ISLANDS - Study Set
Prince Edward
"Anne of Green Gables" by Lucy Maud Montgomery takes place on this Canadian island off New Brunswick/Nova Scotia. The smallest province in Canada by both population and area.
Ile de la Cite
"Cradle of Paris," the larger of the two cities on the river Seine, houses Notre Dame, Hôtel Dieu, Sainte Chapelle, palace used to be housed here
Ni'ihau
"The Forbidden Isle" - the westernmost main and seventh largest inhabited island in Hawaii. Privately owned, and off-limits to all outsiders except the Robinson family and their relatives, U.S. Navy personnel, government officials, and invited guests. Site of the controversial ___________ incident, in which, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese navy fighter pilot crashed on the island and received help from residents of Japanese descent.
Roanoke
"The Lost Colony" Island where Sir Walter Raleigh planted a group of colonists in North Carolina in 1585; the colonists who did not return to England disappeared without a trace in 1590. Birthplace of the first English child in the New World, Virginia Dare.
Svalbard
A Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole.Island group Longyearbyen "The Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement (with population greater than 1,000). Location of the ________ Global Seed Vault, which provides long-term storage of duplicates of seeds conserved in genebanks around the world
Vancouver
A favorite with boaters, Haro Strait lies between Washington State & this Canadian island that's home to the city of Victoria, but not the city that shares its name with the island.
Apostle Islands
A group of islands in the southwestern part of Lake Superior; part of Wisconsin. Long important spiritual center to the Chippewa/Ojibwe tribe centered around Lake Superior. The largest is Madeline Island.
Aruba
A in the ABC islands north of Venezuela. The westernmost. Part of the Netherlands.
Isle of Dogs
A large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames. Was the site of the West India Docks, and now is home to Canary Wharf, the wealthy business district of London.
Fire
A long, sandy barrier island that parallels the southern margin of Long Island, NY that is known as a resort, also known as a prominent gay destination.
Helgoland
A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became the possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890, and briefly managed as a war prize from 1945 to 1952. Heavily fortified by the Germans as a Naval base before both WWI and WWII.
Grenada
A tiny Caribbean island seized by a military council in 1983, which Reagan ordered the U.S. military to reclaim. Known as the "Island of Spice" due to its production of nutmeg and mace crops, and provides 40% of the world's nutmeg crop. Nutmeg appears on its flag.
St. Eustatius
AKA "Statia" locally, Dutch island in the Caribbean. When American ship arrived in 1776 it was the first to recognize the U.S. Flag as a sovereign state, known as "the first salute": Capital: Oranjestad. Named after Saint who was a wealthy Roman nobleman who converted and was martyred under Hadrian for refusing to sacrifice to Roman gods.
Liberty
AKA Bedloe's Island; home to the Statue of Liberty in New York. Once held a military fort - the pedestal for the statue was built on top of it.
Comoros
Achipelagic country in the Indian Ocean, at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel off the eastern coast of Africa. Capital is Moroni. The island of Mayotte in this archipelago is claimed by this country, although is formally a Département of France. Official state religion, is Sunni Islam, the only country in the Arab world completely in the Southern Hemisphere.
Wadden
Also known as the Frisian Islands (for the many islands here where Frisian is spoken), the term _________ Islands refers to the entire archipeligo on the west coast of the Netherlands, which shield the mudflat region from the North Sea.
Corfu
Also known in Greek as Kerkyra, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea that forms the northwestern frontier of Greece. Was considered a naval power city-state in ancient Greece. From medieval times into the 17th century, the island successfully repulsed the Ottomans during several sieges, was recognized as a bulwark of the European States against the Ottoman Empire and became one of the most fortified places in Europe
Aleutian Islands
An archipelago in the North Pacific extending southwestern from Alaska. Were once connected as a bridge that crossed the Bering Strait, allowing humans to migrate from Asia to the Americas.
Mauritius
An island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of Madagascar. It shares its name with the main island, and includes islands of Rodrigues, Agaléga and St. Brandon. Along with nearby Réunion (a French overseas department), this country is part of the Mascarene Islands. Originally settled by France, it was ceded to UK after the Napoleonic Wars until its independence in 1968. Original home of the dodo bird. Highly diverse in ethnicity, culture, language and faith. It is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practised religion.
Anglesey
An island situated on the north coast of Wales, only narrowly separated from the mainland. It is by far the largest island in Wales and the seventh largest in the British Isles. The Menai Suspension Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford in 1826, and the Britannia Bridge span the Menai Strait to connect it with the mainland. Population 69,751
Rhode Island
Aquidneck, Conanicut and Prudence Islands are all located where?
