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An island is an area of land surrounded by water on all sides that is distinct from a continent. [1] There is no standard of size that distinguishes islands and continents. Continents have an accepted geological definition – they are the largest landmass of a particular tectonic plate. [2]
This is a list of island countries. An island is a landmass (smaller than a continent ) that is surrounded by water. [ 1 ] Many island countries are spread over an archipelago , as is the case with Indonesia , Japan , and the Philippines —these countries consist of thousands of islands.
Continental landmasses are not usually classified as islands despite being completely surrounded by water. [Note 1] However, because the definition of continent varies between geographers, the Americas are sometimes defined as two separate continents while mainland Australia is sometimes defined as an island as well as a continent.
An island country, island state, or island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. [1] Island countries are historically more stable [1] than many continental states but are vulnerable to conquest by naval superpowers.
An uninhabited island, desert island, or deserted island, is an island, islet or atoll which lacks permanent human population. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereotypes for the idea of " paradise ".
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An island that is located where the ocean water temperatures are just sufficiently warm for upward reef growth to keep pace with the rate of subsidence is said to be at the Darwin Point. Islands in colder, more polar regions evolve toward seamounts or guyots ; warmer, more equatorial islands evolve toward atolls, for example Kure Atoll .
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