Demystified / Geography & Travel

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

At about 3 million square miles (7.7 million square km), Australia is the smallest continent on Earth. In fact, it’s closer in size to Greenland than it is to South America. Does that make Australia an island like Greenland?

Although Australia is sometimes called an “island continent,” most geographers consider islands and continents to be separate things. According to Britannica, an island is a mass of land that is both “entirely surrounded by water” and also “smaller than a continent.” By that definition, Australia can’t be an island because it’s already a continent.

But in that case, what’s the difference between Australia and Greenland? Why isn’t Greenland (at 836,000 square miles [2,165,230 square km]) considered a continent instead of just the world’s largest island? Unfortunately, there isn’t a strict scientific definition of a continent. But there are a few criteria that are commonly used to distinguish one continent from another.

First, there is a geological distinction. While Australia and most of Asia are situated on separate tectonic plates, Greenland shares a tectonic plate with North America. Second, there is a biological distinction. While a large percentage of Australia’s plant and animal species can be found nowhere else in the world, fewer of Greenland’s species are unique. Third, there is an anthropological distinction. Aboriginal people are limited to Australia, while indigenous Greenlanders belong to a group of peoples (the Inuit) found throughout the Arctic, including parts of Canada, the United States, and Russia.

While each of those criteria may not be sufficient on its own—for instance, Europe and Asia also share a tectonic plate but are usually considered separate continents for cultural reasons—together they form a general understanding of what qualifies as a continent.

Of course, there’s also the basic matter of size. Australia is nearly four times as large as Greenland. If they were much closer in area, Greenland might have more of a case for continent status (and Australia for island status). As it is, the vast difference between the two makes for a good dividing line.