An island is a small place of land surrounded by different water bodies. It is smaller than the continent in terms of size. There are two major types of islands: continental islands and oceanic islands. The islands that are formed on the continental shelf are known as continental islands. Greenland is one such example of a continental island. Oceanic islands are those which arise from the ocean bed due to earthquakes etc. Iceland is an example of an oceanic island.
Apart from these two, there are many man-made islands which are not formed by nature but by human efforts. There are many different names for islands depending upon the water that surrounds them. For example, islands that are formed near a river or lake are called eyot. Very small islands are called islets, cays etc.