An islet is a very small, often unnamed

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

. 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 charac ...

and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or

hard coral Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...

; 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 processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock ...

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 The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean 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 large ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

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 p ...

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 intel ...

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 The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

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

, especially in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

and West Atlantic.

Rum Cay Rum Cay (formerly known as Mamana and Santa Maria de la Concepción) is an island and district of the Bahamas. It measures in area, it is located at Lat.: N23 42' 30" - Long.: W 74 50' 00". It has many rolling hills that rise to about 120 feet (3 ...

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 a ...

and the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a 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 Miami, and e ...

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, and ...

are examples of islets. * The French suffix ''

-hou ''-hou'' or ''hou'' is a place-name element found commonly in the Norman toponymy of the Channel Islands and continental Normandy. Etymology and signification Its etymology and meaning are disputed, but most specialists think it comes from Sax ...

'' 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 Burhou (pronounced ''ber-ROO'') is a small island about northwest of Alderney that is part of the Channel Islands. It has no permanent residents, and is a bird sanctuary, so landing there is banned from March 15 to August 1. The island's wildl ...

, Lihou and

Les Houmets Les Houmets are to the east of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Their name derives from a diminutive of ''hou'', a Norman/Guernésiais word meaning islets. They are tidal islands. Among the islets are Houmet Benest/Houmet Benêt, Houmet Para ...

, 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 Tatihou is an islet of Normandy in France with an area of . It is located to the east of the Cotentin peninsula just off the coast near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. It is almost uninhabited, and is usually reached by amphibious craft although, bein ...

. * 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 ...

, from the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, an ...

''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. * 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 se ...

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 gro ...

, 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 River Island is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores and online. Best known for its trend focused womenswear offering, River Isl ...

, 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. Si ...

. * A rock, in the sense of a type of islet, is an uninhabited landform composed of exposed rocks, lying offshore, and having at most minimal vegetation, such as Albino Rock in the Palm Island group 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 , establishe ...

, Australia. *

Sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. ...

or shoal, an exposed

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. ...

. *

Sea stack A stack or sea stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and water, processes of coastal geomorphology ...

, a thin, vertical landform jutting out of a body of water. *

Skerry A skerry is a small rocky island, or islet, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack. A skerry may have vegetative life such as moss and small, hardy grasses. They ar ...

, a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation, especially in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. * 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 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 a ...

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 ...

) 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 A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

." 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 ...

.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 Eurone ...

, 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 accordan ...

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, a ...

, the southernmost point of The

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

* Aplin Islet (Queensland) *

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. ...

* Auster Lake Islet *

Ball's Pyramid Ball's Pyramid is an erosional remnant of a shield volcano and caldera lying southeast of Lord Howe Island in the Pacific Ocean. It is high, while measuring in length and only across, making it the tallest volcanic stack in the world. B ...

, South Pacific *

Bay Islet Bay Islet or See Chau () is an uninhabited island in Sai Kung District, Hong Kong. Geography Bay Islet is located in Rocky Harbour, also known as Leung Shuen Wan Hoi, and is separated from Jin Island Jin Island or Tiu Chung Chau () is an isl ...

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 List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

* 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island o ...

, southeastern Australia * Bushy Islet (Queensland) * 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) * Clubes Island,

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, Spain * Cone Islet, southeastern Australia * Douglas Islet (Queensland) * Dry Tortugas,

, USA * Dugay Islet, southeastern Australia * Edwards Islet, southeastern Australia * Enekalamur in Majuro, Marshall Islands * Enemanit in Majuro, Marshall Islands *

Fairway Rock Fairway Rock ( ik, Ugiiyaq) ( Census block 1047, Nome, Alaska) is a small islet with mostly vertical rock faces in the Bering Strait, located southeast of the Diomede Islands and west of Alaska's Cape Prince of Wales. Part of Alaska, a U. ...

, Bering Strait * Fastnet Rock, Ireland * Filfla, southern Malta *

Formigas The Formigas Islets ( pt, Ilhéus das Formigas ; literally, ''Islets of the Ants''), sometimes referred to as the Formigas Bank, are a group of uninhabited rocky outcroppings in the eastern group of the Azores archipelago, an autonomous region ...

, 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 Gáshólmur is a small islet on the southside of Sørvágsfjørður in the Faroe Islands. To the east of the islet lies another islet, Tindhólmur. The islet is uninhabited, and the only living creatures are seabirds and sheep rams, which are p ...

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

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

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, Turkey * Halfway Islet, 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, a ...

* Île Vierge, France *

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of th ...

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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

* 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

* Islets of Caroline Island, in

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

* Islets of Mauritius * Isla de Alborán, Spain, Western Mediterranean * Jardine Islet (Queensland) *

Jethou Jethou ( ) is a small island that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is privately leased from the Crown, and not open to the public. Resembling the top of a wooded knoll it is immediately south of Herm and covers a ...

Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (french: Bailliage de Guernesey; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is an island country off the coast of France as one of the three Crown Dependencies. Separated from the Duchy of Normandy by and under t ...

* 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 no ...

* Klein Bonaire,

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 The Liancourt Rocks, also known by their Korean name of Dokdo or their Japanese name of Takeshima,; ; . form a group of islets in the Sea of Japan between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago. The Liancourt Rocks comprise tw ...

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,

* Magra Islet (Queensland) * Mañagaha,

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 (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

Martin Islet (New South Wales) Martin Islet () is a small island lying just off Red Point, Port Kembla in New South Wales, Australia. William Martin The Five Islands, of which Martin Islet is one, were named Martins Isles by Matthew Flinders and George Bass after Bass's n ...

* Mid Woody Islet, southeastern Australia * Milman Islet (Queensland) * Monchique Islet, Europe's westernmost point, in the

, Portugal * Noorderhaaks, off the coast of the Netherlands * Oodaaq, Greenland * Parece Vela, 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 = , capi ...

* Velika Sestrica,

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 = , capi ...

Rockall Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland ...

, 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) * Seacrow Islet, southeastern Australia * Shag Rocks, South Atlantic * Silver Islet, Ontario * Sinclair Islet (Queensland) * 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) *

Tindhólmur Tindhólmur is an islet on the southside of Sørvágsfjørður, west of Vágar in the Faroe Islands. It has its name from the five peaks, which are named ''Ytsti, Arni, Lítli, Breiði, Bogni'' (Farthest, Eagle, Small, Broad, Bent). The islet is ...

, Faroe Islands * Vilkitsky Island, Arctic Ocean * Wallace Islet (Queensland) * Wachusett Reef, Ernest Legouve Reef, and Maria Theresa Reef, South Pacific Ocean * Westward Islet, 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 is ...

* Ynys Lawd,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Notes

References

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