Australia is a continent but Greenland is an island? The answer is not clear-cut, but there are rational reasons behind it. The characteristics of continents are these: Areas of geologically stable continental crust, or cratons, tectonically independent from other continents Biological distinctiveness, with unique animal and plant life Cultural uniqueness Local belief in separate continental status Obviously, the first two are scientific, and the second two are more subjective. Compare Australia and Greenland, the largest island: Australia Greenland Tectonic independence from other continents YES NO Unique flora and fauna YES NO Unique cultures YES NO Local opinion MIXED ISLAND To elaborate: Australia is separated from all other continents by young oceanic crust. Greenland is geologically part of North America. Australia has highly distinct plants and animals. Greenland\'s are largely shared with northern North ...more

Greenland is an island

Because of its small population.

It isn\'t a continent. Greenland is an island. However, if you are talking about tectonic/continental plates, the island of greenland is part of the north american continental tectonic plate.It\'s in N. America but it belongs to Denmark.\"Greenland\") is a self-governed Danish territory lying between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Though geographically and ethnically an Arctic island nation associated with the continent of North America, politically and historically Greenland is closely tied to Europe. It is the largest non-continental island in the world.Generally a continent is one of the major land masses on earth. In every accepted definition of continents, Australia is always included as a continent (or is part of an \"Oceania\" continent) and Greenland is never included. Even though Australia is the smallest of the accepted continents, Australia is still more than 3.5 times larger than Greenland. There has to be a line in the sand between small co ...more

The characteristics of continents are these: Areas of geologically stable continental crust, or cratons, tectonically independent from other continents Biological distinctiveness, with unique animal and plant life Cultural uniqueness Local belief in separate continental status Obviously, the first two are scientific, and the second two are more subjective. AUSTRALIA QUALIFIES, WHEREAS GREENLAND DOES NOT