Seychelles
Archipelagic island country consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean at the eastern edge of the Somali Sea. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, is 1,500 kilometres east of mainland Africa. With a population of 98,462, it is the smallest African nation, and has the highest nominal GDP of any African nation.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Archipelago Island nation lying west of Barbados and north of Grenada. In April 2021, the La Soufrière volcano (not to be confused with Soufrière Hills on Montserrat) erupted several times with "explosive events" continuing. By 12 April, 16,000 residents had evacuated the areas of their homes. It had previously erupted in 1902 and 1979. Capital: Kingstown
Thousand Islands
Archipelago of 1,864 islands in the Saint Lawrence River past Lake Ontario. To count as one, the land must have at least one square foot of land above water level year-round, and support at least two living trees. Many different stories about the creation of the salad dressing, but one involves the proprietor of the Waldorf Astoria, a summer resident of these islands, putting it on the menu.
Orkney
Archipelago off the coast of northern Scotland. The islands have been inhabited for at least 8,500 years, originally occupied by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes and then by the Picts, and contain some of the best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe. Largest settlement and administrative center is Kirkwall.
Saint Helena
Remote South Atlantic Island and British Overseas Territory. For centuries it was an important stopover for ships sailing to Europe from Asia and Southern Africa. Perhaps best known for being the site Napoleon was exiled to after his final defeat in 1815.
Skellig Islands
Remote, unihabited rocky islands off the west coast of Ireland known for Early Christian monastery (6th Century). Bee-hive cells also found here. Now a seabird protected sanctuary. The final scene of The Force Awakens, featuring Luke Skywalker as a hermit, was filmed here.
Djerba
Small island located off Tunisia; home of the lotus-eaters in Homer's Odyssey. Known for historic Jewish population.
Bali
Smaller island of Indonesia that practices Hinduism. The highest point on this Indonesian island is Mount Agung, known as "the navel of the world"
Key West
At the southernmost end of U.S. Route 1, the longest north-south road in the United States. It is the southernmost city in the contiguous United States. Many famous residents, including Judy Blume, Ernest Hemingway (whose house is a museum), Wallace Stevens, Shel Silverstein, and Tennessee Williams.
Bonaire
B in the ABC islands north of Venezuela. The easternmost. Part of the Netherlands.
Bermuda
British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean, also previously known as the Somers Isles. Capital: Hamilton The islands have been permanently inhabited since 1612 when an English settlement was established at St. George's. Maritime-focused economy, with the colony serving as a base for merchants, privateers, and the Royal Navy.
Montserrat
British overseas territory in the Caribbean known for its extremely volcanic landscape, and many eruptions and related natural disasters occurred there in the 1990s and 2000s. Eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano in 1996 led to the evacuation of the southern half of the island and the abandonment of its capital, Plymouth. By 1998 more than two-thirds of its mid-1990s population had left the island. Also known as "little Ireland" because of the large Irish population.
Cayman Islands
British overseas territory in the Caribbean northwest of Jamaica, consisting of Grand __________, __________ Brac and Little __________. Largest population among British overseas territories. Name is derived from the Carib Indian word for the marine crocodile
Turks and Caicos
British overseas territory north of Hispaniola, within the Bahamaian island chain, Islands known for salt collection.
Curaçao
C in the ABC islands north of Venezuela. The center one. Part of the Netherlands.
Ajaccio
Capital of Corsica
Sapporo
Capital of Hokkaido
Cagliari
Capital of Sardinia
Galapagos
Chain of islands near South America where Darwin developed his theory of natural selection by studying the unique life there. Home to many unique species, such as the marine iguanas. The government of Ecuador designated it a wildlife sanctuary in 1935, and now it is a UNESCO world heritage site.
New Caledonia
Collectivity of overseas France in the Coral Sea. South of Vanuatu, about 750 mi east Australia. The main island is Grande Terre. Capital: Nouméa. Soils contain about 25% of the world's nickel resources, and Tesla invested in the islands recently.
Azores
Colonized by Portugal, most northern of the Macaronesia island groups, located in the Atlantic off the African Coast and west of Lisbon. An archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands with mild climate. Largest City: Ponta Delgada
Cook Islands
South pacific islands that are a self-governing territory of New Zealand.
Mindanao
Southern island of Philippines; a Muslim kingdom that was able to successfully resist Spanish conquest. The second-largest island in the Philippines, and seventh-most populous island in the world.
Santorini
Southernmost island in the Cyclades, also known as Thera, the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the Minoan eruption (sometimes called the Thera eruption), which occurred about 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization. May be origin of the Atlantis myth.
Cape Verde
Southernmost of Macaranesia Island groups off the West coast of Africa, and the only independent country. Playing a role in the Atlantic slave trade, became economically prosperous during the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates. Independence from Portugal in 1975. Capital: Praia
Trinidad and Tobago
Southernmost point of the Caribbean islands, Spanish ruled, colonized by French, then conquered by English. Originator of Calypso music, Steeldrums, and the Limbo.
Maldives
Southwest of Sri Lanka and India, this sovereign archipelago nation is one of the world's most geographically dispersed sovereign states and the smallest Asian country by land area. With around 557,751 inhabitants, the 2nd least populous country in Asia. Forms the Laccadive Sea.
Balearic
Spanish archipelago of the _________ Islands - four largest islands are Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera. Many of its minor islands and islets are close to the larger islands, including Cabrera, Dragonera, and S'Espalmador. The islands have a Mediterranean climate, and the four major islands are all popular tourist destinations.
