River island

This article is about river islands as geomorphic formations. For the UK retailer, see River Island.
"Towheads" redirects here. For the 2013 film, see Towheads (2013 film).
The river island Sihoť, Bratislava (Slovakia)
Satellite picture of Csepel Island in Hungary

A river island or river archipelago is any landmass or fluvial landform within a river.

Regional variations

Look up towhead in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The term "towhead" implies a little islet or sandbar within a river (most often the Mississippi River) having a grouping or thicket of trees, and is often used in the Midwestern United States. Many rivers, if wide enough, can house considerably large islands. The term "towhead" was popularised by Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

In England, a river island in the Thames is referred to as an "ait" (or "eyot").

Lists of river islands

Largest river islands in the world

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Majuli in India is recognised by Guinness Book of World Records as World's Largest River Island.[1]

Name Area (km²) Country River
Area around Kampala, Uganda 61,000 (approx.) Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo Victoria Nile, Katonga River, Kazinga channel, Semliki River
Marajó 40,100 Brazil Amazon River / Pará River
Ilha do Bananal 19,162 Brazil Araguaia River
Tupinambarana 11,850 Brazil Amazon River
Nile Delta 8,964 Egypt Rosetta and Damietta branches of Nile River
Holland/Utrecht 7,361 Netherlands Rhine River IJssel River
Ilha Grande de Gurupá 4,864 Brazil Amazon River
Margarita Island (Colombia) 2,832[2] Colombia Magdalena River
Uarini Island 2,339 Brazil Uarini River, Amazon River
Boven Digul 2,171 Indonesia Digul River, Kawaga River
Richards Island 2,165 Canada Mackenzie River
Krasnoslobodsk 2,002 Russia Volga River, Akhtuba River
Veľký Žitný ostrov 1,885.2[3] Slovakia Danube
Hatiya Island 1,508.23 Bangladesh Meghna River
Letea Island 1,480 Romania Danube River
Camargue 1,453 France Grand Rhone, Petit Rhone
Bhola Island 1,441 Bangladesh Meghna River
Majuli 1,250 India Brahmaputra River
Ile a Mofil 1,250 Senegal Senegal River
Zhongshan Island 1,055.42 China Pearl River
Chongming Island 1,041.21 China Yangtze River
Dibru Saikhowa 765 India Brahmaputra River
Sandwip Island 762.42 Bangladesh Meghna River
Great Brăila Island 720.2 Romania Danube
Sumba Island 500[4] Democratic Republic of Congo Congo River
Montreal 499 Canada St. Lawrence River, Ottawa River
Szigetköz 375 Hungary, Slovakia Danube
Manpura Island 373 Bangladesh Meghna
Inhacamba 340 Mozambique Zambezi
Hoeksche Waard 323.74 Netherlands Oude Maas, Nieuwe Maas
Csepel Island 257 Hungary Danube
Île Jésus 242 Canada Rivière des Mille Îles, Rivière des Prairies
Voorne-Putten 220 Netherlands Oude Maas, Nieuwe Maas
Hisingen 199 Sweden Göta älv
Mosqueiro 191 Brazil Amazon River
Mbamou Island 180 Congo-Brazzaville[4] Congo River
Roberts Island 133[5] United States San Joaquin River
Union Island 130[5] United States San Joaquin River
Davis Island 120 United States Mississippi River
Sarpinskiy Island 110 Russia Volga River
Sauvie Island 105 United States Columbia River
Dordrecht Island 79.53 Netherlands Oude Maas, Hollands Diep
Srirangam 74.4 India Kaveri[6]
Grand Island 73.8 United States Niagara River
Ostrvo 60 Serbia Danube
Manhattan Island 59 United States Hudson River/East River
Hengsha Island 55.74 China Yangtze River
Woodford Island 37 Australia Clarence River
Wilhelmsburg 35.3 Germany Elbe
Isla Teja 15 Chile Cau-Cau River/Cruces River/Valdivia River
Srirangapatna 13 India Kaveri
Shivanasamudram [7]India Kaveri
Khortytsia 23.59 Ukraine Dnieper River
Bhavani Island 0.53 India Krishna River

Most populous river islands

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Name Population Area [km²] Country City River
Zhongshan Island 2,300,000 (2008) 59 China Macau, Zhongshan, Zhuhai Pearl River
Montreal 1,854,442 499 Canada Montreal St. Lawrence River
Manhattan Island 1,634,795 (2008) 59 United States New York City Hudson River/East River
Ile Jesus 401,550 242 Canada Laval St. Lawrence River
Veľký Žitný ostrov 226,446 (2001) 1,885 Slovakia several Danube
Vasilievsky Island 202,650 (2002) 10.9 Russia St. Petersburg Bolshaya Neva/Malaya Neva
Lulu Island 168,162 122.4 Canada Richmond Fraser
Csepel Island 166,953 (2012) 257 Hungary diverse Danube
Majuli 140,000 422 India Vaishnavite Shrines Brahmaputra River
Hisingen 130,000 199 Sweden Gothenburg Göta älv
Wilhelmsburg 49,132 (2006) 35.3 Germany Hamburg Elbe
Mosqueiro 27,000 191 Brazil Belém Amazon River
Srirangapatna 23,448 (2001) 13 India Srirangapatna Kaveri

See also

References

  1. ↑ Majuli, River Island. "Largest river island". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Río Grande de la Magdalena - Colección Ecológica del Banco". Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Žitný ostrov". Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Largest Islands of Countries". Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 "SUMMARY REPORT ROBERTS ISLAND AND UNION ISLAND RIPARIAN WATER RIGHTS INVESTIGATION, SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, CA, JUNE 2008" (PDF).
  6. ↑ W. Francis (1906). Gazetteer of South India. p. 199.
  7. ↑ Shivanasamudra
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.