List – Top 10 Largest Artificial Islands in the World

      Artificial Islands have a long history beginning with land reclamations in Ancient Egypt, ceremonial centres in Pacific and floating islands on Lake Titicaca. Right now, there a lot of artificial islands all around the including two being constructed by PRC in South China Sea.

     We have gone through various Artificial Landfill Islands and have compiled the 10 Largest of them. Following below is the list which contains residential areas, ports and several airports and even one university.

10. WILLINGDON ISLAND 

  

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     Starting our list in number 10 is the Willingdon Island. It is the 10^th largest in the world and largest artificial island in India, which covers an area of 3.96 km². This island in located in the Vembanad Lake and hosts Customs Office, port, Kochi Naval Base and some hotels. This idea was put forward by Robert Bristow when he was appointed to modernize the Kochi Port during the British Rule over the country.

     The island was built in 1936 using dredged soil form the lake when lake deepening process were carried out to account for large ships. The port structures were completed in 1939 before the Second World War. RAF built an aerodrome due to the flat topography. Then the island was taken over by Royal Navy in 1942 and commissioned as HMS Garuda. After the war, it was decommissioned in 1946.

   After the independence, India developed the aerodrome and it served as a civilian airport until Kochi got its new international airport. The airport continued as a naval station as INS Garuda. The Southern Naval Command of Indian Navy, INS Vendruthy is also located on the island. It also serves as a part of Kochi Port along with Vallarpadam Island.

9. The 9^th place is shared between two Islands

PORT ISLAND

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     Port Island is situated at Chuo-ku, Kobe in Japan. The construction of the island began in 1966 and ended in 1981 at the Port of Kobe. As the name indicates, the right side of the island works as a container port. Apart from that, the island has a heliport, convention centers and several museums.

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     This 5.23 km² island also contains apartments with a population of around 15,000. Kobe Animal Kingdom and UCC Coffee Museum are some of the attractions in the island. It also contains a ferry port linking to the Kansai International Port and bridges to Kobe Port. Both these port are artificial islands in their own rights.

FUNDAO ISLAND

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     In 1983, Brazil built an artificial island in Rio de Janeiro and named it as Fundao Island. It covers an area of around 5.23 km². It is also known as Cidade Universitaria (City of University). The island is utilized by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, which is the largest federal university in the country with excellence in teaching and research.

8. ROKKO ISLAND

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     This island is located in Higashinada-ku, Kobe. It is the largest of the three artificial islands in the Kobe region. The others being the early mentioned Port Island and the Kobe Airport.  It is 3.4 km by 2 km rectangle shaped island with an area of 5.80 km².  The construction took place between 1973 and 1992.

 

     The main purpose of the island is to tackle the growing population of Kobe. It serves as a residential area and contains several museums, universities and international schools. It is connected to the main land through Rokko Liner, a driverless metro and also has ferry connections to Port Island.

7. PALM JUMEIRAH

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     It is one of the famed Palm Islands in Dubai. The construction of the archipelago started in 2001 used only sand and stones with no artificial building materials. The project was completed six years later. The total area of the island in around 6.5 km².

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     Palm Jumeirah is a part of a three-island project which included two more island projects – Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira. Palm Jebel Ali is discussed below and Palm Deira was converted into Deira Island Project containing four different islands. Since the desert emirate is surrounded by sand, 120 million cubic meters of the stuff were dredged from the bottom of the sea to form the island.

6. CHUBU CENTRAIR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

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     This airport is located on an artificial island in the Ise Bay, Tokoname, Japan. Centrair stands for Central Japan International Airport. The airport is located near Nagoya. Nagayo contains the headquarters of Toyota Motor Corporation and their production facilities along with Mitsubishi Motors’ production facilities.

     The construction of this 6.80 km² island began in 2000 and it came into operations in February 2005. In 2018, it received 4^th consecutive “The World’s Best Regional Airport” award from Skytrax. It is also the seventh best airport in the world.

5. PALM JEBEL ALI

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     Palm Jebel Ali is an artificial archipelago in Dubai. The construction began in October 2002 and was expected to be completed in 2008. The islands have been completed but the infrastructure works are currently put on hold. The total area is around 8 km². 

     The islands are expected to be almost seven to eight times larger than its sister Palm Jumeirah. The original plan of the islands contains marinas, theme parks and residential areas. About 70% of the residential areas were sold when the project was launched. Now it stands unfinished in the coasts of Dubai.

4. KANSAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

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     It is the First Ocean Airport in the world. The airport was completely built on a man-made island in the Osaka Bay, Japan. The airport is 5 km off the coast with an area of 10 km². The airport was opened in 1994 after 5 years of constructions.

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     It has two runways. One is 3.5 km in length and the other being 4 km in length. It also has one of the largest terminals in the world which is 1.7 km long. It provides major transit traffic routes to Southeast Asia and Oceania regions.

3. HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

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     Hong Kong international airport is also known as Chek Lap Kok Airport, this airport is located on a large artificial island formed by flattening and leveling Chek Lap Kok and Lam Chau Islands. The total area is around 12.48 km². The airport started functioning in 1998 after six years of construction.

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     This airport is one of the leading airports in the region. It has won “World Airport of the Year” seven times. It is also the third busiest airport in Asia in terms of passengers and second busiest in terms of cargo.

2. YAS ISLAND

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     Yas island is the second largest artificial island with an area of 25 km². The project was initiated in 2006 with an idea to convert it into a tourist hub. After less than 30 months, the island turned from desert to venue of celebrities when Abu Dhabi Grand Prix took place.

     It has a lot of attractions like Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld and Warner Bros. World. The latter is the world’s largest indoor theme park with an area of 150,835 square meters. It is considered as one of the best tourist destinations in the country.

1. FLEVOPOLDER

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     Flevopolder is located in the Flevoland, Netherlands. The land was built through land reclamation process from existing water bodies. It has an area of 970 km². The island was built as a part of Zuiderzee system of dams, dikes and drainage projects. The region is completely surrounded by lakes of Gooimeer, Veluwemeer and Ketelmeer giving it an island status and making it the Largest Artificial Asland in the World.

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     The works started by blocking the sea inlet using Afsluitdijk dam in 1932 to create the Ijssel Lake. Land reclamation started around 1957 and was completed in 1968. Now, the island is a part of Flevoland, the youngest province of Netherland. The cities of Lelysted and Almere are located on the island. The current population is over 400,000.