Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, and a small island off the coast may be called a holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago, such as the Philippines.
List of island countries
This is a list of island countries. An island is a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water. Many island countries are spread over an archipelago, as is the case with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Indonesia (both of which consist of thousands of islands). Others consist of a single island, such as Nauru, or part of an island, such as Haiti. Although Australia is designated as a continent, it is often referred to as an island, as it has no land borders. Some declared island countries are not universally recognized as politically independent, such as Northern Cyprus. Some states, such as Taiwan, officially claim to hold continental territories but are "de facto" limited to control over islands.