# Should this really count as an island? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 8, 2018, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501 "2018-07-08T00:24:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/41 "2018-07-09T04:01:34Z")
May I suggest the use of one of those things called “adjectives”? It’s an artificial island, with the “artificial” part used only if it’s relevant. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/42 "2018-07-09T06:01:17Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > For this argument, you chose the one continent literally called ‘the island continent’? I chose the one Britannica specifically says—citing geographers—is NOT an island, because it is a continent. This is also what I was taught in school growing up in three disparate regions of the country, but I never thought it made a lot of sense. > [@kunilou](#): > > Playing with “Measure Distance” on Google produces an area of roughly 3 square miles. That gives it a larger land area than Wake Island in the Pacific, Ellis Island in New York Harbor, and Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, among others. “It” being…? To which island are you referring? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/43 "2018-07-09T06:52:58Z")
There’s a relatively famous court case that ruled that Long Island, New York is NOT an island. (I’ll Google for a cite if there’s interest and nobody beats me to it.) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/44 "2018-07-09T07:05:21Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Does it count if it becomes an island only by human intervention? I live on a “surrounded by water completely” island which you have to cross water to get to, but it wasn’t a true island until a canal was dug. It’s still called a peninsula. According to [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island): when a piece of land is separated from the mainland by a man-made canal, for example the Peloponnese by the Corinth Canal or Marble Hill in northern Manhattan during the time between the building of the United States Ship Canal and the filling-in of the Harlem River which surrounded the area, it is\*\* generally not considered an island.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/45 "2018-07-09T07:13:16Z")
Interesting. But I assume such status can be artificially taken away, by filling in water? > [@septimus](#): > > There’s a relatively famous court case that ruled that Long Island, New York is NOT an island. (I’ll Google for a cite if there’s interest and nobody beats me to it.) I’m interested! Even though I am more sympathetic to their claim than the one in my OP. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/46 "2018-07-09T08:33:43Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Sorry, but when I am treading water in a swimming pool, I am an island… Nope. As all of your parts beneath the waterline are free-floating, you are a ship. Or possibly a boat. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/47 "2018-07-09T09:36:08Z")
> [@Monocracy](#): > > So does that mean all of New England, Eastern New York and a piece of Canada is one big island? It’s bordered by the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, the St Lawrence River, and the Atlantic Ocean. Since completion of the Panama Canal, shouldn’t we have North Amer-island and South Amer-island? ---
**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:** [July 9, 2018, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/48 "2018-07-09T10:06:49Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > Since completion of the Panama Canal, shouldn’t we have North Amer-island and South Amer-island? Since the completion of the Suez canal, there’s the island of Africa and the island of Eurasia. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/49 "2018-07-09T10:49:26Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Sorry, but when I am treading water in a swimming pool, I am an island. > [@RobDog](#): > > Nope. As all of your parts beneath the waterline are free-floating, you are a ship. Or possibly a boat. No. Man is an island. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/50 "2018-07-09T11:30:50Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/51 "2018-07-09T11:49:12Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > According to [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island): > when a piece of land is separated from the mainland by a man-made canal, for example the Peloponnese by the Corinth Canal or Marble Hill in northern Manhattan during the time between the building of the United States Ship Canal and the filling-in of the Harlem River which surrounded the area, it is\*\* generally not considered an island.\*\* If artificial canals counted, then [pretty much the entire outer edge of the US east coast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intracoastal_Waterway) would be islands. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/52 "2018-07-09T13:18:51Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m interested! Even though I am more sympathetic to their claim than the one in my OP. I’ll link to my 2016 post in “Any Disputed US State Borders?”: > [@Any Disputed US State Borders?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-disputed-us-state-borders/770437/39): > > Although no land boundaries were in dispute, there was a disagreement between states like Rhode Island and the Federal Government over who controlled the waters of Long Island and Block Island Sounds. [In 1985 the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Maine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Maine) that Long Island was not a natural island and that Long Island Sound was therefore a juridical bay under Article 7(6). Thus the waters west of the line from Montauk Point to Watch Hill Point are internal state waters. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/53 "2018-07-09T13:26:32Z")
Well, I used to live in Blue Island, and it’s neither blue nor an island. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/54 "2018-07-09T16:13:27Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > There’s a relatively famous court case that ruled that Long Island, New York is NOT an island. (I’ll Google for a cite if there’s interest and nobody beats me to it.) [Here you go](http://mentalfloss.com/article/76297/sort-bogus-reason-long-island-isnt-considered-island). I was unaware. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/55 "2018-07-09T16:43:24Z")
Very interesting indeed. Now I just need them to endorse my commonsense ratio argument. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/56 "2018-07-09T16:49:38Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Nope. As all of your parts beneath the waterline are free-floating, you are a ship. Or possibly a boat. Does that make an anchored ship an island? ---
**Author:** ![merrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@merrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrick)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/57 "2018-07-09T19:20:47Z")
A chance to throw in a geographical oddity - the island of Seil, off the west coast of Scotland and the [bridge that spans the Atlantic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clachan_Bridge) Seil is an island in the same way that Manhattan is - it’s separated from the mainland by tidal straights, it’s just that the straights are very narrow compared to the size of the island. The only reasonable test for islandness is “is it completely separated from the mainland by (natural) water?” If you start trying to impose “commonsense rules” you wind up un-islanding indisputable islands that fail some arbitrary test. Incidentally, when googling on Seil I found a news item saying that the local authority had been denied extra funding given to “island communities”, on the grounds that it had a road link… ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/58 "2018-07-09T20:28:16Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Since the completion of the Suez canal, there’s the island of Africa and the island of Eurasia. Now, you’re just being silly. … although I do consider Pangaea qualified as an island a few years back. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/59 "2018-07-09T20:32:09Z")
> [@merrick](#): > > The only reasonable test for islandness is “is it completely separated from the mainland by (natural) water?” You’re certainly entitled to prefer that test, but it’s going a bit far to declare all other standards to be unreasonable. Your standard may have broadness working for it, but then how do you define “mainland”? All land is completely surrounded by water if you zoom out far enough. > [@merrick](#): > > If you start trying to impose “commonsense rules” you wind up un-islanding indisputable islands that fail some arbitrary test. That’s a strong statement. Can you back it up? Use the standard I posted upthread: what “indisputable” islands would it disqualify? And yes: with geography, sometimes things have to be arbitrary, as with Australia. (Happens in astronomy, too. I’m going to guess you don’t like the fact that the IAU took away planet status from Pluto?) > [@merrick](#): > > Incidentally, when googling on Seil I found a news item saying that the local authority had been denied extra funding given to “island communities”, on the grounds that it had a road link… Good! I agree: if you can drive there, it’s not the kind of place that should be benefiting from such programmes (not that I’m out to disqualify all islands connected to the mainland by bridges or tunnels, although that is another way you could go). ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501/60 "2018-07-09T20:34:10Z")
Then there are places that are surrounded by water during high tide, but not during low tide (In general, I’d say they aren’t islands) But Cana Island in Door County can be connected (by a causeway) depending on the water levels in Lake Michigan (and probably the wind) Last time I visted the causeway was covered by 6-10" of water (some folks walked, but you could take a trailer pulled by a tractor) Brian [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-this-really-count-as-an-island/817501.md?page=4)