Bonifacio
Strait between Corsica and Sardinia
Lewis and Harris
Technically one Island in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, the North and South parts have two different names. The largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British Isles, after Great Britain and the island of Ireland,
Victoria Island
The 8th largest island in the world and the second largest island of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Contains 15 mile wide Tunnunik impact create formed between 130 and 350 million years ago by a meteorite. Holds the distinction of containing the world's largest island within an island within an island.
Tyrrhenian
The Adriatic, between Italy & the Balkans, gets more press than this sea on the other side, between Italy & Corsica & Sardinia
Scilly
The Isles of __________, an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over four miles further south than the most southerly point of the British mainland at Lizard Point. Population of about 2,200.
Tortola
The Largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, capital is Road Town.
Sri Lanka
The Palk Strait separates India's Tamil Nadu state from this island nation. "tear drop of India".
Sakhalin
The Tatar Strait separates the Russian mainland from this huge island that lies just north of Hokkaido. The island was historically divided between Russia and Japan until 1949, when the USSR took full control. Known in Japanese as "Karafuto"
Newfoundland
The TransCanada Highway (4,860-mile) ends in this easternmost province.
Leeward
The _____________ Antilles are the islands just above the coast of Venezuela.
Windward
The _______________ Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles. The name was also used to refer to a British colony which existed between 1833 and 1960 and originally consisted of the islands of Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadine.
Leeward
The _______________ Islands are where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies.
Angel
The immigration station on the west coast where Asian immigrants, mostly Chinese gained admission to the U.S. at San Francisco Bay. Between 1910 and 1940 50k Chinese immigrants entered through here. Questioning and conditions here were much harsher than Ellis Island in New York.
Tasmania
The island south of Australia, capital is Hobart
Crete
The largest Greek island in the Mediterranean, location of Minoan civilization. According to mythology, Zeus was born here.
Skye
The largest and innermost of the Inner Hebrides which are off the coast of Scotland. Kilt Rock is located here. Names a terrier.
New Britain
The largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.
Key Largo
The largest island in the eastern Florida keys near Miami, "diving capital of the world," setting of a 1948 Bogart film.
Andros Island
The largest island of the Bahamas (hint: it's not Grand Bahama) has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. Consists of hundreds of small islets and cays connected by mangrove estuaries and tidal swamplands. Only has a population of approximately 8000, almost all of whom are settled in a thin strip near the island's eastern coast.
Tristan da Cunha
The most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic. There is no airstrip on the main island; the only way of travelling in and out is by boat, a six-day trip from South Africa. The Royal Navy used the island as a secret radio station base from which to monitor Nazi u-boats during WWII. It has just 300 inhabitants, and only seven surnames among them. The principal exports are crawfish, considered a delicacy across the world, and stamps, which people collect feverishly due to their rarity. Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is regarded as the most remote human settlement on earth.
Fundy
The name of the Bay between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, famous for having some of the highest tides in the world.
St. Pierre and Miquelon
The remaining vestige of the once vast territory of New France in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence near Newfoundland. Its 6,000 residents are French citizens and it uses the Euro. Primarily founded by Breton and Basque fishermen.
Guernsey
The second-largest of the Channel Islands, also a self-governing Crown Dependency, it is not part of UK but considered a self-governing Crown Dependency. Victor Hugo wrote a number of famous works while exiled here for 15 years. Renoir spent some time here painting. Novel and film The _______ Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was based here.
Shikoku
The second-smallest main island after Okinawa. Sparsely populated, largest city is Matsuyama (pop. 515,000)
Ile Saint-Louis
The smaller of the two major islands in the Seine in Paris. Renamed "Ile de la Fraternité" after the Revolution. Known for ice cream.
Okinawa
The smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan, furthest to the south. Was the site of important WWII battle and U.S. maintains military bases there now.
Kaho'olawe
The smallest of the eight main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Known as the "target isle." During World War II and the following decades, Kahoʻolawe was used as a training ground and bombing range by the US Armed Forces. After decades of protests, the whole island was transferred to the the state of Hawaii in 1994 and is now a nature preserve, uninhabited.
Lanai
The smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. Has been mostly owned by Larry Page (Oracle) since 2012. Also a word for an open-air veranda or roofed patio furnished and used as a living room.
Malta
The strategic importance of this country, located 60 miles south of Sicily, has guaranteed it a turbulent history.
Jamaica
The third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Capital: Kingston. It remained a possession of Spain until 1655 until ceded to England.
Alameda
Developed Island on east side San Francisco Bay, near Oakland. Shares a name with its major city, which is also the name of the county containing Oakland.
Saba
Dutch Caribbean Island near Saint Eustacius that consists largely of the active volcano Mount Scenery. Population a little less than 2,000.
Bougainville
Easternmost island of Papua New Guinea. It was previously the main landmass in the German Empire-associated North Solomons. Named after French explorer who circumnavigated the globe in a scientific expedition in 1763 (and who also has a flower named after him). The Autonomous Region of __________________ is scheduled to gain independence from Papua New Guinea by 2027.
