What is an island? In geography, there is no clear definition that distinguishes an island from a continent other than saying it is smaller than a continent.  Both terms, continent and island, are ambiguous and reveal the metaphorical quality of language. An island is a land mass surrounded by water.   A continent is a continuous mass of land.   Beyond these two definitions, or between them, are a range of complications and interpretations.  For example, in physical geographic, there is the idea of a continental shelf (submerged, shallow adjacent areas) and continental islands (islands on the shelf). There isn’t a specific definition and both are land masses in relation to water.

More specifically, Lewis, Martin W.; Kären E. Wigen (1997) in The Myth of Continents: a Critique of Metageography. Berkeley: University describes a continent as “”Continents are understood to be large, continuous, discrete masses of land, ideally separated by expanses of water.” The Princeton University Worldnet, a lexical database for English, defines an island as a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water. But nobody has determined the size at which an island becomes a continent (or sub continent).

The concept of an island also has a unique and deep association with people.  What is about the island that conjures up ideas of both isolation and vacation, stress and relaxation, fear and desire?