Geographically speaking, continents are bigger than islands.
Geologically speaking, they are different in their rock density. Continents are made up of low-density rock, so they float high on Earth's molten mantle like big rafts. Ocean crust is denser, so it floats low on the mantle. Most islands are really extensions of the ocean floor - undersea volcanoes pump out dense lava that cools into ocean floor crust and sometimes piles up above sea level.
An example often quoted is that of Australia (a continent) and Greenland (an island). Geographically, Australia is a continent, not an island. As a landform, it could be considered an island as it is entirely surrounded by water and not joined onto any other land mass. For this reason, it is often referred to as an island continent. Australia is too big to be formallyclassified as an island. The world's largest island is actually Greenland.
Another reason why Australia is also considered a continent is because it sits on its own tectonic plate. This is different from Greenland, which uses the same land mass as North America. That is why the geological appearances are much different in Australia than anywhere else. A place like Greenland shares the same geologic attributes as North America.
A continent is much larger than an island.
whether it is a big island or not, a continent is WAY bigger
The difference between a continent and a island is that continents sit on their own continental lithosphere and islands do not. Greenland is the largest island and Australia is the smallest continent.
a continent is a independent nation an island is just a chunk of land that is surrounded by water
Vietnam is part of the Eurasian Continent; Australia is a separate continent (or a very large island).
A continent is basically a massive island.
a continent is made up of countries
Australia is the only island continent between the south Pacific and Indian oceans. It is also the only continent that is also a country.
Channel
The European nations of Spain and Ireland are both located along the Atlantic coast of the continent. The time difference between the two countries is 1 hour.
New Zealand is an island nation in the southern hemisphere; France is one of the contiguous nations on the continent of Europe.
continent not an island