Molokai
Fifth largest Hawaiian Island: on the north coast, settlements were established in 1866 for quarantined treatment of persons with leprosy, operating until 1969.
Aland
Finnish-controlled islands between Finland and Sweden, in the southernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia; when the League of Nations was founded after WW1, one of the first things it did was resolve the 1921 territorial dispute between Sweden and newly-founded Finland over these Islands
Sanibel
Florida Island on the Gulf Coast near Fort Myers known for seashells and bird Sanctuary
Rhodes
For 200 years the Knights Hospitaller ruled this Greek island that was formerly occupied by a 100 foot statue of Helios.
Samos
Greek island off the coast of Southwestern Turkey. Aristarchus of __________ was on the first to propose a Heliocentric world view. Birthplace of Pythagoras.
Dodecanese
Group of 15 larger (and 150 smaller) Greek islands in the SE Aegean Sea and Eastern Med. Sea; from Greek for "Twelve Islands";
South Orkney Islands
Group of islands in the Southern Ocean, north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and south of the Falklands. The islands are claimed both by Britain and by Argentina as part of Argentine Antarctica, and both have research stations on the islands.
Oahu
Hawaiian island with the capital city of Honolulu. Known as "the gathering place".
Ellis
Immigration processing center that opened in New York Harbor, though technially part of New Jersey. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 million immigrants were processed here.
Sicily
In the first Punic War, Rome conquered Corsica, Sardinia & this largest island of the Mediterranean.
Barbados
Independant island country originally settled by the british, it is the easternmost island in the Lesser Antilles. As a colony, its plantation system and harsh slave codes became the model for Southern colonies in North America. Capital is Bridgetown.
Dominica
Independent Caribbean island between Martinique and Guadeloupe, the "Nature Island of the Caribbean" The Sisserou parrot, also known as the Imperial amazon and found only on the island, is the national bird and featured on the national flag, making it one of the only two sovereign nations whose official flag features the color purple (the other is Nicaragua). Capital: Roseau
St. Lucia
Independent Island country in the Windward Islands. Because it switched so often between British and French control, was also known as the "Helen of the West" after the Greek mythological character, Helen of Troy. One of only two sovereign states in the world named after a woman (Ireland is named after the Celtic goddess of fertility Eire.) and this country is named after a Syracusan martyr who refused a suitor.
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Independent two-island Caribbean nation initially named by Columbus as Saint Christopher (after Columbus' Patron Saint) and the Spanish word for Snow, as Columbus saw white clouds atop the island's mountain peak. First British Colony in the West Indies in 1623.
Sumatra
Indonesian island located west of Java and south of the Malay peninsula. The second largest of the Greater Sunda Islands of the Malay Archipelago, 6th largest island in the world.
Cozumel
Island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. Noted tourist destination.
Ellesmere Island
Island containing Cape Columbia, Canada's northernmost point. In the artic ocean. World's 10th largest.
Sao Tome and Principe
Island country in the Bight of Biafra/Bonny. Uninhabited until the Portuguese colonized in the 15th Century. The second smallest African nation after the Seychelles.
Faroe
Island country located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway between Norway and Iceland. Like Greenland, it is a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Vanuatu
Island group formerly known as the New Hebrides in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, consisting of a chain of 13 principal and many smaller islands located about 500 miles (800 km) west of Fiji and 1,100 miles (1,770 km) east of Australia. Espiritu Santu is the largest island, while Efate (containing capital of Port Vila) is the most populous.
Falkland
Island group is also known as the Islas Malvinas. Settled in 1833, it produces 80% of the UK's wool per year. It was invaded in 1982, but a British task force liberated it in the May of that year.
Dry Tortugas
Island group of Florida West of Key West that are a national park; The park's centerpiece is Fort Jefferson, a massive but unfinished coastal fortress. Named because Ponce De Leon caught 160 sea turtles here in 1513. The name is the second oldest surviving European place-name in the US. Dr. Samuel Mudd, famous for being the doctor who treated John Wilkes Booth in the wake of the Lincoln assassination, was imprisoned here for conspiracy with three others until early 1869, when he was pardoned after averting a viral outbreak.
Shetland
Island group that is the northernmost part of UK. Islands are north of Scotland, between Atlantic Ocean and North Sea. The islands' administrative centre and only burgh is Lerwick. Strong Scandanavian influences. Known for a type of pony and sheepdog.
Elephantine Island
Island in Nile, part of city of Aswan; Border between Egypt and Nubia; Defensive site and cargo transfer point for river trade. The island may have received its name after its shape, which is similar to that of an elephant tusk, or from the rounded rocks along the banks resembling elephants.
Mayotte
Island in the Comoros Archipelago, became an overseas department of France in March 2011 after a 2009 referendum in which 95.5 percent of the vote. Became France's 101st Département. Still contested by Comoros, which criticizes French military base there. Far higher GDP than Comoros, and has significant illegal immigration issues, as a result.
