Smallest inhabited island in the world is 3,300 square feet island in New York

The smallest island in the world measures just 3,300 square feet, and is situated on the northern border of the US state of New York.

The National Geographic Society defines an island as a body of land surrounded by water with a much smaller land mass than a continent. While some pockets of land, like Bora Bora and Santorini, primarily act as luxury havens, others like Java, Honshu and Great Britain wear crowns for becoming the most populated islands on Earth.

According to scientists, there are around 11,000 inhabited islands on our planet, with the biggest being Greenland (836,330 sq miles).

This is what probably comes to mind for many when they think of an island (Getty Stock Image)

New Guinea (317,150 sq miles) and the island of Borneo (288,869 sq miles) come in second and third place — but where is the smallest?

Up until 1982, Bishop Rock - off the coast of Great Britain - was the smallest inhabited island, according to Guinness World Records.

However, it lost its prestigious title when its lighthouse became automated, thus rendering human presence unnecessary.

Now, the smallest island in the world is situated in Alexandria Bay, a village within the town of Alexandria, Jefferson County.

This bitesize plot of land takes up just 3,300 square feet on the Saint Lawrence River and is aptly called Just Room Enough Island, and sometimes The Hub.

The smallest island in the world is often referred to as The Hub (Wikimedia Commons)

The New York islet, considered part of the Thousand Islands archipelago, was purchased by the wealthy Sizeland family in the 1950s.

It was initially supposed to act as a remote vacation home for the clan but, for the last 40 years has been a place curious wanderers have been itching to catch a glimpse of.

“The speck of land squeezes a house and a couple of wrought-iron benches pushed hard up against the shingles onto its banks,” the Washington Post wrote in 2010. “One misstep and you’re swimming.”

While many of the uninhabited Thousand Islands are only big enough to host a single tree, this one has a whole house on it and can also have two trees or shrubs, writes the New York Post.

Pretty impressive right?

Some tourists board boats to catch a glimpse of the famous home (Google Maps)

While visitors are allowed to board boats to get a closer look at The Hub, it appears not every island in the world is oh-so-welcoming to tourists.

North Sentinel Island, one of 572 archipelagos making up the Andamans, is a place where visitors are banned.

The protected area is located in the Bay of Bengal and is the home to 500 native people called The Sentinelese.

Thought to be the most dangerous tribe in the world, The Sentinelese are known to brutally kill anyone who enters their territory. That's why there's a five-nautical miles (9.3 km) exclusion zone surrounding it.

So be wary of where you're planning on heading next time you're island hopping. You've been warned!

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