If Antarctica is surrounded on all sides by water, why is it not considered an island?

 Antarctica is entirely surrounded by water, perfectly fitting the definition of an island. But true continents aren't defined by their oceans—they are defined by sheer scale and ancient rock.

There is no strict, universally agreed-upon size threshold that separates an island from a continent. By geographical convention, Australia is recognized as the smallest continent and Greenland as the largest island. Since Antarctica is almost twice the size of Australia—and nearly seven times the size of Greenland—it easily clears the conventional size requirement. But the more definitive classification lies in the crust itself.

Earth's solid surface is divided into two distinct types of crust: oceanic and continental. Oceanic crust is relatively thin, dense, and composed mostly of basalt. Continental crust is much thicker, more buoyant, and consists primarily of lighter, silica-rich rocks like granite.

True continents are massive platforms of this lighter continental crust. Islands, on the other hand, can be formed in several ways. Some, like Hawaii, are volcanic peaks of oceanic crust poking above the sea. Others, like Greenland or Madagascar, are fragments of continental crust that broke away from larger landmasses.

Antarctica is fundamentally a continent because it is built on a vast, ancient foundation of continental crust. East Antarctica, in particular, is a stable continental shield—a massive block of solid rock that has existed for billions of years. It features its own mountain ranges, deep sedimentary basins, and vast continental shelves.

If you were to instantly melt all the ice covering Antarctica, the resulting sea-level rise would flood the lower elevations. West Antarctica would appear as an archipelago of islands separated by deep water. However, East Antarctica would remain a single, unbroken landmass of high-elevation bedrock, undeniably continental in scale and structure. Its current isolation in the Southern Ocean is simply the result of tectonic drift after it tore away from the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana.

An orthographic projection of Antarctica constructed from satellite imagery. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Which island has the highest population density?

 Garholmen Island, Sweden 🇸🇪

Galholmen is a small island in the Oost municipality of Sweden.

This island is known for being car-free, with passenger ferries operating several times a day from the neighboring island of Ost. Part of the town is located on a small island known as the most densely populated island in Sweden.

In 1900, that municipality had 651 residents.

The beautiful church in Galholmen was built at the end of the 18th century. The Schepafset was built in 1893, and the well-preserved Stenstungan is filled with antique furniture and household items from the same period.

Galholmen is one of the oldest fishing villages on Bohsuren, likely dating back to the 13th century. During the herring boom of the 18th and 19th centuries, the area expanded with the rise of canning factories, salt pans, and sailing ships. With sailing ships being used for fishing and cargo handling, Galholmen became a vibrant shipping and fishing town. Today, the island's old townscape remains, including boathouses, piers, and a lively marina.

Deception Island.

 An island in the Southern Ocean

It is called Deception because from the outside you cannot see that it has a large inner bay.
The island is one of the safest harbors in the Antarctic region due to the sheltered location of the bay.

The island is actually the caldera of an underwater volcano. So that bay is actually a crater lake of an active volcano.
It is part of the South Shetland Islands, near the Antarctic Peninsula.

The bay is called Port Foster and was also used for whaling.
You will also find a scientific base there, which was, however, damaged during the last eruption in 1970.
Antarctic cruises dock here from March to November.

The entrance to the bay is quite narrow and is called Neptune's Bellows.

The east coast consists of a sharp straight line, which you might think is artificial.
However, that is not the case. It is assumed that this is the edge of an underwater fault line.

About 100,000 Chinstrap Penguins live on the island.

What is the strangest island in the world?

 There's a sand island that some strange researchers believe could be a place where aliens conduct research on Earth. Sable Island, a narrow, crescent-shaped sandbar with a surface area of ​​about 34 square kilometers, is located about 300 kilometers southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The island is moving at an average speed of about 200 meters per year, so don't be surprised if its landscape changes overnight.

The island is specifically mentioned in the British North America Act 1867, Section 4, Subsection 91, as a special responsibility of the federal government. Therefore, the island is considered a separate amateur radio entity and is used for operations under the special call prefix CY0. Because the island is a separate radio entity, it has become a popular expedition destination.

Sable Island is a dangerous place for ships. It's estimated that around 350 vessels have been affected by the island's sandbars, earning it the nickname " Graveyard of the Atlantic."

The map shows many of the wrecked ships on the island's coast, with details of the type of ship, name, and year of wreck ranging from 1802 to 1946, although the earliest wreck dates from 1583.

The island's only inhabitants are grey seals and feral horses, which represent one of the last remaining wild horse populations in the world.

The island's moving sand dunes undergo many changes and the landscape can change overnight, so it's possible that aliens chose this place for its strange uniqueness.

© Andrei Vesselovski

ಲಕ್ಷದ್ವೀಪ ಭಾರತದ ಭಾಗವಾಗಿದ್ದು ಹೇಗೆ?

 

