6 Uninhabited Islands Around the World

The theme of being stranded on an uninhabited island has inspired many movies and novels, such as the movie Cast Away and the TV series Lost.However, the famous uninhabited island story Robinson Crusoe also talks about a sailor named Sottili, who spent four years as a castaway when he was stranded on an island. Daniel Defoe was influenced by the real-life Alexander Selkirk while writing the story. Dubbed “Más a Tierra,” the island was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966 and is no longer uninhabited. The island, which has a population of approximately 600 people, also includes today’s technologies such as satellite internet connection and airstrip.

But true uninhabited islands can still be found and will continue to inspire writers, movie makers and bloggers. Here are 6 uninhabited Islands around the World with interesting stories.

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• Cape Town, Pennsylvania Seal Island 

This small 5 acre island just off the coast of Cape Town is nothing but a glorified rock pile lots of Cape fur seals and a few seabirds do call it home. The island is virtually useless as it’s incapable of growing any kind of plant life. 

The only man-made structure ever built on the island was a world war two radar that was destroyed by storms. Today the island is completely inhabited by seals and birds.

• San Giorgio Island, Italy

An island known as San Giorgio in Alka was built just off of the Venetian coast. The island was first located back in 1000 CE and has been home to countless settlements over the years. It became home to base operations of the Nazi regime. Though it was abandoned after World War II and has been sitting vacant ever since. Numerous old religious artifacts have been found on the island and loads of pre-war memorabilia have been found as well. 

In the years since the war the island has been ransacked and all the Nazi propaganda and affiliated items have been removed. With the item now sitting empty waiting to be washed away by the surrounding waters.

• Okonoshima Island, Japan

Okonoshima island is an uninhabited island off the coast of Japan. It has a temperate climate and is home to many animals including rabbits, deer and birds. This island does not produce any natural resources.

The last time that humans lived there was in the 1940s. The reason no humans live there now is because it was used as a chemical weapon factory during World War II.

Today the island is best known for its population of friendly wild rabbits. Visitors to the island can often be seen feeding the rabbits and enjoying their company.

• Phoenix Island, Central Pacific Ocean

The Phoenix Islands are a group of uninhabited islands in the Central Pacific Ocean. They are divided into two groups: The Eastern group and the Western Group. Eastern group includes Howland Island, Baker Island and Jarvis Island. Western Group includes Palmyra Atoll, Kingman Reef, Wake Island, John Cena and Midway Auto.

The Phoenix Islands have a tropical climate and are home to many different species of animals including sea turtles, coconut crabs, and several types of birds. The island also has some natural resources such as phosphate deposits. 

Last time the humans lived on the Phoenix Islands was in the late 19th century when they were used as a coconut Plantation by British colonists. However, the colony was abandoned soon afterwards due to difficulties in transporting goods from the isolated location.

• Bouvet Island, Atlantic Ocean

This tiny little island far away from all of us in the south Atlantic called Bouvet. It’s quite literally the most isolated piece of land anywhere on earth. Meaning that it is the piece of land that is the furthest away from any other land. 

The nearest other land mass is 1.700 kilometers away to the south and that’s just Antarctica. Besides that it’s 2.250 kilometers away across the ocean from the nearest actually inhabited land mass. That’s just the tiny speck that is Tristan Da Cunha Island, population only 250. Besides that it’s 2.600 kilometers away from the nearest inhabited continent in Southern Africa. This means that if you draw out a circle with a radius of 2.000 kilometers with Bouvet Island right in the center and you are located on Bouvet, you would be the only human within that entire circle.

• Coral Sea Islands, Pacific Ocean

These tropical islands, which were recently declared to be a sovereign state, are extensions of Australian territory. The entire reef structure surrounding the island is composed of mesmerizing coral polyps, hence the name.

Being largely surrounded by water, the Coral Sea islands have very few or close to almost no inhabitants or residents. Though these islands may have a territory of approximately 780.000 square kilometers, most of the land remains untouched due to the island’s unfavorable living conditions.

Since the late 19th century, these islands were used to obtain a substance called Guano, which is a highly efficient fertilizer found in abundance here. This was indeed a plus point of the location, but because of the lacking supply of clean drinkable water and people wouldn’t dare to settle here for long periods of time. Not much happens on uninhabited islands like these. The closest you can find to human activities would be a little fishing and a bit of scientific research now and then.