20 Beautiful, Remote Islands across the World

From islands where penguins outnumber human beings to those where coins featuring Pokémon characters are legal tender, there are several far-flung islands — both tiny and huge — with unique characteristics throughout the globe. Let’s take a look at what makes them so distinctive.



01
Bear Island, Norway

Bear Island, or Bjørnøya, is the southernmost island of the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago and is located in the western Barents Sea. It was discovered by Dutch explorers in 1956, and is 247 miles from mainland Norway. Apart from a handful of people who man the island's meteorological station Herwighamna, Bear Island is uninhabited. It was declared a nature reserve in 2002.



02
Niue

About 1,491 miles away from New Zealand lies the independent island nation of Niue. The island of  1,300 inhabitants introduced coins featuring Pokémon characters as legal medium of payment in 2001. Niue became the world's first "Wi-Fi nation" in 2003 with free Internet access provided across the country.



03
Tristan da Cunha, British Overseas Territory

This remote volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean is 1,750 miles away from the nearest continental land of Africa. However, it has a U.K. postcode — TDCU 1ZZ. Home to just 301 inhabitants, it's a great spot for bird-watching, and boasts rare species like Northern rockhopper penguins, Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses, sooty albatrosses, Atlantic petrels, and great-winged petrels.



04
Tromelin Island, France

Tromelin, which was discovered by France in 1722, lies 280 miles off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. While the island is administered as a French overseas territory. Mauritius claims sovereignty over it. Tromelin has a tragic history: in 1760, an East India Company vessel shipwrecked here on its way to Mauritius. After two months, the stranded sailors had built a boat, set sail and were never heard of again. They had left behind a group of 60 slaves. Fifteen years later, when a ship arrived to rescue them, only seven women and a baby remained.



05
Easter Island, Chile

Located 2,237 miles away from the Chilean mainland, Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean is famous across the world, thanks to 887 mysterious stone heads, or "moai," created by the early Rapa Nui people who settled here between 700 to 1100 AD. The island was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. According to the 2012 Chilean census, Easter Island has a population of 5,800.



06
Khao Phing Kan, Thailand

The island has popularly come to be known as James Bond Island after it was featured in the James Bond movies — "The Man With The Golden Gun" and "Tomorrow Never Dies." Located in Phang Nga Bay, 3.7 miles from the mainland, it is famous for the 66-foot-tall islet, called Ko Tapu, near its shore. The island is a popular tourist attraction.



07
Hashima Island, Japan

Remember the eerie island where James Bond was held captive by Raoul Silva in “Skyfall” (2012)? It is actually the abandoned Hashima Island, which is 9 miles from Nagasaki. Formerly a bustling industrial city, the island was abandoned in 1974 when the local mines closed down. After lying forgotten for three decades, interest in Hashima resurfaced for its undisturbed industrial ruins. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.



08
Monuriki, Fiji

Monuriki is a tiny uninhabited coral island — part of the Mamanuca archipelago — in the Pacific Ocean. Located off the coast of Viti Levu island, Monuriki boasts sapphire lagoons and pristine white beaches, and is where Tom Hanks' classic film "Cast Away" was shot.



09
Surtsey, Iceland

The volcanic island of Surtsey forms the southernmost point of Iceland; it was formed in a volcanic eruption between 1963 to 1967. It is off-limits to the general public, and only scientists have access to its volcanic grounds for studying rare rock formations. A rich reservoir of flora and fauna, Surtsey was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.



10
Ball’s Pyramid, Australia

Located 12 miles from Lord Howe Island in the Pacific Ocean, Ball’s Pyramid is the eroded remnant of a millions-of-year-old shield volcano and caldera that now sticks out of the water like a knife. The volcanic peak is one of the most difficult climbing terrains in the world. Part of the Lord Howe Island Marine Park, the large, lobster-like Lord Howe stick insect was rediscovered here in 2001, after the insects had gone extinct on Lord Howe Island.



11
St Kilda, Scotland

The St Kilda archipelago is 37 miles off the coast of mainland Scotland in the North Atlantic Ocean. It was abandoned by residents in 1930 owing to illness and food shortages, leaving behind empty cottages and streets. The only inhabitants now are conservation workers, scientists and military personnel. The home of the unusual-looking Soay sheep, the archipelago was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.



12
Liancourt Rocks, South Korea

Also known as Dokdo, the Liancourt Rocks are a group of islets in the Sea of Japan. Consisting of two main islets and 35 smaller rocks, the islands are located about 117 miles from mainland South Korea, and have a lighthouse and South Korea Coast Guard posts. The waters around the islets are rich fishing grounds.



13
Floreana Island, Ecuador

A part of the Galapagos Islands, Floreana is located about 621 miles away from mainland Ecuador. Formed by volcanic eruptions, the island has a popular snorkeling site known as “Devil’s Crown.” The Pension Wittmer hotel here boasts of having the only telephone on the entire island, which has a permanent population of around 100.



14
Ha’apai, Tonga

The picturesque Ha'apai islands are a group of coral islets in the central part of the archipelago nation of Tonga. The Ha'apai are 127 miles from Tonga's capital Tongatapu. Out of 62 islands in the group, only 17 are inhabited. Dotted with blue lagoons and pink corals, these volcanic islands are perfect for a peaceful beach getaway.



15
Devon Island, Canada

With temperature dipping below -58°F, Devon Island in Nunavut is one of the largest uninhabited islands in the world. It is famous for the Haughton impact crater, where a meteorite crashed millions of years ago. The site is used by NASA to simulate life on Mars.



16
Pribilof Islands, Alaska

This group of four remote volcanic islands is located in the Bering Sea, about 200 miles north of Unalaska. The main islands are sparingly populated with Aleut people, whose economy is dependent on annual snow crab and halibut harvesting. The islands are also major birdwatching and northern fur seal sighting destinations.



17
Raoul Island, New Zealand

Shaped like an anvil, Raoul Island, or Sunday Island, lie 680 miles away from New Zealand’s North Island. The largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, it is regularly rocked by strong earthquakes and is the emergent part of a large active submarine volcano, which most recently erupted in 2006.



18
Macquarie Island, Australia

Think of an island where penguins outnumber humans. Macquarie Island in the Pacific Ocean is one such place, where thousands of royal penguins frolic in the sun. Located about 665 miles (1,070 km) from New Zealand, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The otherwise uninhabited island houses a permanent base of the Australian Antarctic Division.



19
Gilbert Islands, Kiribati

The Gilbert Islands, a group of 16 atolls and coral islands straddling the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, was discovered by the British in 1788. The islands were invaded by Japan in 1941 during the WW II. Today, although they are now an independent colony belonging to Kiribati, the beaches are still dotted with ruins of Japanese anti-ship guns.



20
Pitcairn Island, British Overseas Territory

Pitcairn island is situated 1,350 miles southeast of Tahiti. Its 50 or so residents are descendants of the mutineers of HMAV Bounty and their Tahitian companions, who set foot on the island in 1790. The island has a U.K. postcode — PCRN 1ZZ.