ಇಂದಿನ ಲಕ್ಷದ್ವೀಪದ ದ್ವೀಪಗಳನ್ನು ಒಬ್ಬ ಗ್ರೀಕ್ ನಾವಿಕನು ಕ್ರಿ.ಶ 1 ನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಮೆ ಚಿಪ್ಪಿನ ಮೂಲವೆಂದು ಉಲ್ಲೇಖಿಸಿದ್ದಾನೆ. 7 ನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಸ್ಲಿಂ ಮಿಷನರಿ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅರಬ್ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಗಳೊಂದಿಗೆ ನಿರಂತರ ಸಂಪರ್ಕದಿಂದಾಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ದ್ವೀಪವಾಸಿಗಳನ್ನು ಇಸ್ಲಾಂಗೆ ಪರಿವರ್ತಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. 1100 ಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಮೊದಲು ಮಲಬಾರ್ ಕರಾವಳಿಯ ಒಂದು ಸಣ್ಣ ಹಿಂದೂ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯವು ದ್ವೀಪಗಳನ್ನು ಸ್ವಾಧೀನಪಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿತು, ಮತ್ತು 1102 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಕೇರಳದ ಕುಲಶೇಖರ ರಾಜವಂಶದ ಪತನದ ನಂತರ ಅವರು ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಸಣ್ಣ ಹಿಂದೂ ರಾಜವಂಶದ ಕೋಲತಿರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ವರ್ಗಾಯಿಸಿದರು. ನಂತರ 12 ನೇ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ, ಕೋಲತಿರಿ ರಾಜಕುಮಾರಿಯೊಬ್ಬ ಮತಾಂತರಗೊಂಡ ಮುಸ್ಲಿಮನನ್ನು ಮದುವೆಯಾದ ನಂತರ, ಕೇರಳದ ಕಣ್ಣೂರು ಪ್ರದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯವನ್ನು (ಅಂತಿಮವಾಗಿ ಲಕ್ಷದ್ವೀಪವಾಗಿ ರೂಪುಗೊಂಡ ದ್ವೀಪಗಳು ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ) ಕೇರಳದ ಮಾತೃಪ್ರಧಾನ ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯವನ್ನು ರಕ್ಷಿಸುವ ಸಲುವಾಗಿ ಸ್ಥಾಪಿಸಲಾಯಿತು.

ದ್ವೀಪಗಳಿಗೆ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿದ ಮೊದಲ ಯುರೋಪಿಯನ್ ಇಟಾಲಿಯನ್ ಯಾತ್ರಿ ಮಾರ್ಕೊ ಪೊಲೊ ಆಗಿರಬಹುದು. ಅವರ 13 ನೇ ಶತಮಾನದ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಉಲ್ಲೇಖಿಸಲಾದ “ಸ್ತ್ರೀ ದ್ವೀಪ” ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಮಿನಿಕೋಯ್ ದ್ವೀಪವಾಗಿದ್ದಿರಬಹುದು. 1498 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಪೋರ್ಚುಗೀಸರು ಈ ದ್ವೀಪಗಳಿಗೆ ಬಂದರು. ತರುವಾಯ ಅವರು ಕಾಯಿರ್ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರವನ್ನು ನಿಯಂತ್ರಿಸಲು ಒಂದು ಕೋಟೆಯನ್ನು ನಿರ್ಮಿಸಿದರು. ಅವರ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ದ್ವೀಪಗಳ ನಿವಾಸಿಗಳು 1545 ರಲ್ಲಿ ದಂಗೆಯನ್ನು ನಡೆಸಿ ಓಡಿಸಿದರು.

1780 ರ ದಶಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಉತ್ತರದ ಗುಂಪಿನ ದ್ವೀಪಗಳ ಕೇಂದ್ರವಾದ ಅಮಿಂದಿವಿಗಳು ಮೈಸೂರಿನ ಸುಲ್ತಾನನ ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಸುಲ್ತಾನನಿಗೆ ಹಾದುಹೋಗುವವರೆಗೂ ಸತತವಾಗಿ ಬೀಬಿಗಳು (ಮಹಿಳಾ ಆಡಳಿತಗಾರರು) ಮತ್ತು ಅವರ ಗಂಡಂದಿರು ದ್ವೀಪಗಳನ್ನು ಆಳಿದರು. 1799 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷರೊಂದಿಗಿನ ಯುದ್ಧದಲ್ಲಿ ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಕೊಲ್ಲಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಾಗ, ಅಮಿಂದಿವಿಗಳು ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷ್ ನಿಯಂತ್ರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದವು. ಬೀಬಿ ಮತ್ತು ಅವಳ ಪತಿಗೆ ಇತರ ದ್ವೀಪಗಳನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಮತ್ತು ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷರಿಗೆ ವಾರ್ಷಿಕ ಪಾವತಿಗೆ ಬದಲಾಗಿ ಅವರಿಂದ ಆದಾಯವನ್ನು ಪಡೆಯಲು ಅನುಮತಿ ನೀಡಲಾಯಿತು. ಈ ಪಾವತಿಗಳು ಪದೇ ಪದೇ ಬಾಕಿ ಇದ್ದವು, ಮತ್ತು 1908 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಬೀಬಿ ಈ ದ್ವೀಪಗಳನ್ನು ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷರ ನೇರ ಆಡಳಿತಕ್ಕೆ ಬಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಟ್ಟಳು. 1947 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯದ ನಂತರ ಸಾರ್ವಭೌಮತ್ವವನ್ನು ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ವರ್ಗಾಯಿಸಲಾಯಿತು, ಮತ್ತು ದ್ವೀಪಗಳನ್ನು 1956 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಯೂನಿಯನ್ ಪ್ರದೇಶವಾಗಿ ರಚಿಸಲಾಯಿತು.

What are the most interesting island phenomena?

 Three Examples

One:

There is an island in the Republic of Mauritius,

It is located in the Indian Ocean and has what is called an “underwater waterfall”.

It’s not a true waterfall—obviously. It is caused by the pattern formed by sand which is falling off the ledges into the crevices below.

Miyake Jima Island

It’s one of the most dangerous islands in the world: prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

There is a regular leak of sulfur in the air—consequently—locals frequently wear gas masks on the island.

Sable island in Canada.

It is an uninhabited, 13 square mile island that has at least 350 shipwrecks around it.

Horses roam the island. They ended up there due to a surplus of horses left from Boston merchants.

Today—they have their own unique genetic makeup. And live in peace on the island, which is essentially a giant sand dune.

But they have found suitable grass to eat and ponds to drink from. When water is in short supply, they've learned to dig holes, finding a layer of clean water just beneath the surface.

And they are majestic AF.