In the background of population growth in many countries there are many countries with very limited populations, especially islands. Some islands are not suitable for settlement due to several reasons such as location, climate and lack of other facilities. Let’s have a look at some islands which are considered to be the most isolated islands in the world - inhabited by very few people or completely uninhabited.
Diego Garcia is an island located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It is the largest and southernmost member of the Chagos Archipelago, part of the Indian Ocean region. Due to its strategic location between East Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia, Diego Garcia Island is used as a support base for the United States Defence Forces. The island was once home to over 1,000 people, who were evicted in 1971. The reason is that the island in question was used for war exercises during that period. There are currently no permanent residents, but nearly 4,000 military personnel and other people are temporarily living on the island.
South Georgia is about 1,400 kilometres east of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean and west of Cape Town, South Africa. First discovered by Europeans in 1675, this island is 170 kilometres long and 35 kilometres wide. Its central mountain part is 2,935 metres high. In 1775, South Georgia was consolidated by the British. Since then it has been ruled by a number of monarchs, including George III. The island once functioned as a whale hunting centre. Only 20 people have settled on this island as of present.
British-owned St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha are isolated islands. Among them, a limited number of people have established settlements on the island of Tristan da Cunha, which is to the south. Apart from the settlements, there is also an off-limits wildlife reserve. The region is located to the south of St. Helena Island. Tristan da Cunha, the only inhabited island in the archipelago, boasts a 34 kilometres wide coastline. A volcano with a height of 2,060 metres can also be seen there.
The Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, consisting of two large islands and several smaller ones, is also known as “New Island’’. It is a group of islands under Russian control that separates the “Barents” and “Kara” seas. The two main islands of this archipelago named “Severni” and “Yushni” have an area of about 1,000 square kilometres. During the Cold War, this area was used for military exercises. The number of people living in Novaya Zemlya is very limited. According to the 2010 census, the number of people living there was 2,429. Fishing, polar bear hunting and trapping are their main livelihoods.
Pitcairn Island, made up of Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducey and Oeno Islands, is located in the South Pacific Ocean. Consisting of many volcanoes, it is a British archipelago. These islands are spread over 47 square kilometres. 86% of the total land area belongs to Henderson Island, but it is an uninhabited area. It is special that the settlements are only on Pitcairn Island. The number of people living there is very limited and as of January 2020, the number stood at 47. Despite its small land area, this group of islands has an ocean area as large as 830,000 square kilometres. It is more than the area of the state of Texas in the United States.
Spitsbergen, the largest of the Norwegian islands, has an area of 39,044 square kilometres. Located 830 kilometres east of Greenland and 950 kilometres from Europe, Spitsbergen is an island with a very cold climate, covered in snow most of the year. Due to heavy snowfall, many polar bears also live around this island. The town of Longyearbyen is a settlement on the island with less than 100 residents. The “Svalbard Global Seed Protection Centre” is also on the territory of this island. It was established to preserve the seeds of the world’s food crops to be used in times of crisis.