Euboea
Island just off central/northern Greece, second largest Greek Island after Crete. Separated from mainland by just 40m. The Euripis Strait where Agamemnon's fleet was stuck, he sacrificed Iphigenia to appease Artemis after he killed a sacred stag.
Bioko
Island of Equatorial Guinea, northeast of Sao Tome and Principe.
Chincoteague
Island off Virginia, with wild ponies; These ponies and the annual Pony Penning Day are the subject of Marguerite Henry's 1947 children's book Misty of __________. Also the name of a variety of Oyster. Smaller but more populated island along the bay sharing its name.
Mackinac
Island right between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. Tourist destination and State park that notably doesn't allow automobiles.
Réunion
Island southwest of Mauritius that holds the status of a region of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic. Originally known as Ile Bourbon, it was renamed after the French Revolution. This country and the fellow French overseas department of Mayotte are the only eurozone regions located in the Southern Hemisphere.
Tangier Island
Island within the Chesapeake Bay, known for oyster and crab harvesting. Many people who live here speak a distinctive dialect of American English because of their isolation. The island may be uninhabitable due to sea level rise by the middle of the 21st Century
Solomon Islands
Islands east of New Guinea, west of FST (Fiji Samoa Tonga), that includes the island of Guadacanal and its capital Honiara. Recently made headlines for a security/economic pact made with China.
San Juan
Islands in the center of the Salish Sea between Washington and Vancouver Island. There are no bridges linking them to the mainland, even though they are very close to it. Its major population center is Friday Harbor. Includes _____ ____ Island as well as Shaw, Lopez, Decatur and Blakely Islands, and also Orcas island, known for Killer Whale watching.
South Shetland Islands
Islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula, in Drake's Passage (part of the southern Atlantic Ocean). By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories[citation needed] and they are free for use by any signatory for non-military purposes. The closeset group of islands to the Antarctic Peninsula.
Isle of Arran
Isle of _________, the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland.
Man
Isle of _____________, British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. Celtic language dialect AND cat breed from here is called Manx. Bolstered by its status as a tax haven and offshore banking destination. Insurance and online gambling each generate 17% of the GNP.
Wight
Isle of ______________,Second-most populous island of England, located in the English Channel south of Hampshire. Popular holiday destinations since Victorian times, the island has been home to the poets Algernon Charles Swinburne and Alfred, Lord Tennyson and to Queen Victoria, who built her summer residence and final home Osborne House at East Cowes on the Isle. Known for its music festival, which in 1970 was the largest rock music event ever held.
Socotra
Isolated island of Yemen who trees are said to contain dragon's blood. Up to a third of its plant life is endemic. It has been described as "the most alien-looking place on Earth.
Messina
It's the strait dividing Sicily from Italy's toe, or a city on the strait.
Pantelleria
Italian island in the Strait of Sicily, between Sicily and Tunisia. Small but strategically important, was frequently conquered throughout history, including Phoenecians, Carthaginians, Romans (who made it a penal colony), Arabs, Sicilians, Italians, and Allies during WWII.
Martha's Vineyard
The third-largest island on the U.S. East Coast (after Long Island and Mount Desert Island). A longtime New England summer colony, its population is 17,265. Associated with the Kennedy and Clinton families. Until the middle of the 20th Century, was known for a high rate of hereditary deafness, and a unique form of sign language developed on the island, different from ASL.
Borneo
The world's third largest island. Includes three different countries. Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.
Majorca and Minorca
These two Spanish islands in the Balearic Islands get their names from their relative size to each other. In the Mediterranean.
Kyushu
Third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa). Closest to Asia. Contains the cities of Fukuoka and Kitakyushu,
Seikan Tunnel
This 33 mile undersea tunnel connects Hokkaido and Honshu through the Tsugaru Strait.
Madagascar
This 4th largest island in the world was originally called Lemuria because of its Lemur population.
Nova Scotia
This Canadian province consists of a large island & a peninsula attached to New Brunswick.
Bora Bora
This alliterative "B" island paradise northwest of Tahiti. Island Group in the Leeward Islands west of Tahiti. Part of French Polynesia.
St. Johns
This capital of Antigua & Barbuda shares its name with the capital of Newfoundland. (2,164 miles to the north)
Papeete
This capital of French Polynesia has over half the population of the island of Tahiti.
Padre
This is a long, thin barrier island off the southern part of the east coast of Texas. Running 113 miles, it is the longest barrier island in the world, situated between the Laguna Madre and the Gulf of Mexico. The outer coast of this island is a national seashore and South Padre Island is a resort community. Second largest island in the contiguous U.S. after Long Island.
Baffin
This is the largest island in Canada, and the fifth largest in the world. It is in the territory of Nunavut. Mostly uninhabited except for a few small Iqaluit villages.
Aquidneck
This is the largest island in Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, and its largest city is Newport, a summer resort town known for its mansions.
Timor
This island is split between two countries, Indonesia in the west and East ________ in the east.
Palermo
This port on the Tyrrhenian Sea is Sicily's capital & largest city.
