Almost everyone knows the story of a man named Robinson Crusoe. This is a fictional story, but based on an absolutely real incident that happened to Alexander Selkirk. In fact, history knows many examples when people ended up on uninhabited islands, this could happen as a result of a shipwreck, some were taken out on purpose, and someone decided to take such a step consciously.
Islands of the World
Modern researchers claim that there are about 500 thousand islands on our planet, but only 2% of them are inhabited. Most of the islands of land among the "big" water are located off the coast of Japan, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Philippines, Indonesia and Greece.
Greenland is the largest island in the world. Its area is more than 2 million km2. It is located between two oceans: the Atlantic and the Arctic, in the area of the Canadian archipelago. Greenland is part of Denmark and has very broad powers. Only 57,6 thousand people live on the island, mostly Greenlandic Eskimos (90%),since 80% of the territory is covered with ice.
Alexander Selkirk
There are many legends about life on a desert island, but there are also real stories. In 1703, Alexander Selkirk participated in an expedition that set off from the British coast to South America. This man was famous for his very scandalous character, and for 1 year of travel he was rather tired of the whole team. When Alexander announced his desire to go out on some island, the team breathed a sigh of relief.
It is clear that Selkirk regretted his decision, but no one wanted to listen to him, and he ended up on a desert island, where he lived for 4 years and 4 months. Alexander was lucky, before him settlers lived on this piece of land, after which goats and even a cat remained. He also found edible berries, thickets of turnips.
In 1709, a British ship moored to the island, the crew of which saved Selkirk. Upon returning to Britain, this case was written about for a very long time. It was the story of life on a desert island of this man that formed the basis of the book "Robinson Crusoe".
Islands of Russia
Some citizens of Russia also have something to tell about life on the island. The largest patches of land are in the Arctic Ocean, and the smallest in the Black and Azov Seas.
Most of the Russian islands are very sparsely populated, and some can only be reached with special passes or with an expedition.
Some of the islands in Russia:
| Name | Area, km2 | Short description |
| Karaginskiy | 1935 | Located in the waters of the Bering Sea. It is of volcanic origin, people do not live here. Winter lasts about 7 months. |
| Vaigach | 3400 | Located beyond the Arctic Circle, where only bears, hares, walruses and deer live. In summer, the air temperature does not rise above +12 ˚С. |
| Kolguev | 3495 | Located beyond the Arctic Circle. The climate is characterized by the strongest fluctuations in atmospheric temperature. 450 people living on this land in two villages can tell about life on the island. |
| Wrangel | 7670 | Located in the East Siberian and Chukchi Seas. There are no people here, but there are many animals, from polar bears to birds, which, by the way, are about 40 species on the island. |
| Sakhalin | 76600 | Located in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, the most populated island in Russia. It is almost always cool here, and the vegetation is represented by 1.5 thousand species. Animals are represented by brown bears, mink, wolverines and other representatives of the fauna. |
Kurils
These are islands with a mountainous relief (56 pieces), where there are about 160 volcanoes (40 active). Is inthe Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk. Earthquakes and severe storms often occur here. Nevertheless, the climate can be described as mild, with overcast summers and long winters. In general, the islands have either snow or dense fog with rain. Most of the islands are inhabited by people.
Life on the Kuril Islands is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. The most inhabited islands are Iturup and Kunashir. You can get to them only by helicopter or plane and by boat (travel time - about 18-24 hours, departure from the city of Korsakov). However, daily communication is not established, and in order to get here, tourists will have to purchase tickets several months before the planned date of the trip. Another problem may arise, due to unfavorable weather, ships that run only 2 times a week may not depart at all. In addition, an outsider will have to obtain special permission, because this is a border zone.
According to reviews about life on the island, it is very easy to meet a brown bear on your way or find Japanese-made bottles. There are many remains of old Japanese factories and cemeteries on the island. On the other hand, practically every inhabitant of the islands has his own vehicle, and these are mostly Japanese jeeps, although there is not a single gas station. According to reviews, in principle, there are no problems with fuel, it is imported in barrels.
Because of the high seismic hazard, houses above three floors are not being built. But the vacation of the local population is 62 days. And residents of the southern islands even have a visa-free regime with Japan.
Canaries
Almost every inhabitant of the northern regions dreams of life in the Canary Islands. They are located in the Atlantic Ocean, not far from Western Sahara and Morocco. The total area of all the islands is 7,447 km2. They all belong to Spain.
Here is a tropical climate, the islands are mostly mountainous. But August to October is hurricane season. It may seem like paradise on an island in the Caribbean, but is it really?
First of all, you need to understand that there is unbearable heat and high humidity almost all year round. Secondly, there are a huge number of insects on the islands, and most of them bite. Thirdly, the change of seasons is almost imperceptible on the islands, they are too similar to each other.
It's impossible to say that everything is fine on the islands with infrastructure, okay, there are potholes on the roads, but electricity disappears very often, the Internet is not only expensive, but also very slow. You should not hope that you will be able to live in a tent and eat fruits from trees. You still have to deal with personal hygiene, washing clothes, and in order for fruit to grow on a tree, you need to take care of it.
On the islands there is often a natural phenomenon called "Kalima". This is a fine sandy dust that comes along with the wind from the African Sahara. At such moments, asthmatics are the hardest.
