We’ve tagged this sight as “India”, but in truth North Sentinel Island is hardly even a part of the world as we know it.

Although it is barely 40km away from the well populated South Andaman Island, North Sentinel is home to what is probably the last “uncontacted” tribe on Earth. The islanders are fiercely independent and have shunned all attempts to contact them, although in 1991 a few intrepid tribesmen did go as far as accepting gifts of coconuts from Indian government officials who approached the island in a dinghy. They survive as hunter-gatherers, armed with bows and arrows tipped with metal scavenged from whatever flotsam and jetsam washes up on shore.

Nobody knows how many people live on the island - the official 2001 census figure, recorded from aerial surveys, was 39, but some estimates are as high as 400. What we do know is that the tsunami of December 2004 had a devastating impact on much of the Andaman region, and North Sentinel was no exception. For a dramatic illustration of its effects, compare these two images:

The first picture, taken from Google Earth, was captured before the tsunami (the exact date isn’t recorded but it was circa 2000). The second image was taken in April 2005 by the European Space Agency’s Proba satellite, and shows that the island’s fringing reefs have been lifted considerably, exposing large areas of coral and destroying much of the shallow lagoon.

The Indian government, worried that the North Sentinelese¹ had been wiped out by the disaster, dispatched a helicopter to investigate. They found that at least some of the islanders were still alive and kicking - and when the chopper got too close, it came under attack from a hail of rocks and arrows. How the islanders will cope with the damage to their ecosystem remains to be seen, but they will at least be left to do it in peace: India’s official policy is now to make no further attempt to contact or “assimilate” the islanders, so although they remain notionally “Indian”, they are still essentially untouched by the outside world.

Read more about the island and its people at Wikipedia, and at EVS-Islands, which also has an excellent map.

In the world of high-end real estate, nothing says “I’m richer than you” like your very own private island. In the Florida Keys, an archipelago made up of more than 1,700 islands, it is relatively easy to find your own personal tropical retreat for sale or rent… provided you can afford it!

First we have Melody Key, former home of 311 vocalist Nick Hexum¹. This 5.5 acre key can be yours for the low price of 3.8 million dollars and includes a fully furnished home with 2 boats, as well as a mainland dock for launching island expeditions.

The future owner of Coupon Key will inherit a 9 bedroom house with separate caretaker’s quarters as well as 14.6 acres of island to explore. Plenty of room to pretend you’re a pirate, or even roam around without any clothes on… if you’re into that sort of thing.

Finding yourself a bit strapped for cash? Fear not, there is a luxury island for everyone!² Though not quite a key or an island, sprawling 0.5 acre East Sister Rock is available for rent on a weekly basis. With its very own dock, pool, and helicopter pad, East Sister Rock is a perfect choice for the millionaire on a budget.

Though the Florida Keys tend to have beautiful weather during the spring and summer months, it would be wise to exercise caution when visiting East Sister Rock during hurricane season as the island’s house sits only 5 metres above mean sea level.

Thanks to Eric.

Robben Island is a prison island off Capetown, South Africa, best known as the jail where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for eighteen years.

The island has a dubious history as a place of imprisonment and exile long before the rise of apartheid. Its first prison use is thought to be as early as the 17th century when opponents of Dutch colonies around the world were sent there, while British forces sentenced African leader Makanda Nxele to life imprisonment there early in the 19th century. For almost a century, starting in 1836, lepers were sent to male and female colonies on separate parts of the island.

South Africa’s apartheid regime opened the maximum security prison in 1959, and over the subsequent 32 years over 3000 men - mostly political prisoners - suffered through brutal policies and barbaric conditions. Recently-elected South African president Jacob Zuma was one of many notable inmates.

The lime quarry was one of several work sites for prisoners sentenced to hard labour.

Nelson Mandela spent eighteen years in cell block B before being freed in 1990.

The island and prison now serve as a museum and a reminder of the resistance against a terrible regime.

Thanks to yikesahootie.

A well known landmark to locals and holidaymakers is the little house that sits atop an island off the shore of Towan Beach in Newquay, England. Featured in many postcards, “The Island House”, as it is known, has become symbolic of Newquay itself.

The Island has been used as a rather small potato farm, a chicken run, a Sunday School classroom, an art gallery, a guest house, and a tea room. However, today it is the home of the 4th Viscount Long and his wife Lady Helen.

To get to the Island House one must cross a 30-metre long miniature suspension foot bridge.

The footbridge was supposedly modelled after the suspension bridge in Bristol.

The Island was kept from being entered into Guinness as the “World’s Smallest Full-time Inhabited Island” by a European Union directive in 2003 that classified islands as having at least fifty people living on them. So the Island House should actually be called the Outcrop House.

Lady Helen once quipped,

Being referred to as Lady of the Outcrop sounds like I have a bad case of chickenpox.

Peering out the window of the little airtaxi that has brought you to The Rat’s Nest, or Rottnest Island, 18 km southwest off the coast of Australia, you’ll notice the island’s name spelled out in trees. This little island, only 15 km long and 4km wide, has been the site of an aboriginal prison, WWI & WWII internment camps, and today is an important local holiday destination, popular for its shipwreck bearing reefs and notable surf breaks.

The trees that spell out “Rottnest” were planted purposely to welcome visitors to the island, which was named for the native quokka, a marsupial that resembles a large rat and thrives on the island due to the lack of a significant predator.

There are no fresh water sources on the surface of the island so rainwater has always had to be collected instead. However in the 1970s, fresh water was discovered underground, and since 1995 the government has desalinated water from these salt lakes using reverse osmosis.

One of the most famous (or infamous) buildings on the island is the Rottnest Quod, an eight-sided structure that was used to imprison over 3,700 aboriginal men and boys between 1838 and 1931. Rottnest was used in this way to “calm” the mainland native population that were committing the terrible crime of digging up crops from land that used to belong to them.

Today the Quod is a source of contention as it was used as a budget hostel for most of the 20th century and has now been converted into high-priced accommodation for tourists. However, aboriginal activists say that the site should remain a historical heritage site, demonstrating the harsh treatment of the natives by the colonial government.

Other notable features of the island are a zero tolerance approach to “antisocial behaviour”, laws banning private ownership of land, cycling being the main form of transport, and an annual 18km swim from the mainland to the easternmost point on the island.

More info on Rottnest Island at Wikipedia.

Thanks to Simon Craigie.