The 1958 Geneva Convention (Article 10) and the 1982 Law of the Sea
Convention (Article 121) define an 'island' as a naturally formed area of land which is surrounded
by water and is above water at high tide. Australia and the Antarctic are both regarded as continents - but they are
also islands.
Some islands are almost empty - others have a high population density.
has a land area of 2,130,800 sq. km
(822,700 sq. miles) and a population of around 56,000. Singapore has a population of 4 million
living on an island of 570.4 sq. km (220.2 sq. miles).
Some islands are growing - others may soon disappear. Iceland is the world's
largest volcanic island (102,828 sq. km/39,702 sq. miles) and is steadily growing from the mid-atlantic ridge.
The highest island in the Maldives (Wilingili) is just 2.4 metres (8 foot) above sea level. With
global warming such islands may vanish under the sea in the future.
Islands can be very small. Tiny but rich in
and birds,
in the
is just 4 miles long, a mile wide and home to a community of around 60 people. A flight to its neighbouring isle takes under 2 minutes - the shortest scheduled flight in the world.
Islands can also be very large. Australia is a continent with a population of almost 20 million and so big that travelling to the coast can take days. But the psychology of people on both these, and other, islands has some striking similarities.
Being separate from the great landmasses of the Americas, Eurasia and Africa has visible consequences. Islanders are different from other people. The sense of being on a defined portion of the planet, with more-or-less fixed boundaries that can be seen, gives them a feeling of distinctiveness - of being apart from the rest of the world. In fact, the very
concept of an 'island' has been used to explain and illustrate a wide range of ideas. For example,
Robert A. Johnson (We : Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love):
"... we may picture a coral island that gradually rises out of the sea. The
ocean slowly creates this island out of its own matter and pushes it finally above the water
into the sunlight. After centuries, topsoil and plant life develop, animals and people appear,
and the little island becomes a tiny center of human life and consciousness. Like the vast
ocean, the collective unconsciousness gives birth to a tiny island; it is the conscious psyche, the ego,
the "I" the part of me that is aware of itself."
And Susan C. Vaughan (Half Empty, Half Full: Understanding the Psychological Roots of Optimism):
"... you'll see how much optimism depends on our ability to construct and
sustain that beacon of strength inside - an illusion of an island to swim to when the going gets
rough. (...) But the real trick is that, as we learn the skills we need to sustain the
illusion of an island on the horizon, we're actually building a real internal psychological core
of strength. Our practice at illusion-building ultimately gives rise to an authentic
inner island. And as this psychological ground coalesces underfoot, we find we have a place
inside ourselves to stand on that gives us a genuine leg up on the rat race we all face in daily life."
So an island, external or internal, is a refuge and a source of strength. It is somewhere
we can escape to, feel safe to be, an oasis in a confusing, threatening, uncontrollable ocean. As with Canada's
a bridge
can transform transportation but Prince Edward Island remains an island.
In his Notes From a Small Island Bill Bryson observes (p 4) that the British have a particular island mentality:
"The fact is that the British have a totally private sense of distance.
This is most visibly seen in the shared pretence that
is a lonely island in the middle of an empty green sea. Of course, the British are all aware, in an abstract sort of way, that there is a substantial landmass called Europe nearby and that from time to time it is necessary to go over there to give old Jerry a drubbing or have a holiday in the sun, but it's not nearby in any meaningful sense in the way that, say, Disney World is."
We can all share this feeling of 'apartness' when we travel to any one of the thousands of islands that dot the globe. This website provides an introduction to some of the world's most interesting islands,
including travel, accommodation and factual details about islands with really distinctive features -
archaeology, animal and birdlife, beaches, culture, sea-diving, snorkelling, snow and volcanoes.
