# What's the largest island you can drive to from the mainland? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2023, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457 "2023-09-01T09:29:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [September 1, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/21 "2023-09-01T15:34:45Z")
I’m sorry my stupid joke has lead to a hijack. Please return to your regularly scheduled programming. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/22 "2023-09-01T15:52:07Z")
Though called Aquidneck Island it is actually named ‘Rhode Island’. Hence the basis of the original name of the state. We recently changed the name of the state from ‘Rhode Island and Providence Plantations’ to just ‘Rhode Island’. So the largest island in the state of Rhode Island is Rhode Island, but that island is not the entire state. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/23 "2023-09-01T16:17:24Z")
IIRC there is a tunnel between Labrador and Newfoundland at the nearest approach point (about 10mi) but it’s only for power cables. There have been proposals to make a rail tunnel/chunnel at the same point but the traffic and distance doesn’t necessarily warrant it. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/24 "2023-09-01T16:17:56Z")
There are no bridges or tunnels to [Bananal Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bananal_Island) in the Araguaia River in Brazil, but at 19,162 sq km, it may be the largest island you can reach by fording a river in a normal road vehicle. The river can only be forded for a few weeks every year in the dry season. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/25 "2023-09-01T16:27:38Z")
There’s also: [Palk Strait Bridge - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palk_Strait_bridge) > During the July 2023 a two day visit of [Sri Lankan President](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Sri_Lanka) [Ranil Wickramasinghe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranil_Wickremesinghe) to India, both nations agreed to conduct a feasibility study for a proposed bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka 65,601km^2 would probably be a winner. Also, with the Suez canal now built, would Africa be an island off the coast of the Sinai? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/26 "2023-09-01T16:36:02Z")
And another pie-in-the-sky is this: > The idea of building a [fixed link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge) between Sakhalin and the Russian mainland was first put forward in the 1930s. In the 1940s, an abortive attempt was made to link the island via a 10-kilometre-long (6 mi) undersea [tunnel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin_Tunnel).[[62]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin#cite_note-62) The project was abandoned under Premier [Nikita Khrushchev](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev). In 2000, the Russian government revived the idea, adding a suggestion that a 40-km (25 mile) long bridge could be constructed between Sakhalin and the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, providing Japan with a direct connection to the [Eurasian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasia) railway network. And also this: > The **Central Spine Road 2** or **Malacca Strait Bridge** ([Indonesian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_language): _ **Jembatan Selat Malaka** _ , [Malaysian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_language): _ **Jambatan Selat Melaka** _ or _ **JSM** _ and _ **Jembatan Selmal** _ ) is a proposed bridge that would connect [Telok Gong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telok_Gong), near [Masjid Tanah, Malacca](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masjid_Tanah,_Malacca) in [Peninsular Malaysia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsular_Malaysia) to [Rupat Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupat_Island) and [Dumai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumai) in [Sumatra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra) island, Indonesia.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacca_Strait_Bridge#cite_note-1) The project has been submitted for government approval, and is expected to take 10 years to complete. Once completed, the 48-kilometre-long (30 mi) bridge will be the [longest sea-crossing bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_bridges_in_the_world) in the world. The project will have two [cable-stayed bridges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable-stayed_bridge) and one [suspension bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_bridge), both the longest in the world. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/27 "2023-09-01T16:45:27Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Well…the Rhode Island government says: As a lifelong Rho Dislander, let me assure you we do NOT trust any data furnished by the government. Also, because of our fractal coastline, none of our miles are square. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/28 "2023-09-01T16:54:35Z")
> [@vbob](#): > > As a lifelong Rho Dislander, let me assure you we do NOT trust any data furnished by the government. Also, because of our fractal coastline, none of our miles are square. And it’s not called a plantation any more because it’s all been paved over? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/29 "2023-09-01T17:30:26Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > One answer to the OP is Greenland - for several months each year it’s theoretically possibly to drive there over the frozen sea, from Canada. I don’t think the Labrador Sea ever freezes over. There’s sea ice, certainly, but that forms more along the coasts of Greenland and Labrador. It’s about 1000 km wide. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/30 "2023-09-01T17:57:03Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > It’s awfully hard to find an island that is only connected to the mainland by tunnel. I’ll open the bidding with [Hitra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitra_(island)), Norway, with an area of 571.5 km2. Obviously this is much smaller than the others, and I expect that my fellow Dopers will be able to improve on it. I thought there’d be one somewhere in Asia, but so far no one’s supplied one. > [@kanicbird](#): > > Also Honshu, Japan at 87,992 sq miles, though it is the largest island there, so I’m not sure the OP counts it. As far as I know, Honshu is not connected to mainland Asia by bridge or tunnel. > [@MikeS](#): > > Also, I’m assuming that by “the mainland” the OP means “the large contiguous land masses of Eurasia, Africa, the Americas, or Australia.” Exactly. Although if someone ever builds a bridge in Antarctica, that would count as a mainland too. > [@kanicbird](#): > > Also how does one define the difference between a causeway and a bridge? Most causeways I know of appear to be just a very long bridge low to the water. I thought causeways were roads built on a narrow landfill. That is, water would not flow under them. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Long Island has multiple connections to the mainland and is 2,255 sq-km. > > I would think that is the biggest in North America. Cape Bretton and Prince Edward Is are larger. PEI is connected by bridge and, as said in the OP, Cape Bretton is connected by causeway. Long Island is the largest island in the contiguous US. The Big Island in Hawaii and several islands in Alaska are larger. None of those are connected by bridges as far as I know. