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The largest island in the world (not counting the continent of Australia) is:
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Answer: Option A — Greenland
Detailed Solution
Greenland, with an area of about 21.7 lakh square km (2.17 million square km), is the world's largest island. Australia is larger but is considered a continent, not an island.
Location and status:
- Greenland lies between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, north-east of Canada.
- Geographically, it is part of North America, but politically it is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
- It gained home rule in 1979 and wider self-government in 2009, and has its own parliament and government.
- Its capital is Nuuk.
The ice sheet:
- About 80 percent of Greenland is covered by an ice sheet, up to 3 km thick.
- The Greenland ice sheet is the second largest body of ice in the world, after the Antarctic ice sheet.
- If it melted completely, global sea level would rise by about 7 metres.
- It is melting faster because of global warming, contributing significantly to sea-level rise.
Population:
- Greenland has a very small population, about 56,000 people, mostly Inuit (Greenlanders), living along the ice-free coasts.
- It is the least densely populated country or territory in the world.
Economy:
- Fishing, especially of shrimp and halibut, is the main industry.
- It has deposits of rare earth elements, uranium, zinc and other minerals, which have attracted international interest.
Strategic importance:
- Its location between North America and Europe makes it strategically important; the USA has a military base at Pituffik (formerly Thule).
- In recent years, US leaders have expressed interest in acquiring Greenland, which has been firmly rejected by Denmark and Greenland's government.
Name:
The Norse explorer Erik the Red is said to have named it "Greenland" around 985 CE to attract settlers, even though most of it is covered in ice.
Largest islands of the world:
Greenland, New Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar, Baffin Island (Canada) and Sumatra.
Why not the other options?
- ✗New Guinea is the second largest, Borneo the third and Madagascar the fourth.
Quick tip
Remember: Largest island = Greenland (Denmark's autonomous territory); then New Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar.
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World Geography — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of World Geography, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the physical and political geography of the world: continents, major countries, mountain ranges, plateaus, rivers, deserts, grasslands, and the world's important cities, ports and resources. Exams test the longest rivers (the Nile and the Amazon), the highest peaks and the ranges they belong to, the largest deserts, and the local names of grasslands, such as the Prairies, Pampas, Steppes and Veld. Questions on cities located on rivers, such as Baghdad on the Tigris or London on the Thames, are also common. Practise the world geography questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.