New islands are islands which have been created recently, whether by means of vulcanism

Vulcanism

Vulcanism may refer to* Volcanism or volcanic activity.* Plutonism, a scientific theory of the Earth....

, erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

, glacial retreat

Retreat of glaciers since 1850

The retreat of glaciers since 1850 affects the availability of fresh water for irrigation and domestic use, mountain recreation, animals and plants that depend on glacier-melt, and in the longer term, the level of the oceans...

, or other mechanisms. One of the most famous new volcanic islands is the small island of Surtsey

Surtsey

Surtsey is a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland. At it is also the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began 130 metres below sea level, and reached the surface on 15 November 1963. The eruption lasted until 5 June 1967, when the island...

, located in the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 south of Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

. It first emerged from the ocean surface only in 1963. In 1965, it was declared a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 for the study of ecological succession

Ecological succession

Ecological succession, is the phenomenon or process by which a community progressively transforms itself until a stable community is formed. It is a fundamental concept in ecology, and refers to more or less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological community...

; 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

Krakatoa

Krakatoa is a volcanic island made of a'a lava in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. The name is used for the island group, the main island , and the volcano as a whole. The island exploded in 1883, killing approximately 40,000 people, although some estimates...

", which formed in the flooded caldera

Caldera

A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...

 of that notorious volcano in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

), which only emerged in 1930. Ample rainforests have grown there, though they are often destroyed by frequent eruptions

Volcano

2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

. A population of many wild animals, including insects, birds, humanborne rats, and even monitor lizards, have also settled there.

Uunartoq Qeqertoq

Uunartoq Qeqertoq

Uunartoq Qeqertaq, Greenlandic for "The Warming Island", is an island discovered in September 2005 by American explorer Dennis Schmitt off the east central coast of Greenland, north of the Arctic Circle...

 is an island off the east coast of Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

 that appeared to have split from the mainland due to 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 Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

n Islands of the southwest Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. By the end of the activity, however, the new land mass was connected to Hunga Ha'apai.

List of recently created islands

This is a list of submarine volcanoes that later became new volcanic islands between the 20th and the 21st century. Aside from Anak Krakatau, only Surtsey and Home Reef are currently islands, and Surtsey is the only one that is expected to survive.

Name of the island	Land formation year(s)
Home Reef Home Reef Home Reef is an ephemeral island built by a submarine volcano whose top has repeatedly breached the surface and was subsequently eroded by wave action again...	2006, 1984
Kavachi Kavachi Kavachi is one of the most active submarine volcanoes in the south-west Pacific Ocean. Located south of Vangunu Island in the Solomon Islands, it is named after a sea god of the New Georgia Group islanders, and is also referred to locally as Rejo te Kavachi...	1999-2003, 1991, 1986, 1978, 1976, 1969-70, 1965, 1963-64, 1961, 1958, 1952-53
Metis Shoal Metis Shoal Metis Shoal is a shoal at the top of a submarine volcano, located between the islands of Kao and Late in Tonga. When the volcano erupted in 1995 a 43 metre high island formed, composed of a solid lava dome above the surface...	1995, 1979, 1967-68
Fukutoku-Okanoba Fukutoku-Okanoba Fukutoku-Okanoba is a submarine volcano that is part of the Volcano Islands in the Bonin Islands of Japan. It is located 5 kilometers northeast of the island of South Iwo Jima.- History :...	1986, 1974-75, 1914, 1904-05
Kuwae Kuwae Kuwae is a submarine caldera between Epi and Tongoa islands. Kuwae Caldera cuts through the flank of the Tavani Ruru volcano on Epi and the northwest end of Tongoa....	1974, 1971, 1959, 1949, 1948, 1923-25
Surtsey Surtsey Surtsey is a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland. At it is also the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began 130 metres below sea level, and reached the surface on 15 November 1963. The eruption lasted until 5 June 1967, when the island...	1963-67
Myōjin-shō Myojin-sho is a submarine volcano located about 450 kilometers south of Tokyo on the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge in the Izu Islands. Volcanic activity has been detected there since 1869...	1952-53, 1946
Anak Krakatau	1927-30
Fonuafo'ou	1927-28
Banua Wuhu Banua Wuhu Banua Wuhu submarine volcano rises more than 400 m from the sea floor in the Sangihe Islands of Indonesia. Historical records show that several ephemeral islands were formed and disappeared. A 90 m high island was formed in 1835, but then dwindled to only a few rocks in 1848. A new island...	1918-19, 1904