Islands

Mysterious, quaint or just plain weird?

Isle of Man
Oldest Parliament in the world
Once Scottish, once Norwegian.
Owned by England but not part of United Kingdom

Scilly Isles
At war with Holland for 300 odd years
Mostly owned by Prince Charles

Channel Islands
Part of British Islands.
Not part of British Isles.
Not part of United Kingdom



Any other oddities from around the world????????????

Manitoulin Island
is the largest freshwater lake island in the world.

http://www.livescience.com/33679-world-largest-island-lake-island-lake-island-google-earth.html

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Any other oddities from around the world????????????

Pitcairn Islands
Inhabited by Polynesians until maybe as late as C15th.
Deserted islands found and named in 1606 by the Portuguese.
Found again, and renamed, by the British in 1767.
Inhabited by British mutineers from the Bounty and some Tahitians in 1790.
First visited by outsiders in 1808 when an American trading ship spent half a day there.
Rediscovered by British authorities (so to speak) in 1819.
Became a British colony in 1838.
It is a parliamentary dependency under Queen Elizabeth II
Population 2015: approx 60
Uses the New Zealand dollar.

Rhode Island (USA)

It isn't an island.

Christmas Island

Discovered and named by Britain in 1643.
First visited and found to be found it uninhabited by the British in 1688.
Explored for the first time in 1857.
The discovery of minerals in 1887 led to it being annexed by Britain a year later.
It was administered by the British colony of Singapore.
Occupied by Japan 1942-1945.
Ownership transferred to Australia in 1958.
Population approx 2,000 ~ 65% Chinese.
Currently home to an Australian detention camp for refugees with room for about 3,000.

Originally posted by FMF
[b]Christmas Island

.[/b]

An inhumane Concentration Camp.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
An inhumane Concentration Camp.

We Australians - well, the thinking ones - agree. Unfortunately the rednecked rabble outnumber us at the polling booth.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Mysterious, quaint or just plain weird?

[b]Isle of Man
Oldest Parliament in the world
Once Scottish, once Norwegian.
Owned by England but not part of United Kingdom

Scilly Isles
At war with Holland for 300 odd years
Mostly owned by Prince Charles

Channel Islands
Part of British Islands.
Not part of British Isles.
Not part of United Kingdom



Any other oddities from around the world????????????[/b]

I though the oldest Parliament was in Iceland?

Hunga Tonga

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31848255

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
I though the oldest Parliament was in Iceland?

Maybe the Icelandic Parliament is older but has not been continuously in existence?

The Tynwald ... is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It is claimed to be the
oldest continuous parliamentary body in the world, consisting of two Houses:
the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Legislative Council.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tynwald

I think there are other "Parliaments" that pre-date Icelands.

Originally posted by Kewpie
We Australians - well, the thinking ones - agree. Unfortunately the rednecked rabble outnumber us at the polling booth.

Yes, we (New Zealanders) are aware that it is not
sanctioned by a large part of the population. 🙂

No man is an island.

Originally posted by FMF
Christmas Island

Discovered and named by Britain in 1643.
First visited and found to be found it uninhabited by the British in 1688.
Explored for the first time in 1857.
The discovery of minerals in 1887 led to it being annexed by Britain a year later.
It was administered by the British colony of Singapore.
Occupied by Japan 1942-1945.
Ownership transf ...[text shortened]... Chinese.
Currently home to an Australian detention camp for refugees with room for about 3,000.

And a song by Jimmy Buffett.

Gilligan's Island

Home to 7 stranded castaways.
No phone, no light, no motorcar........not a single luxury.
Location: Unknown