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Deserted coves, palm fringed beaches and not another
soul in sight. You might think that heading to an island for a holiday
is a blissful way to escape it all. But as these startling images show,
the reality could be strikingly different from this assumption. With
limited yet coveted space, islands are sometimes the most densely
populated places on Earth with destinations such as Hong Kong and
Manhattan proving their popularity and desirability by the sheer number
of people who want to set up home there.
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Malé, The Maldives
Many honeymooners travel to the Maldives to get away from the crowd and
enjoy being newlyweds away from the bustle.
But to get to the hotels on exotic atolls, you have to first land on
Malé island, the capital of the Republic of the Maldives.
There's just over 133,000 people living on Malé according to the latest
census listed by the UN.
Its dense population has just over two square miles of space to make
their home meaning that more than 66,000 people live in a single square
mile. |
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Venice, Italy
Venice stretches across 117 small islands along the Adriatic Sea in
north-east Italy and as this incredible aerial picture shows, there's
not much room for manoeuvre.
The islands are home to a population of 270,00 people. One island,
Burano, has a population of 4,000 people, the equivalent of about 50,000
people per square mile.
While Venice is a city of considerable cultural significance - it's the
birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi, for instance - it's also a city that's in
trouble. Scientists say the city is tilting to the east and heading out
to the Adriatic Sea as it is hit by more floods than ever before. |
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Lubeck, Germany
The old town of Lubeck was founded in 1143 on an island on the Baltic
coast of northern Germany. The island is surrounded by land but cutoff
from the mainland by waterways.
There's no clear numbers on the number of people still living in the
historic centre but as aerial images show, it is densely packed with
buildings and a network of streets.
The rest of modern day Lubeck is relatively spacious though, with about
212,000 people living on approximate 83 square miles of land according
to the UN. |
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Manhattan, USA
Bustling Manhattan is what many people think of when they think about
New York.
But the borough is so densely populated that many who can't afford the
high rental rates are forced out into the surrounding boroughs of New
York City and even nearby states.
There's only about 23 square miles of land but an estimated 1.626
million people living on it - the equivalent of 70,700 people per square
mile. |
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Santa Cruz del Islote, Colombia
Santa Cruz del Islote is frequently considered one of the most densely
populated places in the world and has about four times more densely
populated than Manhattan.
There approximately 1,200 people living on the tiny 1 hectare (about
0.004 square mile) island or the equivalent of about 300,000 people per
square mile.
Despite this, and the fact that there's no cemetery, no doctors or even
running water, its residents still describe it as a paradise.
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Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong
Ap Lei Chau is just off the south coast of the main Hong Kong Island.
Locals say that it's shaped like the tongue of a duck, gaining it the
nickname of Duck Tongue Island.
There's about 87,000 people living on the island, which offers just half
a square mile of space - meaning the population density is around
174,000 people per square mile.
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Migingo Island, Lake Victoria
The crowded patch of land comprises Migingo Island is covered in tiny
shacks, the first of which only appeared in 2002.
Kenya and Uganda both lay claim to the half acre plot, about the size of
half of a football pitch, which remain disputed.
There's now between 100 to 200 people living on the island, making the
population density approximately 250,000 per square mile.
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Ebeye Island, Marshall Islands
The tiny atoll that makes up Ebeye Island in the Pacific has just 0.1
square miles of space but is home to around 15,000 people.
This is the equivalent of about 150,000 people per square mile.
The burgeoning population is as a result of nuclear testing by the
United States, which forced many residents who were uprooted from their
homes on the Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll to relocate to the island. |
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