British Virgin
Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with more than 50 other smaller islands and cays make up the ___________ ____________ Islands. Capital: Road Town
Nantucket
Tourist destination and summer colony south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The city from which the Pequod starts its journey in Moby Dick, and the city where American whaling first began. The island's name is used as a rhyming device in a noted limerick.
Antigua & Barbuda
Two-island nation in the northeast of the Lesser Antilles. Capital is St. John's.
Murano
Venetian island considered one of the major centers of decorative glass production.
Margarita
Venezuelan resort island and duty-free port lying just east of the ABC islands.
Sardinia
Victor Emmanuel I ruled over this fishy-sounding kingdom, also the name of an Italian island. (He later became ruler of all of Italy)
Innisfree
WB Yeats Poem based on a real uninhabited island within Lough Gill, in Ireland, near which Yeats spent his summers as a child. The Lake Isle of _______________ I will arise and go now, and go to _____________, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
Copenhagen
What major city is located on Sjaelland Island?
Nauru
With only a 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) area, ____ is the third-smallest country in the world behind Vatican City and Monaco, making it the smallest republic as well as the smallest island nation. Second-smallest population in the world (after Vatican). Known for its phosphate reserves, which have been mined since the 19th century.
Greenland
World's largest island! Part of Denmark. Called "Kalaallit Nunaat" in local language.
Hawai'i (Big Island)
Youngest Hawaiian Island becuase there are still active volcanoes (Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea), making it a hot spot and islands are still being formed; high elevation with observatories.
Taiwan
Yushan, or Jade Mountain, in this island republic is the highest point the Tropic of Cancer crosses.
Pitcairn
Its population is descended from the mutineers of the British ship HMS Bounty and their Tahitian Polynesian consorts. In 1789, on a voyage from Tahiti to the West Indies with a cargo of breadfruit saplings, the crew, led by the first mate, Fletcher Christian, mutinied and set their captain, William Bligh, and a number of loyal sailors adrift. They went ashore, and then burned the ship. The island community survived in obscurity until it was discovered by American whalers in 1808.
Honshu
Japan's largest island, with 81% of Japan's population. 7th largest in the world. Location of Tokyo & Mount Fuji. Second largest island by population in the world (after Java)
Hokkaido
Japan's northernmost and second largest island. The Tsugaru Strait separates it from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. Largest city is Sapporo.
Maui
Known also as "The Valley Isle," is the second largest Hawaiian island. The island known for beaches, the sacred Iao Valley, and the active volcano Haleakala.
Kauai
Known also as the "Garden Isle" - Known for dramatic forested landscape - Jurassic Park filmed there.
Queen Charlotte Islands
Known as Haida Gwai since 2010, Canadian Archipelago in British Columbia that consists of two main islands: Graham Island (Kiis Gwaay) in the north and Moresby Island. Traditional heartland of the Haida people.
Admiralty
Large island across from Juneau Alaska called "the Fortress of the Bears;" It is one of the ABC islands of Alaska. The island is nearly cut in two by the Seymour Canal; to its east is the long, narrow Glass Peninsula.
Aran islands
________ Islands, a Group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland: Inishmore, which is the largest; Inishmaan, the second-largest; and Inisheer. Fairly isolated, site of many monastaries and large percentage of population is still primarily Irish-speaking. Islands share name with a type of cable-knit sweater.
San Blas
________ Islands, an Archipelago of Panama, in the Caribbean, a haven for ecotourism and sailing because of its pristine environs and lack of hurricanes.
Chios
Large island in the Aegean south of Troy, between Lesbos and Samos. Notable for its exports of mastic gum and its nickname is "the Mastic Island". Tourist attractions include its medieval villages and the 11th-century monastery of Nea Moni, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Known for massacre represented by famous Delacroix painting in which tens of thousands of Greeks on the island were massacred by Ottoman troops during the Greek War of Independence in 1822.
Anticosti
Large, untamed wilderness island at the mouth of the Saint Lawrence, part of Quebec. Larger than Prince Edward Island but sparsely populated (218 people in 2016), with most of the permanent population in the village of Port-Menier on the western tip of the island, consisting chiefly of the keepers of the lighthouses erected by the Canadian government.
Java
Largest Island by population in the world. Holds more than 50 percent of the population of Indonesia. The capital Jakarta is on this island.
Cuba
Largest Island in the Caribbean, 90 miles off the coast of Florida. Revolution was from 1953-1959.
Isle Royale
Largest island in Lake Superior that has 30 lakes of its own. Known for its timber wolf and moose populations which are studied by scientists investigating predator-prey relationships in a closed environment.
Cape Breton
Largest island of Nova Scotia, named after the island's easternmost point. Separated from mainland peninsula by the 2-mile wide Strait of Canso (southwest), also the Cabot Strait (north) and Northumberland Strait (west). Eastern land terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway and the Canadian National Railway.
Mount Desert Island
Largest island off the coast of Maine, largest on Eastern Seaboard besides Long Island. Part of Acadia National Park; contains Cadillac Mountain (highest point in Acadia)
Isle of Capri
Located in the Tyrrhenian Sea on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, it has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic. Roman Emperor Tiberius built a series of villas here, the most famous of which is the Villa Jovis, one of the best-preserved Roman villas in Italy. In 27 AD, Tiberius permanently moved to the island, running the Empire from there until his death in 37 AD.
