   #copyright

Bouvet Island

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Antarctica

                                                       CAPTION: Bouvetøya

                                                                      Area
     * Total
     * Water (%)

     * 49 km²
     * ? %

                                                                Population
     * Total ( 2004)
     * Population density

     * 0
     * 0/ km²

                              Dependency of Norway since February 27, 1930
                                                          Time zone UTC +1
                                                 Top level domains .bv .no
                                                   Country calling code 47

   Map of Bouvet Island
   Enlarge
   Map of Bouvet Island
   Aerial photo
   Enlarge
   Aerial photo

   Bouvet Island ( Norwegian: Bouvetøya) is an uninhabited sub- antarctic
   volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, south-southwest of the
   Cape of Good Hope (South Africa). It is a dependent area of Norway and
   is not subject to the Antarctic Treaty, as it is north of the latitude
   below which claims are suspended.

Geography

   Coordinates: 39°52′S 143°59′E Bouvet Island is located at 54°26′S
   3°24′E. It is 58.5  km² (22.6  square miles) in area, 93% of which is
   covered by glaciers which block the south and east coasts. It has no
   ports or harbors, only offshore anchorages, and is difficult to
   approach. The easiest way is with a helicopter from a ship. The
   glaciers form a thick ice layer falling in high cliffs into the sea or
   onto the black beaches of volcanic sand. The 29.6  km (18.4  miles) of
   coastline are often surrounded by an ice pack. The highest point on the
   island is called Olavtoppen, whose peak is 780  m (2,600  ft) above sea
   level. A lava shelf on the island's west coast, which appeared between
   1955 and 1958, provides a nesting site for birds.

   Bouvet Island is a candidate for the most remote island in the world,
   along with other small isolated islands such as Tristan da Cunha,
   Easter Island and the Pitcairn Islands. The nearest land is Queen Maud
   Land, Antarctica, over 1,600 km (1,000 miles) away to the south, which
   is itself uninhabited.

History

   Bouvet Island was discovered on January 1, 1739, by Jean-Baptiste
   Charles Bouvet de Lozier, who commanded the French ships Aigle and
   Marie. However, the island's position was not accurately fixed and
   Bouvet did not circumnavigate his discovery, so it remained unclear
   whether it was an island or part of a continent.

   The island was not sighted again until 1808, when it was spotted by one
   Lindsay, the captain of the Enderby Company whaler Swan. Though he
   didn't land, he was the first to correctly fix the island's position.

   The first successful landfall dates to December 1822, when Captain
   Benjamin Morrell of the sealer Wasp landed, hunting for seals. He was
   successful and took several seal skins.

   On December 10, 1825, one Captain Norris, master of the Enderby Company
   whalers Sprightly and Lively, landed on the island, named it Liverpool
   Island, and claimed it for the British Crown.

   In 1898, the German Valdivia expedition of Carl Chun visited the island
   but did not land.

   The first extended stay on the island was in 1927, when the Norwegian
   "Norvegia" crew stayed for about a month; this is the basis for the
   territorial claim by Norway, who have named the island Bouvetøya
   (Bouvet Island in Norwegian). The island was annexed on December 1,
   1927, by a Royal Norwegian Decree of January 23, 1928, Bouvetøya became
   a Norwegian Territory. The United Kingdom waived its claim in favour of
   Norway the following year. In 1930 a Norwegian act was passed that made
   the island a dependent area subject to the sovereignty of the Kingdom
   (but not a part of the Kingdom).

   In 1964, an abandoned lifeboat was discovered on the island, along with
   various supplies; however, the lifeboat's passengers were never found.

   In 1971, Bouvet Island and the adjacent territorial waters were
   designated a nature reserve. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was some
   interest from South Africa to establish a weather station, but
   conditions were deemed to be too hostile. The island remains
   uninhabited, although an automated weather station was set up there in
   1977 by the Norwegians.

   On September 22, 1979, a satellite recorded a flash of light (which was
   later interpreted as having been caused by a nuclear bomb explosion or
   natural event such as a meteor) in a stretch of the southern Indian
   Ocean between Bouvet Island and Prince Edward Islands. This flash,
   since dubbed the Vela Incident, is still not completely resolved.

   Despite being uninhabited, Bouvet Island has the Internet country code
   top-level domain ( ccTLD) .bv, though it is not used. A handful of
   amateur radio expeditions have gone to this remote location ( call
   signs used here begin with 3Y). Bouvet Island falls within the UTC Z
   time zone. Atlantic/St_Helena is the zone used in the time zone
   database.
   Southeast coast of Bouvet Island, 1898
   Enlarge
   Southeast coast of Bouvet Island, 1898

Bouvet Island in fiction

     * Bouvet, redundantly called "Bouvetøya Island," was the setting of
       the 2004 movie Alien vs. Predator.
     * It also figured prominently in the book, A Grue Of Ice, by Geoffrey
       Jenkins.
     * Was mentioned in the movie Star Trek: First Contact. It was the
       destination of Captain Picard's escape pod.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouvet_Island"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
