The Spectator

Barometer | 2 May 2013

issue 04 May 2013

Dots on the map

An Edinburgh man is planning to stay 60 days on Rockall, a rocky island in the Atlantic 200 miles off the Western Isles — the longest-ever stay. Rockall was claimed for the United Kingdom in 1955, but it is far from our remotest colonial possession. Other islands include:

Oeno A 120-acre island set within a three-mile-wide atoll in the Pacific 89 miles northwest of Pitcairn. It is known as the place Pitcairners go when they want to get away from it all. And unlike Rockall, it has a tap.

Ducie Island For those who find Oeno too busy, there is always Ducie Island, a 1.5 square mile island 290 miles east of Pitcairn, discovered during an expedition to capture the mutineers from HMS Bounty.

Inaccessible Island Luxurious in vegetation compared with Rockall, it is nonetheless more remote — lying in the South Atlantic 28 miles south-west of Tristan de Cunha.

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