Revillagigedo
Located in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Mexico, this archipelago is made up of four remote islands and their surrounding waters: San Benedicto, Socorro, Roca Partida and Clarión. This archipelago is part of a submerged mountain range, with the four islands representing the peaks of volcanoes emerging above sea level.
Assateague
Long barrier island located off the eastern coast of Delmarva Peninsula. The northern two-thirds of the island is in Maryland while the southern third is in Virginia. Noted for its wild pony herds.
New Ireland
Major island of Papua New Guinea lying northeast of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by Saint George's Channel.
Fiji
Major tourist-destination nation with Vanuatu to the west and Tonga to the East, with one of the most developed economies in the Pacific Islands region. 87% of the total population of 883,483 live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts: either in the capital city of Suva.
Brahmaputra
Majuli, in the __________________ River in India, is recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest inhabited riverine island, at 880 square kilometres, surrounded
Huron
Manitoulin Island, the largest freshwater island in the world, is in what North American lake?
Anguilla
Most northerly of the Leeward Islands, British overseas territory and popular tourist destination. Name is an Italian word in reference to the island's long shape, meaning "eel." Most populous town is "The Valley."
Tenerife
Most populated of the Canary Islands (administered by Spain). The Canary Islands name comes from the Latin Canis, and has nothing to do with little yellow birds.
Jan Mayen
Mountainous volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean owned by Norway; east of Greenland and north of Norway; may have been discovered by Henry Hudson. The only inhabitants on the island are personnel working for the Norwegian Armed Forces and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Eighteen people spend the winter on the island, but the population may roughly double (35) during the summer, when heavy maintenance is performed. No real resources on the island besides gravel, but fishing and possibly oil rights in the nearby sea are important for Norway.
Hispaniola
Name of the Island containing Haiti and The Dominican Republic
Ascension
Named after the day of its recorded discovery, was an important safe haven as a coaling station to mariners and a refueling stop for commercial airliners. Location of a Royal Air Force base and a European Space Agency rocket tracking station. The island was used extensively as a staging point by the British military during the Falklands War.
Tierra Del Fuego
Named in 1520 by Ferdinand Magellan when he sailed through the eponymous strait that separates the island from the rest of South America. The diarist of the voyage, Antonio Pigafetta, records that the fires were those of the indigenous population, not volcanic activity.
Long
New York Island containing Brooklyn and Queens. More than half of New York City's residents live on this island. Montauk is on the far eastern point of the island. Largest island in the Continental U.S. despite being 11th largest in the country.
Lesbos
North Aegean island that was home to the Greek poet Sappho
Iceland
North Atlantic Island with the world's oldest continuing democracy. Part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that rises above sea level, and its central volcanic plateau is erupting almost constantly. Third least densely populated country in the world (after Mongolia and Namibia).
Brother
North ___________ island in the Hudson River was a quarantine area for those suffering from smallpox and tuberculosis that at one point, it housed Typhoid Mary. After its closure in the 1950s, the island became a bird sanctuary and public access (save for occasional and few photographers) was restricted severely. The adjacent South ___________ Island was an early city dump.
Luzon
Northern island of Philippines; conquered by Spain during the 1560s; site of major Catholic missionary effort. The location of Manila.
Prince of Wales
Off the coast of Alaska in the Alexander Archipelago, it is the fourth-largest island in the United States (after Hawaii, Kodiak Island, and Puerto Rico). Not to be confused with island of same name in the northern reaches of the Arctic.
Jersey
Officially the Bailiwick of __________, the largest of the English Channel Islands is a self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. Technically not part of the U.K. Known for its famous zoo that breeds endangered animals.
Alexander
_________ Archipelago off the coast of southeastern Alaska that extends for 300 miles, named after Russian Tsar of mid 1800s. It is made up of the tops of submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply out of the Pacific Ocean, and its islands are separated from each other and the mainland by deep channels and fjords. This archipelago is characterized by steep coasts and evergreen and temperate rainforests, and the vast majority of its thousand-plus islands are part of the Tongass National Forest. Includes the Alaskan ABC Islands as well as Prince of Wales Island.
Cyclades
group of islands in the Aegean Sea, between mainland Greece and Crete.
Baranof
home to Sitka, AK; It is the smallest of the ABC islands of Alaska.
Kiribati
independent island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. The permanent population is over 119,000 (2020), more than half of whom live on Tarawa atoll. The only country in the world to be situated in all four cardinal hemispheres, and some of its islands are in the world's farthest forward time zone, UTC+14:00.
Campobello
off New Brunswick near the border of Maine, site of FDR's summer home;
Kodiak
the second largest island in the U.S. (after Hawaii), located on the south coast of Alaska. Key wild-life breeding place threatened by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. One of the largest subspecies of brown bear is named for this island.