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Vancouver Island is even bigger at 19,946 sq-km. but I don’t think you can drive there. I checked that one before writing the OP. I couldn’t find a bridge. > [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > One answer to the OP is Greenland - for several months each year it’s theoretically possibly to drive there over the frozen sea, from Canada. But of course there are no roads, and it’s not via tunnel, bridge, or causeway. Maybe there should also be a non-infrastructure category for that. That would include the “fording a river”, as someone added later. Simpler, though, is to say that the driving connection has to be there all year around, which would eliminate both. I think I’ll go with that. > [@kanicbird](#): > > > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > > Long Island has multiple connections to the mainland and is 2,255 sq-km. > > Possibly only 2 by road, depending on how ‘connection to the mainland’ is defined by the OP, which looking it up the word multiple would mean more than 2. Getting to the island by multiple bridge island hopping is allowed. Thus there are numerous ways to get from the mainland to Long Island. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/31 "2023-09-01T19:13:55Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > > > One answer to the OP is Greenland - for several months each year it’s theoretically possibly to drive there over the frozen sea, from Canada. > > I don’t think the Labrador Sea ever freezes over. There’s sea ice, certainly, but that forms more along the coasts of Greenland and Labrador. It’s about 1000 km wide. Back in the Goode Olde Days, my Rand McNally atlas from the 1950’s showed the northern and southern extent to Arctic Sea ice. I presume that information is severely outdated today. however, If you can drive to the North Pole, you just change the heading a bit on the way south again. Not that it gets you anywhere worthwhile. > [@dtilque](#): > > As far as I know, Honshu is not connected to mainland Asia by bridge or tunnel. But there is a railroad tunnel between Hokkaido and Honshu, which would be “mainland” for the Japanese. I suppose the Sakhalin connections would eventually qualify if they build it, but that’s a stretch. There’s also the possibility of tunnels “island-hopping” to South Korea, but that’s currently a non-starter because from there any rail connection would have to go through North Korea. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/32 "2023-09-01T19:29:53Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > There’s also the possibility of tunnels “island-hopping” to South Korea, but that’s currently a non-starter because from there any rail connection would have to go through North Korea. Just getting to S Korea would be all that’s required, since that’s part of the mainland. There doesn’t have to be a road/rail connection to the rest of Asia. However, note that I excluded rail tunnels and bridges in the OP. Only road connections are under discussion. I am surprised no one has found a bigger bridge-connected island than Zealand, which was in the OP. I spent very little time researching this and expected I missed some larger island. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/33 "2023-09-01T19:40:34Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > One answer to the OP is Greenland - for several months each year it’s theoretically possibly to drive there over the frozen sea, from Canada. There was a time when someone did drive a snowmobile across the ice bridge from the US of A to the USS of R. I guess you’d have to go the other way to suit the OP because in that case the mainland is Eurasia and the island is North America. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/34 "2023-09-01T19:47:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > the mainland is Eurasia and the island is North America. As far as the OP is concerned, Eurasia and North America are both mainlands. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/35 "2023-09-01T20:20:32Z")
Does the Corinth canal turn a peninsula into an island? IIRC it’s all at sea level. I assume a couple of well-places explosives could turn Crimea into a driveable island, if the bridge on the other side remians. > [@dtilque](#): > > Just getting to S Korea would be all that’s required, since that’s part of the mainland. Yes, my point was it’s not likely to be built any time soon since nowadays there’s nowhere to go from there. A 4-mile gap separates Tierra del Fuego from the mainland, too. Again, traffic volume probably doesn’t warrant such a construction. Isla Grande de Chiloe is only 1 mile or so from the Chile mainland. Manitoulin Island appears to be the biggest drive-to Island in a freshwater lake. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/36 "2023-09-01T20:36:48Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Does the Corinth canal turn a peninsula into an island? IIRC it’s all at sea level. Generally, canals are not considered to turn parts of mainland into islands. Otherwise, eastern North America, Europe and China would be large groupings of islands rather than mainland. Even sea level ones don’t do it. Cape Cod would be considered an island if that were an exception. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/37 "2023-09-01T20:53:22Z")
I was thinking of Sri Lanka, but the natural causeway leading there broke up a few hundred years ago. (And perhaps while the causeway existed you might quibble about the term “island”). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/38 "2023-09-02T00:45:11Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I checked that one before writing the OP. I couldn’t find a bridge. I was curious so I looked up why there is no bridge to Vancouver Island. It seems pretty close so would seem to make sense. But, it looks like it will never happen. While it is technically possible and could be built (many longer bridges exist) it would just be so colossally expensive that Canada will probably never try. > **[Why Vancouver Island will never get a bridge to the Mainland](https://www.capitaldaily.ca/news/bridge-fixed-link-vancouver-island-salish-sea)** > > Giving 500,000 people a more convenient ride to Vancouver would be the single most daunting engineering project in Canadian history From that article: > So, even at a low estimate of $22 billion, this would be infrastructure spending on a whole other scale. That’s enough money to fund the Canadian Armed Forces for an entire year. Or, it could [pay for 12 months of B.C. health expenditures](https://vancouversun.com/news/politics/b-c-budget-2019-health-care-spending-tops-20-billion-a-year). Or, it could cover B.C. Ferries’ [$783 million operating budget](https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/bc-ferries-releases-year-end-results-685965162.html) for the next 28 years. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/39 "2023-09-02T00:48:12Z")
The original route considered for the Canadian Pacific Railway was for it to end at Prince Rupert, then island hop with bridges to the north end of Vancouver Island. Was abandoned. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/40 "2023-09-02T01:52:14Z")
Rhode Island is a myth. Has anyone ever actually _met_ someone from there? Didn’t think so! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457.md?page=3)