If You Could, Would You Live On An Island?

Of the 6 billion people in the world, 10 percent live on an island. That works out to be about 600 million people, and nearly half of that total, 240 million, live in Indonesia. Indonesia is nothing but islands – 13,667 of them.

How do you determine what is and what isn’t an island? In 1861 the British government decided if people lived on an island size didn't matter. But if nobody lived there it had to be at least two acres.

Under those rules, Canada has the most islands with over 200,000, most of them tiny.

What’s the largest island in the world? By far it’s Greenland. Australia is not an island – it’s a continent because it has plant and animal life unique from other continents.

The smallest island in the world is Bishop Rock. It’s in the southwest part of the United Kingdom. The only thing on it is a lighthouse.

The most isolated inhabited island in the world is Tristan da Cunha. It’s in the South Atlantic almost midway between South America and Africa. It’s dominated by a dormant volcano that last erupted in 1961.

It’s an English speaking British Colony 1500 miles from land in every direction. It has only one road, one policeman and one radio station. There are only seven surnames on Tristan da Cunha and all of the roughly 250 people who live there are related.