World's Most Amazing Islands

7/28/2019 World's Most Amazing Islands

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World's Most Amazing IslandsPublished on Yesterday 9/21/2007

GUNKANJIMA (Japan): the Ghost (and forbidden) Island

Gunkanjima is one among 505 uninhabited islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture about 15 kilometers

from Nagasaki itself. The island was populated from 1887 to 1974 as a coal mining facility. The

island's most notable features are the abandoned concrete buildings and the sea wall surrounding it.

It is known for its coal mines and their operation during the industrialization of Japan. Mitsubishi

bought the island in 1890 and began the project, the aim of which was retrieving coal from the

bottom of the sea. They built Japan's first large concrete building, a block of apartments in 1916 to

accommodate their burgeoning ranks of workers, and to protect against typhoon destruction.

In 1959, its population density was 835 people per hectare for the whole island, or 1,391 per hectare

for the residential district, one of the highest population density ever recorded worldwide. As

petroleum replaced coal in Japan in the 1960s, coal mines began shutting down all over the country,

and Hashima's mines were no exception. Mitsubishi officially announced the closing of the mine in

1974, and today it is empty and bare, which is why it's called the Ghost Island. Travel to Hashima is

currently prohibited.


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SURTSEY (Iceland): The emerging island

Off the coast of Iceland on the morning of 14 November 1963, the crew of a lone fishing trawler

spotted an alarming sight. Off to the southwest of the sleifur II, a column of dark smoke was rising

from the water. Concerned that it could be another boat on fire, the captain directed his vessel

towards the scene. Once there, however, they found not a boat but a series of violent explosions

producing ash. This was an unmistakable indication of a volcanic eruption taking place underwater,

close to the surface. Very aware of the potential danger but eager to watch, the crew kept their boat

nearby. It was indeed a remarkable event that they would witness a small part of over the course of

that morning: the formation of a brand-new island.

Although now quite visible, the eruption lasted for much, much longer than the sleifur II would

have been able to watch. After several days, the volcano had broken the water's surface, forming an

island over 500 meters long and 45 meters tall. Even though the rough tides of the North Atlantic

might have soon eroded the new island away, it was named Surtsey, meaning 'Surtur's island' -

Surtur (or Surtr) being a fire giant of Norse mythology. The island proved to be tenacious, however.

The eruption was ongoing and Surtsey increased in size more quickly than the ocean could wear it

down. In the meantime two other nearby volcanic eruptions produced the beginnings of islands, but

neither lasted very long. By April 1964, though, the most violent parts of the eruption were over andSurtsey remained.


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It was fairly clear that it was going to be a permanent island - or at least as permanent as anything

can be in geology. The explosions returned in August 1966, and only stopped when the entire

eruption finally came to an end in June 1967. Since then, the volcano has lain dormant. The island

was left 174 meters tall and about 2.8 square kilometers in size. At 33 kilometers south of the

mainland, it also marked the new southernmost point of Iceland.


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PALM ISLANDS (Dubai): the palm-shaped man-made island

The Palm Islands in Dubai are the three largest artificial islands in the world. They are being

constructed by Nakheel Properties, a property developer in the United Arab Emirates, who hired the

Dutch dredging and marine contractor Van Oord, one of the world's specialists in land reclamation.

The islands are The Palm Jumeirah, The Palm Jebel Ali and The Palm Deira. The Islands are

located off the coast of The United Arab Emirates in the Persian Gulf and will add 520 km of

beaches to the city of Dubai.

The first two islands will comprise approximately 100 million cubic meters of rock and sand. Palm

Deira will be composed of approximately 1 billion cubic meters of rock and sand. All materials will

be quarried in the UAE. Between the three islands there will be over 100 luxury hotels, exclusive

residential beach side villas and apartments, marinas, water theme parks, restaurants, shopping

malls, sports facilities and health spas. The creation of The Palm Jumeirah began in June 2001.

Shortly after, The Palm Jebel Ali was announced and reclamation work began. In 2004, The Palm

Deira, which will be almost as large in size as Paris, was announced. Palm Jumeirah is currently

open for development. Construction will be completed over the next 10-15 years.


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SEALAND (Principality): World's smallest island

The Principality of Sealand is an island and a micronation located on HM Fort Roughs, a former

Maunsell Sea Fort located in the North Sea 10 km (six miles) off the coast of Suffolk, England, in

what is claimed as territorial waters using a twelve-nautical-mile radius.

