List of islands created since the 20th century

(Redirected from List of recently born islands)

Below is a list of new islands created since the beginning of the 20th century by volcanism, erosion, glacial retreat, or other mechanisms. One of the most famous new volcanic islands is the small island of Surtsey, located in the Atlantic Ocean south of Iceland. It first emerged from the ocean surface in 1963. Two years later, Surtsey was declared a nature reserve for the study of ecological succession; plants, insects, birds, seals, and other forms of life have since established themselves on the island.

Another noted new island is Anak Krakatau (the so-called "child of Krakatoa", which formed in the flooded caldera of that notorious volcano in Indonesia), which emerged only in 1930. Ample rainforests have grown there, although they are often destroyed by frequent eruptions. A population of many wild animals, including insects, birds, humanborne rats, and even monitor lizards, have also settled there.

Didicas Volcano off the northern coast of Luzon Island in the Philippines, was first created during a four-year eruption from 1856 to 1860 but eventually got washed away. In 1900, three tall rock masses were left by another eruption. During the 1952 eruption, the island finally became permanent which was further bolstered by subsequent eruptions in 1969 and 1978 into a 228 metres (748 ft)-high island.

Uunartoq Qeqertoq is an island off the east coast of Greenland that appeared to have split from the mainland because of glacial retreat between 2002 and 2005; however, it is believed to have been a true island, with or without glacial covering, for many thousands of years.

In February and March 2009, a vigorous eruption created a new island near Hunga Ha'apai in the Tongan Islands of the southwest Pacific. By the end of the activity, however, the new land mass was connected to Hunga Ha'apai. Similar activity occurred again in December 2014 and January 2015.

On September 24, 2013 a new island named Zalzala Koh emerged off the coast of Gwadar, as a result of a strong earthquake that hit south and southwest Pakistan measuring 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale.

On November 21, 2013 an unnamed islet emerged off the coast of Nishinoshima, a small, uninhabited island in the Ogasawara chain, which is also known as the Bonin Islands. Less than four days after the new islet's emergence, it was about 200 metres (660 ft) in diameter.

In November 2023, a new island formed as a result of volcanic activity off the coast of Iwo Jima, reaching a diameter of 100 meters.

List of recently created islands

This is a list of new islands that formed during the 20th and the 21st centuries. Of those formed by submarine volcanoes, only Anak Krakatau and Surtsey are currently islands, and Surtsey is the only one that is expected to survive, Ilha Nova is now connected to Faial Island. Newly created landmass adjacent to Nishinoshima is now connected to Nishinoshima.

Name of the island	Country	Land formation year(s)
An unnamed island off of Iwo Jima	Japan	2023
Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai	Tonga	2022
Qeqertaq Avannarleq	Greenland	2021
Fukutoku-Okanoba	Japan	2021–2022, 1986, 1974–75, 1914, 1904–05
Metis Shoal	Tonga	2019, 1995–2019, 1979, 1967–68
Horseshoe Island	United States	2018
Shelly Island	United States	2017–2018
Shingle Island	United Kingdom	2016
Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai	Tonga	2014–15, 2009
Jadid Island	Yemen	2013
Nishinoshima Shintō	Japan	2013–15, 1973–74
Zalzala Koh	Pakistan	2013; disappeared 2016
Sholan Island	Yemen	2011
Sif Island	Antarctica	early 2010s
Malan Island	Pakistan	2010, 2004, 1999
Bhasan Char	Bangladesh	2006
Didicas Volcano	Philippines	1856–1860, 1900, 1952
Home Reef	Tonga	2022, 2006, 1984
Uunartoq Qeqertaq	Greenland	2005
Norderoogsand	Germany	1999
Kavachi	Solomon Islands	1999–2003, 1991, 1986, 1978, 1976, 1969–70, 1965, 1963–64, 1961, 1958, 1952–53
Blomstrandøya	Norway	1991
Kuwae	Vanuatu	1974, 1971, 1959, 1949, 1948, 1923–25
Jólnir	Iceland	1965–66
Surtsey	Iceland	1963–67
Tigres Island	Angola	1962
Sandy Point	Canada	1960s
Ilha Nova (Capelinhos)	Portugal	1957–58
Myōjin-shō	Japan	1952–53, 1946
Shōwa Iōjima	Japan	1934
Anak Krakatau	Indonesia	1927–30
Fonuafo'ou	Tonga	1927–28
Banua Wuhu	Indonesia	1918–19, 1904
Ferdinandea (Graham) island	Italy	1831–1832