Why is Australia considered an island and a continent, but Greenland is not?
A Yahoo! Search on the keywords “Australia,” “Greenland,” “island,” and “continent” resulted in this excellent comparative analysis by Joshua Calder, who hosts an extremely informative site dedicated to island geography. The primary reason for granting Australia continental status seems to be geological. Australia, which is often called the “island continent,” sits on its own tectonic plate, while Greenland is geologically part of North America. Australia also has completely unique flora and fauna, while Greenland’s wildlife is shared with North America. That being said, there’s no final answer on this one. Geologically, Madagascar could be defined as a continent. And when you think about it, Europe might seem like just a group of peninsulas extending westward from Asia. The dictionary simply defines Australia as
