islet n : a small island [syn: isle]

English

Etymology

From islette.

Noun

1. a small island

Related terms

• isle

Translations

See also

• islets of Langerhans

distinguish eyelet For human anatomy, see Islets of Langerhans

An islet is a small island.

Definition of Types

Rock

A "rock", sometimes a synonym for a type of "islet", is a landform composed of rock, lying offshore, having no or minimal vegetation, and uninhabited (see Mōkōlua Rock at right).

Sandbar

An exposed sandbar is another type of islet. A more technical application is to small land features, isolated by water, lying off the shore of a larger island. And in related fashion, any emergent land on an atoll (a type of island) is also called an islet.

Size

As with many of these terms, the actual size limits of islets are subjective, and vary.

Synonymous Terms

• Islets are often called cays or keys in the Caribbean and West Atlantic. Rum Cay in the Bahamas and the Florida Keys off Florida are examples of islets.

• In Scotland and Ireland, they are often called inches, from the Gaelic innis, which originally meant island, but has been supplanted to refer to smaller islands. In Ireland they are often termed skerries.

• In the Channel Islands, they are often identified by the suffix -hou from the Norse -holmr.

• Holm or Holmen is a common suffix too in Nordic and northern European lands ("holme" means "islet" in Norwegian).

List of islets

• Abagaitu Islet, China, in the Amur River, ceded by Russia
• Águila Islet, the southernmost point of The Americas
• Aplin Islet (Queensland)
• Bay Islet or See Chau, Hong Kong
• Boundary Islet, Australia
• Briggs Islet, southeastern Australia
• Bushy Islet (Queensland)
• Islets of Caroline Island, in Kiribati
• Chão, in the Madeira Islands, Portugal
• Cholmondeley Islet (Queensland)
• Cone Islet, southeastern Australia
• Douglas Islet (Queensland)
• Dugay Islet, southeastern Australia
• Edwards Islet, southeastern Australia
• Filfla, southern Malta
• Halfway Islet (Queensland)
• Imia/Kardak, between Greece and Turkey
• Jardine Islet (Queensland)
• Keelung Islet, off the northern shore of Taiwan
• Magra Islet (Queensland)
• Martin Islet (New South Wales)
• Islets of Mauritius
• Mid Woody Islet, southeastern Australia
• Milman Islet (Queensland)
• Monchique Islet, Europe's westernmost point, in the Azores, Portugal
• Penguin Islet (Tasmania)
• Rockall
• Saunders Islet (Queensland)
• Seacrow Islet, southeastern Australia
• Sinclair Islet (Queensland)
• Skull Islet, in British Columbia, Canada
• Silver Islet, Ontario
• Star Keys/Motuhope, New Zealand
• Sue Islet (Queensland)
• Sunday Islet (Queensland)
• Thomson Islet (Queensland)
• Wallace Islet (Queensland)
• Westward Islet, in the Pitcairn Islands