An islet is a very small, often unnamed

island An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely 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 ...

. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic charact ...

and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent or tidal (i.e. surfaced

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic processes—deposition (geology), deposition of ...

seamount A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise a ...

); and may exist in the sea,

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

s or any other sizeable

bodies of water A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ...

Definition

As suggested by its origin ''islette'', an

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligi ...

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A ( abbreviated ) is a word-form ...

of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability. The World Landforms website says, "An islet landform is generally considered to be a rock or small island that has little vegetation and cannot sustain human habitation", and further that size may vary from a few square feet to several square miles, with no specific rule pertaining to size.

Other terms

* Ait (/eɪt/, like eight) or eyot (/aɪ(ə)t, eɪt/), a small island. It is especially used to refer to river islands found on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

and its tributaries in England. * Cay or key, an islet formed by the accumulation of fine sand deposits atop a

, especially in the Caribbean and West Atlantic. Rum Cay in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

and the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of ...

off

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

are examples of islets. * The French suffix '' -hou'' from the Scandinavian ''-holm'', is used for the names of some islets in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey ...

, such as Écréhous, Burhou, Lihou and Les Houmets, and off

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, such as Tatihou. * Inch, a term used especially in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, from the Gaelic ''innis'', which originally meant island, but has been supplanted to refer to smaller islands, such the islet of Inch, off St Mary's Isle Priory, Inch Kenneth, Inchkeith,

Keith Inch Keith Inch (originally ''Keith Insche'', ''Keithinche'' or ''Caikinche'') is the easternmost point of mainland Scotland, having formerly been an island. It is located in Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, forming the north point of Peterhead Bay at . ...

(no longer an island) and

Inchcailloch Inchcailloch ( gd, Innis na Cailleach) is an islet on Loch Lomond in Scotland. It is at its highest point. It is also known to some as Inchebroida. The name Inchcailloch means "Isle of the old woman" or "Isle of the Cowled (Hooded) Woman" ...

. * Motu, a reef islet formed by broken

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...

and sand, surrounding an

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can ...

, especially in

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

, such as Motu One, Motu Nao and Motu Paahi. * River island, an islet within the current of a river, such as the Île de la Cité in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. * A rock, in the sense of a type of islet, is an uninhabited landform composed of exposed

rocks In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...

, lying offshore, and having at most minimal vegetation, such as Albino Rock in the

Palm Island group Palm Island is a locality consisting of an island group of 16 islands, split between the Shire of Hinchinbrook and the Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island, in Queensland, Australia. The locality coincides with the geographical entity known as the P ...

off

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. * Sandbar or shoal, an exposed sandbar. * Sea stack, a thin, vertical landform jutting out of a body of water. * Skerry, a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation, especially in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. * Subsidiary islets, a more technical application, is applied to small land features isolated by water, lying off the shore of a larger island. Similarly, any emergent land in an atoll is also called an islet. *

Tidal island A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands, many of them have been sites of ...

, small islands (not always islets) which lie closely off the coast of a

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

or a much larger island, being connected to it (and thus becomes a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the soft ...

) in low tide and isolated by a channel in high tide.

In international law

Whether an islet is considered a rock or not, it can have significant economic consequences under Article 121 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which stipulates that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf." One long-term dispute over the status of such an islet was that of

Snake Island (Black Sea) Snake Island, also known as Serpent Island or Zmiinyi Island ( uk, острів Змії́ний, ostriv Zmiinyi; ro, Insula Șerpilor; russian: Змеиный, Zmeinyy), is an island belonging to Ukraine located in the Black Sea, near the D ...

.Coalter G. Lathrop (July 22, 2009) "Maritime Delimitation in the Black Sea (Romania v. Ukraine)". American Journal of International Law, Vol. 103. Romania and Ukraine avoid rocky horror show

Euronews Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective. The majority of Euron ...

, 03/02/09 The

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

jurisprudence however sometimes ignores islets, regardless of inhabitation status, in deciding territorial disputes; it did so in 2009 in adjudicating the Romania-Ukraine dispute, and previously in the dispute between Libya and Malta involving the islet of Filfla.

