There are millions of islands in the world in the various different oceans, rivers, and lakes across the planet. Some are inhabited by people, others are not. However, you can’t know them all. So, here are 8 islands you didn’t know exist.
1. Islas de las Muñecas, Mexico City
Islas de las Muñecas, one of the islands you didn’t know exist, is just outside of Mexico City. The name translates to “Island of the Dolls” in English as the trees of the Island are adorned with old dolls.
The legend goes that the caretaker of the island hung up a doll in memory of a little girl who had tragically drowned. 50 years later, he was found dead, drowned in the same place as the little girl. In that time he had hung many dolls and now the island’s trees are full of them. The Island is known to be haunted and the locals love to share stories of the dolls moving and whispering.
2. Big Major Cay, Bahamas
Also known as “Pig Island,” Big Major Cay is an island in the Bahamas. It earned its name for the 20 or so pigs that swim around the shoreline.
How the pigs got to the island is a mystery but they have been on the island for many years and seem quite happy to be there. The island has become a tourist destination and the pigs love to swim up to the tourists.
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3. Socotra Island, Yemen
Just off the coast of Yemen, Socotra Island, one of the islands you didn’t know exist, looks like it could be another planet. Over 800 species of rare flora and fauna inhabit the island, many of which can not be found anywhere else on the planet.
Socotra Island is not only one of four islands in the Socotra Archipelago, but is also the largest of the four.
What makes Socotra Island so unique is that some of the plants on its surface are over 20 million years old. Dragon’s Blood trees may be the most interesting of them all, with their treetops looking like umbrellas.
4. North Brother Island, New York
North Brother Island, located in the East River near the Bronx, has been uninhabited since the 1960s, originally used to treat smallpox patients along with patients of other diseases that needed to be quarantined.
Today, instead of being inhabited by humans, the island is full of thriving flora and bird species. The authorities have declared the island off limits to the public for health safety reasons.
However, some people come to visit the island in New York to see the variety of birds that inhabit the island.
5. Bouvet Island, South Africa
Bouvet Island, located 1600 miles southwest of Cape Town, South Africa, is a volcanic land mass and one of the most remote islands in the world.
The island was discovered by French naval officer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier in 1739, but then the island was claimed by the UK in 1825. The island’s current occupant, Norway, claimed it in 1928.
Today, the island is considered a nature reserve, its inhabitants including fur seals and penguins. One fun fact about one of the islands you didn’t know exist is that it is the setting of the 2004 film Alien vs. Predator.
6. Bear Island, Between Norway and Spitsbergen
Bear Island is a part of Norway’s Svalbard Archipelago, a 110 square mile nature reserve located between Norway and Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard Archipelago.
The terrain and Bear Island is rough with almost vertical cliffs, many sea caves, and high powered winds. It is this rough terrain why no humans inhabit the island. However, many species of seabirds live on the island. Polar bears occasionally visit as well.
7. Bishop Rock, England
Bishop Rock, according to the Guiness Book of World Records, is the smallest island in the world, only 46 meters by 16 meters. Located just off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula, in the Isles of Scilly, the small island only contains Bishop Lighthouse, which was built in 1858.
Space is limited on this island you didn’t know about. However, the building does have a helipad for maintenance. Bishop Rock has also been in several TV shows and even inspired a piece of orchestral music.
8. Poveglia Island, Italy
Poveglia Islands, a set of three islands just outside of Venice, is known to be the most haunted island in Italy, with a floating graveyard used for a quarantine colony for over 100 years. To this day, human bones still wash up on the shore of this haunted island. It is also said that almost 50% of the island is made up of human ash.
Poveglia Island is also home to an abandoned mental hospital where it is rumored that the doctor jumped from the bell tower to end his own life. The island is closed off to the public.
