# How many islands in the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-islands-in-the-world/407058 "2007-06-07T00:01:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-islands-in-the-world/407058/21 "2007-06-08T02:45:54Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] Like North+Central+South America? [/QUOTE] The continents are still continents because of social pressures. To change the meaning of that word would confuse too many people and lead to a lack of communication when dealing with people who don’t know the new meaning of “island”. But no, there isn’t really an objective reason why Eurasafrica is/are continents and other islands, some of which might be on their own continental plates, are not. Sure, if it were up to me, north,central, and south america would be counted as one island, as well as eurasafrica. Now, what’s really funky is when canals are taken into account. Is the Eastern US one (or more!) islands because it is separated from the rest of North America by the Mississippi/Chicago Canal/Great Lakes/Erie Canal/Hudson River? (I say or more because I’m not sure that there aren’t more canal systems there.) (Not to mention the obvious examples of the Suez and Panama Canal, but they are close enough to natural-looking boundaries that the case isn’t so blatant.) I can’t really come up with a reason to not have it be an island. But Intuition tells me that even if I had my druthers, the Eastern US is not an island in a way that South and North America obviously ARE. But I can’t really objectify it other than an appeal to naturality. But artifical island are patently islands. Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-islands-in-the-world/407058/22 "2007-06-08T02:56:29Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] 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. [/QUOTE] So you can split an island by digging an artificial canal? Hmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-islands-in-the-world/407058/23 "2007-06-08T11:19:43Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] Is the Eastern US one (or more!) islands because it is separated from the rest of North America by the Mississippi/Chicago Canal/Great Lakes/Erie Canal/Hudson River? (I say or more because I’m not sure that there aren’t more canal systems there.) (Not to mention the obvious examples of the Suez and Panama Canal, but they are close enough to natural-looking boundaries that the case isn’t so blatant.) I can’t really come up with a reason to not have it be an island. But Intuition tells me that even if I had my druthers, the Eastern US is not an island in a way that South and North America obviously ARE. But I can’t really objectify it other than an appeal to naturality. But artifical island are patently islands. Hmmm. [/QUOTE] If a canal (or a river-canal system) has locks in it, then it doesn’t split the island or continent into two. So the Panama Canal doesn’t split the Americas, because it has locks. However, some canals run at sea level, e.g, the Suez Canal and the Corinth Canal, so they split a continent or island. The Peloponnesus used to be a peninsula, but the Corinth Canal really turned it into an island. Of course, you can go the other way, and build an artificial causeway that turns an island into peninsula. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-islands-in-the-world/407058/24 "2007-06-08T12:32:59Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] Of course, you can go the other way, and build an artificial causeway that turns an island into peninsula. [/QUOTE] Does that mean that since the construction of the Channel Tunnel, the British mainland is no longer an island? Or doesn’t that count because it’s below sea level? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-islands-in-the-world/407058/25 "2007-06-08T13:01:08Z")
[QUOTE=Staggerlee] Does that mean that since the construction of the Channel Tunnel, the British mainland is no longer an island? Or doesn’t that count because it’s below sea level? [/QUOTE] I don’t think bridges and tunnels count – Manhattan is still an island. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-islands-in-the-world/407058/26 "2007-06-08T18:26:38Z")
The Sacramento River delta has countless islands… that’s right … COUNTLESS! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-islands-in-the-world/407058/27 "2007-06-08T18:58:31Z")
**Continents vs. Islands** : Continents have over a million square kilometers of area. Excepting Australia, they all have two or more mountain ranges (i.e., distinct cordilleras), while even the largest islands have at most only one. All continents also have a _craton_, a stable shield area which is geologically old; most if not all islands do not. There were suggestions some years back that Australia and Greenland might be removed from their present classifications to be dubbed _microcontinents_ – a structure common in historical geology and which they share the characteristics of, but which is not otherwise extant today. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-islands-in-the-world/407058/28 "2007-06-09T04:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=Jayrot] 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. [/QUOTE] I’m afraid I have to disagree with you, as we must include [Paul Simon](http://www.risa.co.uk/sla/song.php?songid=15438) in the count. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-islands-in-the-world/407058.md?page=1)