Sulawesi
the third-largest island in Indonesia,
Attu
westernmost point of Alaska and the U.S. In 1942, 44 people were living on this island when Japan invaded and captured them. In the Aleutians island chain.
Patmos
Greek island in the Dodecanese where John received the visions from Revelation, and where the book was written
Mykonos
Greek island known for its party life, beaches, and picturesque whitewashed seaside towns. In the Cyclades group of the Aegean sea.
Formentera
Balearic Island known as a hippie destination. With Ibiza, one of the "Pine Islands."
Dauphin
Barrier island and resort location off Alabama in Mobile Bay; The island (originally named "Massacre Island") was renamed for Louis XIV's great-grandson and heir. Was origianlly the entry port to French Louisiana.
Hilton Head
Barrier island off the coast of South Carolina. Huge Tourist attraction from golf, tennis, and sun and surf. It became an important base of operations for the Union blockade of the Southern ports during the Civil War
Diamond Rock
Basalt island in Caribbean island of Martinique, a volcanic rock plug. Its claim to fame is the role that it played in the Napoleonic Wars.
Ocracoke
Blackbeard was killed at ______________ Island on the southern edge of the Outer Banks.
Guadeloupe
French Caribbean island favored by Club Med, it is a Département of France. Islands include Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the two inhabited Îles des Saintes—as well as many uninhabited islands and outcroppings. Capital is Basse-Terre, but most populated center is Les Abymes and business center is Pointe-à-pitre. Columbus visited the island in 1493 and gave it the name after Santa Maria de __________, a famous shrine to the Virgin Mary in a Spanish town.
St. Barthelemy
French Overseas Collectivity famously geared towards the high-end, luxury tourist market. Named after a saint but also Christopher Columbus' younger brother. It is the only Caribbean island that was a Swedish colony for any significant length of time. King Louis XVI traded the island to Sweden in 1784 in return for trading privileges in Gothenburg, and the Swedes named it Gustavia after the Swedish King at the time. Symbolism from the Swedish national arms, the Three Crowns, still appears in the island's coat of arms. Following a hurricane and volcano, Sweden sold the island back to France in 1878.
Martinique
French département/island in the Caribbean. On 8 May 1902, Mont Pelée erupted and completely destroyed St. Pierre, killing 30,000 people. Shortly thereafter the capital shifted to Fort-de-France, where it remains today. Aimé Cesaire is famous writer/activist from this island, and Josephine Bonaparte was born there.
Cythera (Kythira)
Greek Island between Peloponnese peninsula and Crete. Flowering island associated with Aphrodite, said to have been birthed from sea foam near the island. Famous Rococo painting by Watteau "Embarkation to _________"
Delos
Greek Island near the center of the Aegean where Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis. Eventually acquiring Panhellenic religious significance, it was a religious pilgrimage site for the Ionians. Headquarters for league of city-states between Second Persian War and Peloponnesian war.
Rapa Nui
Original name of Easter Island, location of the famous Moai statues. Dependency of Chile.
Tahiti
Paul Gauguin mainly painted on this island (although later resettled on the Marquesas before his death)
Devil's
Penal island off South America's French Guiana; Opened in 1852, it was notorious for being used for internal exile of French political prisoners during that period, the most famous of which was Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Henri Charrière's bestselling book Papillon (1969) describes his successful escape from this island.
Tonga
Polynesian archipelago consisting of 169 islands scattered over 270,000 sq mi of the southern Pacific Ocean. East of Fiji and South of Samoa. Ruled by a Constitutional Monarchy. Home of a Pacific maritime empire from the 10th to the 15th Century.
Madeira
Portuguese islands in the Macaronesia region of the Atlantic that were early locations for the plantation slavery model. A popular year-round resort, being visited every year by about 1.4 million tourists, almost six times its population. Famous for the fortified wine which shares its name. Three islands are uninhabited, and are considered to be homes to some of the rarest flora and fungi in the Western Hemisphere. Capital/Largest City: Funchal
Novaya Zemlya
Russian Arctic Archipelago. It houses the easternmost point of Europe: Cape Flissingsky on the Northern island. One of the two major nuclear test sites managed by the USSR, in particular the October 30, 1961 air burst explosion of Tsar Bomba, the largest, most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. The __________ ___________ Effect is a polar mirage caused by high refraction of sunlight between atmospheric thermal layer, giving the impression that the sun is rising earlier than it actually does or the sun is setting later than it actually does, and sometimes presents the Sun as a line or a series of lines (which is sometimes referred to as the "rectangular sun"
US Virgin
Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas make up the _______________________________ Islands. Capital: Charlotte Amelie.
Channel
Santa Catalina, San Clemente, Santa Cruz, and San Miguel off the coast of L.A. and Santa Barbara are known as the __________ islands (not to be confused with Jersey & Guernsey)
New Guinea
Second-largest island in the world, split by Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
Mull
Second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute. Fourth largest Island in the British Isles.
Hainan
Separated from the mainland by a narrow strait, China's smallest province is this island in the South China Sea, next to Gulf of Tonkin.
Robeson Channel
Separates Canada's Ellesmere Island from Greenland
