The Islands Portal

A view of some of the Thousand Islands, photographed in 2015 from atop the 1000 Islands Tower, facing northwest. The Thousand Islands are a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the St. Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario.
A view of some of the Thousand Islands, photographed in 2015 from atop the 1000 Islands Tower, facing northwest. The Thousand Islands are a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the St. Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario.

An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, and a small island off the coast may be called a holm. Sedimentary islands in the Ganges Delta are called chars. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands, such as the Philippines, is referred to as an archipelago.

There are two main types of islands in the sea: continental islands and oceanic islands. There are also artificial islands (man-made islands).

There are about 900,000 official islands in the world. This number consists of all the officially-reported islands of each country. The total number of islands in the world is unknown. There may be hundreds of thousands of tiny islands that are unknown and uncounted. The number of sea islands in the world is estimated to be more than 200,000. The total area of the world's sea islands is approx. 9,963,000 km2, which is similar to the area of Canada and accounts for roughly 1/15 (or 6.7%) of the total land area of Earth. (Full article...)

Selected article – show another

Topographic map of Mackinac island

Mackinac Island (/ˈmækənɔː/ MAK-ə-naw, locally /ˈmækənə/ MAK-ə-nə; French: Île Mackinac; Ojibwe: Mishimikinaak ᒥᔑᒥᑭᓈᒃ; Ottawa: Michilimackinac) is an island and resort area, covering 4.35 square miles (11.3 km2) in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" in Ojibwemowin, meaning "Great Turtle". It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was long home to an Odawa settlement and previous indigenous cultures before European colonization began in the 17th century. It was a strategic center of the fur trade around the Great Lakes. Based on a former trading post, Fort Mackinac was constructed on the island by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the site of two battles during the War of 1812 before the northern border was settled and the US gained this island in its territory.

In the late 19th century, Mackinac Island became a popular tourist attraction and summer colony. Many of the structures on the island have undergone extensive historical preservation and restoration. Because of its historic significance, the entire island is listed as a National Historic Landmark. It is well known for numerous cultural events; a wide variety of architectural styles, including the Victorian Grand Hotel; and its ban on almost all motor vehicles, with exceptions only for city emergency vehicles (ambulance, police cars and fire trucks), city service vehicles and snowmobiles in winter. More than 80 percent of the island is preserved as Mackinac Island State Park. (Full article...)

Selected cuisines, dishes and foods – show another

Tasmanian wine is wine produced in the Australian state of Tasmania. Located at a more southerly latitude than the rest of Australia's wine regions, Tasmania has a cooler climate and the potential to make distinctly different wines than in the rest of the country. The area grows primarily Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc, with some smaller plantings of Riesling, Pinot gris and Cabernet Sauvignon. Global warming has had positive effects on the Tasmanian wine industry, allowing most of the grapes in the past few vintages (as of 2005) to ripen fully and produce more vibrant wine. (Full article...)

Related articles

List articles

Selected image – show another

Satellite view of Hawaii archipellago
Satellite view of Hawaii archipellago
Credit: NASA (Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC)
Satellite view of Hawaii archipelago

Did you know – load new batch

General images – show another

The following are images from various island-related articles on Wikipedia.

Related portals

WikiProjects

Topics

Categories

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Things to do


Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Web resources

Discover Wikipedia using portals