List of islets

There are thousands of islets on Earth: approximately 24,000 islands and islets in the Stockholm archipelago alone. The following is a list of example islets from around the world. *

Águila Islet Águila Islet ( es, Islote Águila, "Eagle Islet") is the southernmost point of the American continent (including the islands, but not counting the South Sandwich Islands). It is part of the larger southern group of the Diego Ramírez Islands, ab ...

, the southernmost point of The Americas *

Aplin Islet (Queensland) Aplin Islet is a small island north of Shelburne Bay in far north Queensland, Australia about 140 km north of Cape Grenville, Cape York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Queensland, Australia. It is within the Shire of Cook. ...

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. Th ...

* Auster Lake Islet * Ball's Pyramid, South Pacific * Bay Islet or See Chau,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

* Bikirrin, in Majuro, Marshall Islands * Black Rock, South Atlantic * Boundary Islet, Australia * Bogskär, Finland *

Briggs Islet Briggs Islet is a small granite island, with an area of 3.4 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Great Dog Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait between Flinders and Cape Barren Islands in the Furneaux Group. I ...

, southeastern Australia *

Bushy Islet (Queensland) Bushy Islet is a one-mile-long islet in Queensland, Australia about from Woody Island and from Quoin Island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park of Queensland, Australia. It is approximately west of Cairncross Island. Bushy Islet is part ...

* Capitancillo Islet, in Bogo City, Cebu, Philippines * Chão, in the

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

Islands, Portugal *

Cholmondeley Islet (Queensland) Cholmondeley Islet is a small island in the Boydong cays Shelburne Bay in far north Queensland, Australia about 105 km north of Cape Grenville, Cape York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Queensland, Australia. It is a part ...

Clubes Island The Clubes Island (Portuguese: ''Ilha dos Clubes'') is the smallest of the three islands of Lake Paranoá in Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil. It is approximately 6m² in surface, is located close to the Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge Juscelino ...

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Columbretes Islands The Columbretes Islands ( ca-valencia, Les Columbretes, or ''Els Columbrets'' (), are a group of small uninhabited islets of volcanic origin, in the Mediterranean Sea, off Orpesa. Administratively they belong to Castellón de la Plana in the Val ...

, Spain * Cone Islet, southeastern Australia *

Douglas Islet (Queensland) Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park located about west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the seven Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most isolated of the Florida Keys. The archipelago's ...

, USA *

Dugay Islet Dugay Islet is a small island with an area of 0.44 ha in Bass Strait, north-western Tasmania. It is part of Tasmania's Hunter Island Group which lies between north-west Tasmania and King Island.On Geoscience Australia data bases as Dugay Is ...

, southeastern Australia * Edwards Islet, southeastern Australia * Enekalamur in Majuro, Marshall Islands * Enemanit in Majuro, Marshall Islands * Fairway Rock, Bering Strait * Fastnet Rock, Ireland * Filfla, southern Malta * Formigas, in the

Azores ) , motto= ( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem=( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

islands * Gáshólmur,

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

* Granite Island (South Australia), Victor Harbor, South Australia. * Galatasaray Islet,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey *

Halfway Islet Halfway Islet is a small island in the Boydong cays, Shelburne Bay in far north Queensland, Australia about 100 km north of Cape Grenville, Cape York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Queensland, Australia Australi ...

, Queensland, Australia * Herald Island,

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

* Île Vierge, France * Isles of Scilly,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

* Kid Island, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

* Islets of Caroline Island, in

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

Islets of Mauritius The Islets of Mauritius includes nearly a hundred tiny islets and rocks scattered around the coast of Mauritius as well as Rodrigues (island), Rodrigues. Île aux Cerfs Île aux Cerfs (French for ''deer island'') is an island near the east coa ...

* Isla de Alborán, Spain, Western Mediterranean *

Jardine Islet (Queensland) Jardine Islet is a small island in the Boydong cays, Shelburne Bay in far north Queensland, Australia about 100 km north of Cape Grenville, Cape York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Queensland, Australia. It is a part of th ...

