Island facts and facts about islands, from the Random Facts shelf.
12 facts on this shelf
Mass beachings have been associated with active sonar
have occurred in Madeira (2000), Greece (1996), the U.S. Virgin Islands (1998, 1999), the Canary Islands (1985, 1988, 1989, 2002), and, northwest coast of the United States (2003).update: court blocks sonar 7/6/06
All penguin species are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, but the greatest numerical concentrations are on Antarctic coasts and sub-Antarctic islands.
The Canary Islands were not named for a bird called a canary. They were named after a breed of large dogs. The Latin name was Canariae insulae - "Island of Dogs."
There is a an island of plastic and trash floating in the Pacific ocean that is twice the size of Texas.
Hawaii is the only US state made up entirely of islands, and it was the last state to join the Union, in 1959.
In the Bering Strait, Little Diomede Island (US) and Big Diomede Island (Russia) are only about 2.4 miles apart. The International Date Line runs between them, so they are almost a full day apart in time.
A 2023 government recount found that Japan has about 14,125 islands, more than double the long-cited count of 6,852.
Venice, Italy, is built on 118 small islands in a lagoon, connected by more than 400 bridges and a network of canals.
Canada has the longest coastline of any country, about 243,000 kilometers, because it borders three oceans and has thousands of islands.
Mexico City is built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital founded in 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco.
Legend says Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, but scientists say snakes never got there after the last Ice Age because the island was cut off by the sea.
The brown tree snake was accidentally brought to Guam around WWII and wiped out most of the island's native forest birds, one of the worst invasive species disasters ever recorded.