	1,751,267	13,429	130.4

The Australia-Island Debate

Upon first publishing this over two years ago, the most common feedback we heard came from our friends Down Under.

In school, many Australians learned that their beloved country was an “island continent”, and naturally felt it should be included on the list of the world’s 100 biggest islands.

As with anything, there are different schools of thought on this. Upon digging deeper, we believed that Encyclopedia Britannica had a explanatory take on the issue:

“Most geographers consider islands and continents to be separate things. An island is a mass of land that is both ‘entirely surrounded by water’ and also ‘smaller than a continent.’ By that definition, Australia can’t be an island because it’s already a continent.”
–Encyclopedia Britannica

There are, of course, opposing arguments that could be had—but at least this gives some perspective on why Australia was likely excluded from this particular list.

This post was first published in 2019. We have since updated it, adding in new content for 2021.