How many islands are there in the world?

While there is no definitive count of all the islands in the world, as of 2014, there are 443 islands in the world with a land area of 970 square miles or greater. There are at least 335 additional islands whose land area ranges from 190 to 970 square miles.

Islands are land masses completely surrounded by water. Oceanic islands are those that are in the middle of an ocean and are geologically unconnected to any continent. Continental islands have a geological relationship to their nearby continent. Islands occur in oceans, lakes, seas and rivers. The largest islands in the world are Greenland, New Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar, Baffin Island and Sumatra.