World Island Info

To firm up the definition of Okinotorishima as an island — and thereby insure rights to a large economic zone in the Pacific — Japan is planning to seed corals on the reef in hopes that the island might grow. The island is now almost wholly covered at high tide.

Overall, the Japanese case is weak, though the government argues otherwise. According the the UPI article,

Last year Shintaro Ishihara, the nationalist Governor of [Tokyo], was photographed kissing its dwindling earth. The problem is Article 121 of Part VIII of the UN Convention: “Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.” Even Mr Ishihara would balk at living on Okino-Torishima, although there is talk of setting up an electricity plant to establish “economic life”.

(Perhaps the Japanese have heard this Malay saying: “Where good seed falls into the sea, one day an island may appear.”)

Brochures for the lovely-sounding island were passed out to New York commuters. Dozens of people called for more information.

What’s not to like about a place whose “original motto, in Latin, was ‘populus quisnam operor non lego non exsisto inquisitor,’ which translates roughly to ‘people who don’t read can’t be trusted.’”

Alas, the island lacks so-called “existence.” (Via Boing Boing)

For the less wealthy, the virtual world Second Life offers islands, beginning at $1,250 for 16 acres.  Sixty-four acres can be had for $5,000.

The new owner can choose from “six different topologies,” name his island, and choose the rating (PG or M).  Unlike most real islands, the new island can be moved, for a fee.

Of course, for about the same price as a small virtual island, you can rent Ranguana Caye, Belize, for a week.

Two items reiterated that Manhattan is in fact an island and thus somewhat isolated.

In article on beard fashion, of all things, a salon magnate asked of the trend, “It will be interesting to see over the next six to eight months what mainland America is going to do with it.”

Meanwhile, the mainland manages occasionally to reach the island: a coyote was captured in Central Park.  People speculate that he swam a river, or came across a railroad bridge, though presumably not by commuter rail.

A report on a “notorious conman” who has proclaimed his own kingdom on Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, taking advantage of that country’s weak government.

Police fear a self-proclaimed king in rebel-held territory is plotting to overthrow the island’s government with a private army trained by former Fijian soldiers.

“Let’s blow this fascist popsicle stand! Purchase a small island somewhere, and start our own country.” – Montgomery Burns

People thinking about forming their own nation often turn to islands: they appeal to people’s sense of dominion, and their borders are clear. One just might get away from it all, and start something new.

But a new island country requires an island, and citizens, and there difficulties begin.

Problems

Four problems are paramount:

1. There are no undiscovered or unclaimed islands—with one partial exception.
2. Existing countries are quite protective of their sovereignty and territorial integrity.
3. There is no recognized process for forming your own country, and it comes essentially down to power.
4. It is difficult to obtain a population for a startup country.

Solutions….and more problems

People have tried to get around these problems in a variety of ways.

Problem 1: No undiscovered islands

• Since existing islands are claimed, some conclude that they should just build new ones.
• However, it is quite difficult to find suitable places that do not fall under some kind of national jurisdiction. If you are making your own land, it has to be outside countries’ territorial waters (generally 12 miles offshore) and exclusive economic zones (generally 200 miles from land)—and there is little or no shallow water outside of such zones. For instance, the would-be Principality of New Utopia is planned for the Misteriosa Bank in the Caribbean—but it seems to be in the Exclusive Economic Zones of both Honduras and the Cayman Islands (UK). Both countries have signed the Law of the Sea Treaty, which gives them power to regulate new island creation.
• The partial exception to the dearth of unclaimed territory is Antarctica, which is essentially international, with nations’ territorial claims effectively suspended. But the continent is supervised by all the most powerful countries on the planet, and they would not let a startup country grab some of it.
• (There is a cheat to the land problem, in the eyes of the island purist: build a floating island city—there are several schemes kicking around. But these would be mere ships, in truth. And there is the oil rig solution, notably represented by “Sealand”, a surplus-gun-platform “country” off the coast of England.)
  

Problem 2: Existing countries want their islands

• You can buy islands in many countries, but that means that you are a landowner, not a separate country.
• While most countries will not surrender sovereignty over a piece of land, it might be possible to find one so poor or corrupt that it would do so. Some right-wing Americans thought Haiti fit the bill a couple of decades ago, and attempted to buy the Île de la Tortue (Tortuga Island) off the northern coast. They were going to form the usual libertarian paradise, but even Haiti proved insufficiently abject to fall for the scheme. (The fate of thousands of Haitians already living on the island was unclear.)
• You can try to take an island by force, but fortunately for the small states of the Pacific and the Caribbean there are powerful countries that prevent that sort of thing.
  

Problem 3: No process for forming new countries

• The best solution is to become a leader in an island that might like to break away from its country: Nevis, of St. Kitts-Nevis, for instance. The separate islands of the Comoros have each achieved substantial autonomy under their own leaders in recent years. And East Timor has made the transition to sovereign nation.
• You still need recognition from the international community. And that requires sympathy, triggered by oppression of your little island, or at least popular support for its breaking away.
• Barring that, you can try to seize an island nation whole. This has been attempted by mercenaries in the Comoros (with some success), Vanuatu, and the Maldives. Once again, it runs into the problem of great power protectors.

Problem 4: Need for citizens

• The breakaway inhabited island solves this problem, but otherwise you have to convince people to come live on your island.
• Build-your-own-island schemes typically dangle libertarian freedom as their lure.
• Forming your own cult has its advantages. A rogue Mormon sect in the mid-19^th century took this route, briefly declaring Beaver Island in Lake Michigan to be their kingdom. But cults tend to be unstable and draw the attention of authorities quickly.

So starting your own island country is not easy. As a consolation, you might buy one of the many uninhabited islands in a tolerant country such as the US, Britain, or Canada and declare your own nation. We’ll enjoy seeing what you get away with.

For additional details after February 2006, see this document at the master WorldIslandInfo site.

UN officials report that

people have taken refuge on islands formed by clumps of papyrus plants floating on lakes in Katanga’s Upemba National Park. “In and around Upemba, there are thousands of people living on floating islands because it is the only place they feel safe.”

This resort to “islands” is reminiscent of the prehistoric British Isles, where people built artificial islands called crannogs to hole up safely.

(Floating islands are not true islands, of course, and instead resemble natural ships. See Chet Van Duzer’s Floating Islands for more information.)

A Powerball winner is not leaping at the chance, according to USA Today:

“Everybody has dreams. Ever bought a lottery ticket? You talk about it, ‘Hey, what are you going to do?’ Buy an island. Buy an airplane. In reality, I’m not really a fan of flying, and I don’t like water,”

Two Korean senior citizens will resume their existence as the sole civilians on the disputed group of islets in the Sea of Japan after a 10 year absence. A poet is supposed to join them in the spring.

The practice of sending someone to live on disputed small islands is partially an assertion of their island status: an attempt to prove that they are places rather than things, islands not rocks.

A newspaper offers this Zen statement about a small Michigan island used for an annual party:

“The island was created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which dumped clean dredged materials onto the site from 1937 through the mid-1960s. The island is actually about 137 acres, but all but 4 acres are submerged.”