Last week, we ended up on Canada’s largest island, Baffin Island. For today, we will continue our journey over top2–4 largest islands on the Earth. So, without further ado, let’s start!
TOP 4: Madagascar Island
Location: Africa, Madagascar
Area: 587,041 sq km
Population: 28,172,462
Largest Settlement: Antananarivo
Highest Point: Maromokotro (2,876 m)
Archipelago/Island Class: West Indian Ocean Islands, Malagasy Islands
In the Indian Ocean, there is the 4th largest island, Madagascar. Madagascar for short is the largest singular island nation, and second largest island nation after Indonesia, also the second largest landmass in the area of Africa after the continent itself, meaning that it is the largest island in Africa. Although it’s small in size compared to continents, it has more population than the two continents of Antarctica and Australia. But interestingly, although Africa was the continent where the humans first started, Madagascar was colonized later on. It was the time of the Roman Empire when finally people started to live on the island. However, those people didn’t come from the African mainland, but from Indonesia.
TOP 3: Borneo Island
Location: Asia, Brunei/Malaysia/Indonesia, Brunei/Sarawak/Sabah/West Borneo/Kotawaringin/Great Dayak/Banjar/Southeast Borneo/East Borneo
Area: 798,168 sq km
Population: 23,720,000
Largest Settlement: Samarinda (Indonesia)
Highest Point: Mount Kinabalu (13,435 m)
Archipelago/Island Class: the Sunda Islands, Greater Sunda Islands
3rd place goes to the island of Borneo. Borneo is the largest island in Asia and the second largest in the country of Indonesia. It is only a few islands that hold two capitals at once, Banda Seri Begawan of Brunei, and Nusantara, the newly constructed capital of Indonesia. It is the only island to be divided into 3 different countries — unless you count Cyprus, which is divided into 1 or 2 or 3 or 4; Cyprus (fully recognized), Northern Cyprus (recognized by Turkey), United Kingdom (military bases), and UN (separating Cyprus and Northern Cyprus). Also, Borneo Island is the second-largest jungle island and holds the largest jungle, Borneo Jungle, in Malaysia and Brunei.
TOP 2: New Guinea
Location: Oceania, Indonesia/Papua New Guinea, West Papua/Papua/Papua New Guinea
Area: 785,753 sq km
Population: 14,800,000
Largest Settlement: Jayapura (Indonesia)
Highest Point: Puncak Jaya (4,884 m)
Archipelago/Island Class: Melanesian Islands
TOP 2 goes to the New Guinea Island of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It is the second-largest island in the world and the largest island on the continent. This island, along with the Australian mainland and New Zealand’s North Island are the three most important landmasses on the continent. It is also the largest divided island in the world, between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and also the largest island with the capital city, Port Moresby. And last but least, it has the tallest mountain in all of Oceania.
