(ORDO NEWS) — For centuries, explorers and adventurers have taken to the high seas in search of new and uncharted lands.
Sometimes they came across very small but picturesque islands on their way. And while humans have colonized many of them, there are some that are still shrouded in mystery.
Airplanes don’t fly here, and a ship ticket will cost a fortune!
Of course, with the development of transport and technology, a person was able to get to the most remote corners. But many islands remain uninhabited, dangerous and mysterious. Here are some of them!
Bouvet Island, Antarctica
Bouvet Island is often referred to as “the loneliest place on earth”. It is located 1700 km north of the Princess Astrid coast in Antarctica and 2600 km south-southwest of the coast of South Africa.
93% of the area of this 49 square kilometers island is covered with ice, and in the center rises a dormant volcano with an ice-filled crater! All this even sounds ominous and mysterious!
Interestingly, in the film Alien vs. Predator, the action takes place in an ancient pyramid discovered under the ice of Bouvet Island, but the shooting itself took place on Alexander I Land.
No one lives on the island, except for seals, penguins and some birds. Its study is hindered by glaciers and steep cliffs up to 490 m high. You can only get to it by helicopter from a ship.
North Sentinel
While North Sentinel isn’t as isolated geographically as most of the other islands on this list, it’s inaccessible due to… its inhabitants. It is part of the Andaman Islands archipelago in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of India.
The people living on the island (the Sentinelese) view any contact with modern humans as a threat to their lives and therefore violently resist any attempt to make contact with them.
There are many stories about how people who accidentally landed on the island died. More recently, in 2018, an American was killed who managed to land on North Sentinel to preach Christianity.
The island exists under the protectorate of India, and the local government of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands prohibits all visits to the island because of the danger of bringing diseases to these lands.
The Sentinelese are thought to have been around for about 30,000 years and could be wiped out due to disease upon contact with modern humans, as they have no immunity to our diseases.
Pitcairn Islands
It is the only British Overseas Territory in the Pacific. The islands are a group of four remote areas of land, separated from each other by hundreds of kilometers. The islands are called Pitcairn (main island), Doucey, Hainaut and Henderson.
About 50 permanent residents live on Pitcairn Island, who are descendants of the rebels from the Bounty (1790). The islands in this group are now part of one of the largest marine reserves on the planet, covering 830,000 square kilometers of open ocean water.
Kerguelen Islands
The Kerguelen Islands are often referred to as the “Islands of Solitude”. They are a group of islands that are among the most isolated places on earth.
They are located in the Antarctic region, where they form part of the Kerguelen Plateau, which protrudes onto the surface of the sea.
The rest of the plateau remains submerged in ocean waters. These islands are more than 3300 km from Madagascar, the nearest settlement.
The largest island in the group is called Grande Terre, with an area of 6,675 square kilometers. The climate here is too harsh to support any life without special adaptations.
Strong, cold winds blow all year round, and the surrounding seas are constantly raging. These places can only be reached by boat.
Tristan da Cunha
This group of volcanic islands is the most isolated inhabited archipelago in the world! The islands are located in the South Atlantic Ocean at a distance of 3486 km from the coast of the Falkland Islands.
The main island of Tristan da Cunha is part of the British Overseas Territory. Its permanent population is 250 people.
The rest of the islands remain uninhabited and some are wildlife sanctuaries. Reaching the archipelago requires a 6-day boat trip from South Africa.
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