Largest Islands in the World Quiz

Greenland, New Guinea, Borneo: rank the world's biggest islands and name the countries that share them.

Greenland is the largest island in the world, and Borneo is split between three countries. Test yourself on the largest islands in the world, then check the full list by area.

How the largest islands quiz works

Questions come in four kinds: which of two islands is larger, which country has territory on an island, which island belongs to a given country, and a set of records (largest in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean or Japan). Two islands are only compared when one is at least 15% bigger. Easy plays the 10 largest islands, Medium 16, Hard 21 and Expert all 26.

The largest islands in the world by area

Rank	Island	Area (km²)	Area (sq mi)	Countries
1	Greenland	2,130,800	822,706	Denmark
2	New Guinea	785,753	303,381	Papua New Guinea and Indonesia
3	Borneo	748,168	288,869	Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei
4	Madagascar	587,041	226,658	Madagascar
5	Baffin Island	507,451	195,928	Canada
6	Sumatra	443,066	171,069	Indonesia
7	Honshu	227,960	88,016	Japan
8	Victoria Island	217,291	83,896	Canada
9	Great Britain	209,331	80,823	United Kingdom
10	Ellesmere Island	196,236	75,767	Canada
11	Sulawesi	180,681	69,761	Indonesia
12	South Island	145,836	56,308	New Zealand
13	Java	138,794	53,589	Indonesia
14	North Island	111,583	43,082	New Zealand
15	Luzon	109,965	42,458	Philippines
16	Newfoundland	108,860	42,031	Canada
17	Cuba	104,556	40,369	Cuba
18	Iceland	101,826	39,315	Iceland
19	Mindanao	97,530	37,657	Philippines
20	Ireland	84,421	32,595	Ireland and United Kingdom
21	Hokkaido	78,073	30,144	Japan
22	Hispaniola	73,929	28,544	Dominican Republic and Haiti
23	Sakhalin	72,492	27,989	Russia
24	Banks Island	70,028	27,038	Canada
25	Sri Lanka	65,268	25,200	Sri Lanka
26	Tasmania	64,519	24,911	Australia

Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, so the table lists Denmark.

Why Australia is not on the list

Australia, about 7.7 million km², is counted as a continent rather than an island, so Greenland comes first. The line between the two is a convention, not a law of nature, but it is the one atlases and Wikipedia's list follow.

Islands shared between countries

Borneo: Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, the only island divided between three countries on this list.
New Guinea: Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Hispaniola: Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Ireland: Ireland and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland).

Easy ones to mix up

Canada has five islands in the top 26: Baffin, Victoria, Ellesmere, Newfoundland and Banks.
Indonesia holds all of Sumatra, Sulawesi and Java, and part of New Guinea and Borneo.
Great Britain is the island; the United Kingdom is the country, which also includes Northern Ireland.
North Island and South Island: South Island is the larger, North Island has most of New Zealand's people.
Largest island in the Mediterranean: Sicily, just ahead of Sardinia; neither is large enough for the top 26.
Largest island in Africa: Madagascar, fourth in the world. Bioko, much smaller, is where Malabo stands; Equatorial Guinea is moving its capital to Ciudad de la Paz on the mainland, and both are named as capitals.

Source

Areas from Wikipedia's List of islands by area (checked October 2026). Equatorial Guinea's two capitals follow Wikipedia's List of national capitals.

Keep going

The world's biggest lakes: Largest Lakes in the World Quiz
Countries that are islands: Island Nations Quiz
Countries by size: Largest Countries Quiz

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest island in the world?

Greenland, about 2.13 million km² (823,000 sq mi), counting Australia as a continent. Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

What is the second-largest island in the world?

New Guinea, about 785,750 km², shared by Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Borneo is third.

Is Australia an island?

It is surrounded by water, but it is counted as a continent, so it is not included in lists of islands.

What is the largest island in Europe?

Great Britain, about 209,330 km², ninth-largest in the world. Iceland is second in Europe.

Is the quiz free?

Yes. There is no sign-up, and your best score for each difficulty is saved in this browser.