Since 1967, the installation has been occupied by associates and family of Paddy Roy Bates, a

former radio broadcaster and former British Army Major, who claims that it is a sovereign and

independent state. Critics, as well as court rulings in the United States and in Germany, have

claimed that Roughs Tower has always remained the property of the United Kingdom, a view that is

disputed by the Bates family. The population of the facility rarely exceeds ten, and its habitable area

is 550 m2 (5920 sq ft).

Sealand's claims to sovereignty and legitimacy are not recognised by any country, yet it is

sometimes cited in debates as an interesting case study of how various principles of international

law can be applied to a territorial dispute.


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EASTER ISLAND (Polynesian triangle, Chile): world heritagesite and one of the most isolated inhabited islands inhistory

Easter Island is one of the world's most isolated inhabited islands. It is 3,600 km (2,237 miles) west

of continental Chile and 2,075 km (1,290 miles) east of Pitcairn. Nowdays, it is a Chilean-governed

island, and is a world heritage site with much of the island protected by the Rapa Nui National Park.

First settled by a small party of Polynesians, Easter Island is one of the youngest inhabitedterritories on Earth, and for most of its history it was the most isolated inhabited territory on Earth.

Its inhabitants the Rapanui have endured famines, epidemics, civil war, slave raids and colonialism;

have seen their population crash on more than one occasion, and created a cultural legacy that has

brought them fame out of all proportion to their numbers.


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MALDIVE ISLANDS: the paradisiac island nation with 1,192islets

The Maldives is an island nation consisting of a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives

is located south of India's Lakshadweep islands, and about seven hundred kilometers (435 mi)

south-west of Sri Lanka. The Maldives' twenty-six atolls encompass a territory featuring 1,192

islets, roughly two hundred of which are inhabited by local communities.

Originally the inhabitants were Buddhist, but Islam was introduced in 1153. It later became a

Portuguese (1558), Dutch (1654), and British (1887) colonial possession. In 1965, the Maldivesobtained independence from Britain (originally under the name "Maldive Islands"), and in 1968 the

Sultanate was replaced by a Republic. However, in thirty-eight years, the Maldives have seen only

two Presidents, though political restrictions have loosened somewhat recently. The Maldives is the

smallest Asian country in terms of population. It is also the smallest predominantly Muslim nation

in the world.


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THE WORLD ISLANDS (Dubai): man-made islands in the formof a world map

Ever wish the world was smaller? The World is a man-made archipelago of 300 islands in the shape

of a world map. The World is being built primarily using sand dredged from the sea. Each island

ranges from 23,000 m2 to 84,000 m2 (250,000900,000 square feet or 5.721 acres) in size, with

50100 m of water between each island. The development will cover an area of 9 km in length and 6

km in width, surrounded by an oval breakwater. The only means of transport between the islands

will be by boat and helicopter. Prices for the islands will range from $15-45 million (USD). The

average price for an island will be around $25 million (USD). Dredging started in 2004 and as of

March of 2007 The World is around 90% complete. According to the National Geographic Channel

(The Best of Megastructures) the overall price for the World is $14 Billion US Dollars.


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ALCATRAZ ISLAND (USA): home to the first lighthouse onthe Pacific Coast

Alcatraz Island (sometimes informally referred to as simply Alcatraz or by its pop-culture name,

The Rock) is a small island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California, United States.

It served as a lighthouse, then a military fortification, then a military prison followed by a federal

prison until 1963, when it became a national recreation area. The first European to discover the

island was Juan de Ayala in 1775, who charted the San Francisco Bay and named the island "La Isla

de los Alcatraces", which means "Island of the Pelicans".

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 brought thousands of ships to San Francisco Bay,

creating an urgent need for a navigational lighthouse. In response, Alcatraz lighthouse #1 was

erected and lit in the summer of 1853. Because of its natural isolation in the middle of a bay,

surrounded by cold water and strong sea currents, Alcatraz was soon considered by the U.S. Army

as an ideal location for holding captives. Alcatraz was the Army's first long-term prison, and it was

already beginning to build its reputation as a tough detention facility by exposing inmates to harsh

conditions and iron fisted discipline. Due to rising operational costs because of its location, the

Military Department decided to close this famous prison in 1934, and it was subsequently taken

over by the Department of Justice and later became the famous federal prision and finally a

recreation area.

World's Most Amazing Islands

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