Uninhabited islands of the planet
Perhaps we should think about life on a desert island? After all, there are still about 490 thousand left.on the planet.
If we discard the options with islands where water is scarce, then there is an opportunity to fulfill your dream without leaving the European continent.
In the press last year, information appeared that the French government was inviting a family to live on a desert island. The authorities offer to settle on the small island of Kemenes (off the coast of Brittany), where the family (10 years old) previously lived, but decided to move to the mainland.
This is a piece of land with sand, grass and rocks. There are many seals, pygmy sheep, sea birds live here.
According to some reports, people lived on the island for 1 thousand years, but 25 years ago everyone finally moved to the mainland. Only in 2007, they found a man who agreed with his family to live here and look after the island. Then David and Suazik dreamed of dreams, but, as they say, now they would not have done so in any case. The family was engaged in the cultivation of sheep, potatoes and received tourists. The main condition of the contract is to earn your own living. The family somehow coped with this, but there were many other problems.
First of all, electricity could only be obtained from solar panels and a windmill. Rain water had to be collected. Although the family did not completely deny themselves modern gadgets, they even had electric buggies in which they explored the island. But the main reason for leaving was that children still need to study.
World famous stories: Pavel Vavilov
About survival on an island in real lifeonce told Pavel Vavilov. He was the fireman of the team of the icebreaker "Alexander Sibiryakov". On August 25, 1942, the icebreaker entered into battle with the German cruiser. The battle took place in the area of Domashny Island (Kara Sea). As a result, all members of the team died, except for Pavel. He managed to board a rescue whaleboat and reach Belukha Island.
However, the stoker did not have to rejoice, only polar bears lived here. He stretched the remaining food supply on the whaleboat as best he could. Vavilov settled at the lighthouse, where it was relatively safe. Water was obtained from melted snow. After 34 days on the island, the stoker managed to transmit a distress signal to a sailing ship, which saved him.
Ada Blackjack
Not only men end up on uninhabited islands, but also an Inuit girl named Ada. Her life was not successful, her children and young husband died, and the youngest son had to be sent to an orphanage, there was no money for subsistence. But one day she received an offer to go on an expedition to Wrangel Island. The team went on a trip in 1921, but everything went wrong right away, the food quickly ended, the hunt did not make it possible to eat normally. In January, part of the team decided to leave the wintering place for the mainland. Ada and the wounded Knights remained on the island, who soon died.
The polar explorers who went back were never found, and Ada managed to live on the island for 2 years, learning how to hunt. As a result, in 1923 she was rescued. Upon returning home, she took her son from the orphanage and moved toSeattle, where she started a new life with the money she earned.
Informed choice
But not all people have to accidentally end up on a desert island. Some make a conscious choice. In the early 80s of the last century, a British journalist decided to conduct a social experiment and continue his life on the island. However, none of his acquaintances wanted to support his desire, and he advertised in the newspaper. After a while, a young girl responded - Lucy Irvine. To make the move easier, they got married.
In 1982, young people went to the island of Tain, located between Australia and New Guinea. It was an uninhabited island suitable for life. But upon arrival at Tain, the couple realized that they had absolutely nothing in common, therefore, in addition to solving everyday problems, they also had to learn to get along together. According to the couple, it was ignorance and misunderstanding of each other that became the main problem of staying on the island.
In 1983, a terrible drought occurred on the island, people ran out of fresh water. However, they were lucky, and they were rescued by natives from Badu Island. After returning to their homeland, the couple divorced, and each of them wrote their own book.
How to survive on a desert island?
Most people crave romance, it seems to them that life on the island is paradise. But is it really so, especially if, apart from you, there was no one there? It's one thing when you go on vacation, you don't have to think about finding food and building housing, everything is ready for the rest. It is a completely different matter when there is not even a knife in the hands andmatches. And when it comes to understanding that a tragedy has occurred, panic immediately begins, blue water and snow-white sand are no longer happy.
Water extraction
If it so happened that you ended up on a desert island, you should immediately start looking for water. If you can still somehow live without food for a certain time, then without water - no way.
You should look, maybe there are old wells on the island. If there are rocks, then there is a high probability that there is rainwater in the crevices. Look for coconut fruits, they have milk inside. Take a good look around, collect any container that will allow you to draw water.
Shelter
If at least somehow you managed to solve the problem with water, start building a shelter. If this is a tropical island, then the main thing is to make a canopy that will save you from the sun and rain. Coconut leaves are ideal.
Try to make the bed a little higher than the ground level so that insects are less disturbed.
Don't build a shelter in the jungle, there are more insects and there may be animals. In addition, you can quickly spot a ship from the beach.
Food and fire
Everyone can eat in the tropics. It can be coconuts, bananas and larvae, clams and snails. Build something like a spear and catch fish, a stingray will do, which often sails in shallow water. The main thing is that the process of obtaining food should not be too difficult, so as not to burn a lot of calories.
In the tropics, despite the heat, it is quite difficult to make fire, as it is veryhigh humidity, so you have to try. If you managed to kindle a fire, then do everything so that it does not go out.
The life of people on the islands - both inhabited and uninhabited - is very difficult. After all, this is isolation from the world, the inability to call for help as quickly as possible and other problems. Therefore, not every modern resident of the metropolis is able to survive on the island, especially when it comes to the conditions of the Far North.
