About islands

  There are over 7.8 billion people living in the world as of 2020. Over 730 million of them live on one of the 11,000 permanently inhabited islands throughout the world's oceans, lakes, and seas. These 11,000 islands come in many shapes and sizes and account for nearly every biome. Some are densely populated and well-integrated into modern society, and others are among the most remote locations on the planet, subjecting their residents to total isolation. However, these 11,000 are just a small fraction of all the islands that exist throughout the world.

An island is most conventionally defined as an isolated landmass, smaller than a continent, that is surrounded on all sides by a body of water. There is no commonly held minimum size for an island, but many believe that an island should be able to support independent vegetation and be at least large enough for a tree to take root.