Categories
Bahamas

Long Island

Long Island is an island in the Bahamas that is split by the Tropic of Cancer. Its capital is Clarence Town. Long Island is one of the Districts of the Bahamas and is known as the most scenic island in the Bahamas. The population is roughly 4,000 inhabitants.

Long Island is 80 miles (about 130 kilometers) long and 4 miles (6 km) wide at its widest point. The land area is 173 square miles. Long Island is situated about 165 miles (265 km) southeast of the Bahamian capital of Nassau, which is located on the island of New Providence. The Tropic of Cancer runs through the northern quarter of the island.

The Atlantic Ocean coast, on the east side of Long Island, is noted for its steep rocky headlands, while the Caribbean Sea coast on the west side is noted for its broad white beaches with soft sand. The terrain ranges widely throughout the island, including white flat expanses from which salt is extracted, swamplands, beaches, and sloping (in the north) and low (in the south) hills.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Bahamas

Harbour Island

Harbour Island is an island and administrative district in the Bahamas. Harbour Island is set off the north east coast of Eleuthera Island. The only town on the island is Dunmore Town, named after the former Governor of the Bahamas, the Earl of Dunmore (1786-1798), who had a summer residence on Harbour Island.

Harbour Island is famous for its pink sand beaches which are found all along the east side of the island. The island is accessible by plane through North Eleuthera Airport, followed by a short water taxi ride from neighbouring North Eleuthera. Harbour Island is a popular holiday destination for Americans. Known as Briland to the locals, Harbour Island is colourful with New England-style buildings and flower lined streets. Harbour Island is part of the Out Islands of the Bahamas.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Réunion

Réunion

Réunion (French: Réunion or formally La Réunion; previously Île Bourbon) is an island located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.

Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas départements of France. Like the other overseas departments, Réunion is also one of the twenty-six regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic with the same status as those situated on the European mainland.

Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, is part of the Eurozone. Due to its location in a time zone to the east of Europe, Réunion was the first region in the world where the euro became legal tender.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Thailand

Koh Samui

Ko Samui island of Surat Thani Province (or Koh Samui), or often, simply Samui as it is referred to by locals, is an island off the east coast of the Kra Isthmus in Thailand, close to the mainland Surat Thani town. It is Thailand’s third largest island, with an area of 228.7 km² and a population of over 50,000 (2008). It is rich with natural resources, white sandy beaches, coral reefs and coconut trees.

The island was probably first inhabited about 15 centuries ago, settled by fishermen from the Malay Peninsula and Southern China. It appears on Chinese maps dating back to 1687, under the name Pulo Cornam. The name Samui is mysterious in itself. Perhaps it is an extension of the name of one of the native trees, mui, or from the Chinese word Saboey, meaning “safe haven”. Ko is the Thai word for “island.”

Until the late 20th century, Ko Samui was an isolated self-sufficient community, having little connection with the mainland of Thailand. The island was even without roads until the early 1970s, and the 15 km journey from one side of the island to the other involved a whole-day trek through the mountainous central jungles.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Cape Verde

Santo Antão I

Santo Antão (Portuguese for “Saint Anthony”), or Sontonton in Cape Verdean Creole, is the westernmost and largest of the Barlavento islands of Cape Verde. The nearest main island is São Vicente to the southeast, separated by a channel named Canal de São Vicente. It is the westernmost large island in Cape Verde and the continent of Africa, and the second largest in Cape Verde.

The island, entirely made up of volcanic material. The tallest mountain is Topo de Coroa, reaching a height of 1,979 m. The second tallest is Pico da Cruz at 1,585 m. The island is divided into north and south by a mountain range long considered impenetrable but now crossed by a road. The island’s main town is Ponta do Sol on the north coast, home to the Agostinho Neto Airport, while its ferry port is Porto Novo on the south coast. A part of the island in the southeast has an arid climate, while the northwest receives relatively normal precipitation. Its valleys are suffering heavy erosion.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Cape Verde

Fogo

Fogo (Portuguese for “fire”) is an island in the Sotavento group of Cape Verde. It is the most prominent of the group, rising to nearly 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above sea level at Mount Fogo.

The island is located between the islands of Santiago and Brava. Practically the whole island is an active volcano that has been periodically active, last erupting in 1995, forming a new crater called Pico Pequeno. Its largest feature is a 9 km wide caldera, which has walls 1 km high. The caldera has a breach in its eastern rim, and a large peak rises in the centre. The central cone Pico forms the highest point of the island and its summit is about 100 m higher than the surrounding wall of the caldera. Lava from the volcano has reached the eastern coast of the island within historical times.

A small village, called Chã das Caldeiras, exists at the base of the volcano, and the residents are periodically evacuated during eruptions.

The island’s main town is São Filipe, near which is an airport. First settled in the 1480s, it is largely an agricultural island. The islands also houses schools, a gymnasium, banks, a post office, some hotels and squares (praças).

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)