An island or isle is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water. Very small islands are called islets. It is also proper to call an emergent land feature on an atoll an islet, since an atoll is a type of island, although this convention is seldom adhered to. A key or cay is another name for a relatively small island or islet. The word island derives ultimately from the Old English word igland. It was originally spelled phonetically: iland. The letter "s" was added out of a mistaken belief that the word derived from isle (< Old French < Latin insula) + land, although no such etymological relationship existed.

There are three main types of islands: continental islands, river islands, and volcanic islands. There are also human-made or artificial islands. A grouping of related islands is called an archipelago.

Continental islands

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Continental islands are bodies of land that lie upon the continental shelf of a continent. Examples include Greenland and Sable Island off North America, Barbados and Trinidad off South America, Sicily off Europe, Sumatra and Java off Asia, New Guinea and Tasmania off Australia.

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