The title says it all.
Jokingly, a friend told me I should rock* every island on the planet. How many is that? 50,000? 100,000? I mean, Philipines and Indonesia combine for almost 25,000, so there must be a lot, but how many?
*Rock [v, col.]
Drinking a 40, preferably in public, preferably from a brown bag, bonus points for singing Bon Jovi. This practice began on Staten Island.
The United Nations recognizes 1,991 islands.
I’d suspect this will vary a lot based on your criteria. When does something cease to be a “rock that pokes out of the water” and become an island? Do coral reefs count? Man-made islands? Fresh-water islands?
The Great Lakes alone have over 30,000 islands.
http://greatlakes.fws.gov/gli.htm
This article says there are from 20,000 to over 30,000 islands in the Pacific, excluding continental island groups like Indonesia, the Philipines, Japan, and the Aleutians.
Aaah yes, but what is a “40”?
A forty ounce bottle of beer.
Sounds like the OP will have to consume a few bottles then.
http://calbears.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20040926/ai_n10040549
I’m not sure who actually came up with this, possibly the U.S.G.S., but in reference to the St. Lawrence River’s Thousand Islands, which range from Wolfe and Wellesley Islands, both as large in area as a big city, down to single rocks sticking out of the water, the criterion was that an island must have one tree growing on it, or enough soil to support a healthy tree if one is not presently growing there. Off Clayton NY is Wuntry Island (pronounced one-tree), which barely meets the criterion.
By these standards, the Thousand Islands have about 1,400 islands. Lake Huron likewise has a large number of islands, mostly between the Booth Peninsula and the Straits of Mackinac/Sault Ste. Marie inlets.
There are some extremely extensive archipelagos around the world, from the Arctic Archipelago in Nunavut to the Malay Archipelago shared by Malaysia and Indonesia (plus three smaller nations).
According to Polycarp’s definition, this is an island. If that’s what they mean, then the OP has his work cut out for him.
Australia; island, continent, or both 
?
“That ain’t an island… THIS is an island.”
/Crocodile Dundee
In ham radio, this counts as an island.
I’d say an island is the largest unit of area one can make that is unconnected to another during “normal” water height, and never totally submerged during “normal” water height.
The “soil” and “tree” requirements would illegitimize newly-formed volcanic islands, some of which totally dwarf Squaw Island.
Looks up rules for islands. Ah here it is rule #12
If you have to wear a life jacket while visiting a place, you cannot call it an island.
Also rule #32 seems to apply
If you have to repel boarders, it is not an island. Islands get invaded.
Probably worth two 40s, just to be sure.
Well we can immediately eliminate all men from the count since “no man is an island”. We might need to include women, though. Donne was less than clear on them.
Like North+Central+South America?
No, like Eurasia+Africa
I think that’s two islands, because the Suez Canal runs at sea level. However, adding the continents as 4 or 5 islands really has much less effect than whether it’s high or low tide.