* Jethou, Bailiwick of Guernsey * Keelung Islet, off the northern shore of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

Klein Bonaire Klein Bonaire ( Dutch for "Little Bonaire") is a small uninhabited islet off the west coast of the Caribbean island of Bonaire, and is part of the Dutch special municipality of Bonaire. Geography The Klein Bonaire islet, which sits within t ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

* Kolbeinsey, Iceland * Liancourt Rocks,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

* Lihou, Bailiwick of Guernsey *

Magra Islet (Queensland) Magra Islet is off the coast of Queensland, Australia 15 km northeast of Cape Grenville in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Situated on the north end of Cockburn reef, 2 1/2 km from Bootie Island; it is little more than a sandy shoa ...

Mañagaha Mañagaha is a small islet which lies off the west coast of Saipan within its lagoon in the Northern Mariana Islands. Although it has no permanent residents, Mañagaha is popular among Saipan's tourists as a day-trip destination due to its wide ...

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 est ...

* Martin Islet (New South Wales) *

Mid Woody Islet Mid Woody Islet is a small island, with an area of 0.66 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Tin Kettle Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait between Flinders and Cape Barren Islands in the Furneaux Group. The island i ...

, southeastern Australia *

Milman Islet (Queensland) Milman Islet is a small island north of Shelburne Bay in far north Queensland, Australia about 140 km North of Cape Grenville, Cape York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Queensland, Australia. It is a hawksbill turtle nestin ...

* Monchique Islet, Europe's westernmost point, in the

, Portugal * Noorderhaaks, off the coast of the Netherlands * Oodaaq, Greenland *

Parece Vela , or Parece Vela, is a coral reef with two rocks enlarged with tetrapod-cement structures. It is administered by Japan with a total shoal area of and land area . Its dry land area is mostly made up by three concrete encasings and there is a st ...

, West Pacific * Perejil Island, Strait of Gibraltar * Penguin Islet (Tasmania) * Pigeon Island, Sri Lanka * Pokonji Dol,

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Velika Sestrica Velika (Cyrillic: Велика; "great" (fem.) in South Slavic) may refer to: Places * Velika (bishopric), a medieval bishopric associated with Clement of Ohrid * Velika, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a village in Derventa * Velika Kladuša, Bosnia and ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

* Rockall, North Atlantic * Saint Peter and Saint Paul rocks, equatorial Atlantic * Salas y Gómez, Northeast from

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...

Saunders Islet (Queensland) Saunders Islet is a small island in the Northern part of Shelburne Bay in far north Queensland, Australia about 30 km north of Cape Grenville, Cape York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park ...

* Seacrow Islet, southeastern Australia * Shag Rocks, South Atlantic * Silver Islet, Ontario *

Sinclair Islet (Queensland) Sinclair Islet is a small island north of Shelburne Bay in far north Queensland, Australia about 150 km north of Cape Grenville, Cape York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Queensland, Australia. It is about 40 km ea ...

* Skull Islet, in British Columbia, Canada * Star Keys/Motuhope, New Zealand * Saltholm, small Islet in Oresund west of Copenhagen * Sue Islet (Queensland) * Sumbiarholmur, Faroe Islands * Sunday Islet (Queensland) * Taprobane Island, Sri Lanka *

Thomson Islet (Queensland) Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson Mic ...

* Tindhólmur, Faroe Islands * Vilkitsky Island, Arctic Ocean *

Wallace Islet (Queensland) Wallace Islet is a small island in the Boydong cays, Shelburne Bay in far north Queensland, Australia about 100 km north of Cape Grenville, Cape York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Queensland, Australia Australia ...

Wachusett Reef Wachusett Reef was a phantom reef in the Antarctic Ocean. Captain Lambert of the ship ''Wachusett'' reported that on June 4, 1899 he passed over a reef which appeared to be of coral formation in approximately latitude . The reef appeared to ...

Ernest Legouve Reef The Ernest Legouve Reef is a phantom reef supposed to be located in the South Pacific, south of French Tuamotu Islands and east of New Zealand. Krauth reports that it is situated at . According to a statement of the International Hydrographic ...

, and Maria Theresa Reef, South Pacific Ocean *

Westward Islet Ducie Island is an uninhabited atoll in the Pitcairn Islands. It lies east of Pitcairn Island, and east of Henderson Island, and has a total area of , which includes the lagoon. It is long, measured northeast to southwest, and about wide ...

, in the

Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four i ...

* Ynys Lawd,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Notes

References

* {{coastal geography Coastal and oceanic landforms Coastal geography Islands by type