An island is an insular territory.
Originating from the Latin word insulāris , insular is an adjective that is used to refer to someone originating from or linked to an island . An island, in turn, is a sector of land that is surrounded by water.
The insular territories , therefore, are islands . There are island territories in seas, rivers and lakes, with very diverse extensions. The formation of these regions, in turn, can be due to different factors, such as the accumulation of sediments or volcanic eruptions.
Island countries
When a State develops entirely on a group of islands or on a single island, it is called an island country . Worldwide there are almost fifty island countries. Australia , Japan , Indonesia , Cuba , Puerto Rico , and Iceland are examples of these nations.
An island platform , on the other hand, is the surface of the underwater bottom that is close to the coast of an island. This platform extends from the coast to a depth that does not exceed 200 meters.
Among the island countries, Japan stands out.
Communication with the continent
In some cases, the limitations posed by the distance between an island and the mainland to which it belongs make progress and communication very difficult. Without going into any specific case, we can say that some countries give less importance to their archipelagos when making decisions regarding their commercial infrastructure, and this leaves them behind on the path to economic and cultural development.
Life on an island can be wonderful in terms of contact with nature: being surrounded by the sea is the dream of many, and this without taking into account the characteristics of the climate of some islands, which keeps them in an apparently eternal summer. . It is not uncommon to find people who save all year to take summer vacations on an island, far from the stress and claustrophobia of continental cities.
But island life is not as easy for locals as it is for tourists, a difference that occurs almost anywhere anyway. In general, summer tourist destinations suffer a significant decline in economic activity during the fall, winter and spring months, as they focus on businesses that depend on foreigners to function. The rest of the year, in fact, many of the stores close as there is no justification for opening them to the local public.
Technological development in island areas
Another phenomenon that takes place on certain islands is a technological delay due to the difficulty involved in installing Internet services, the most important means of communication since the beginning of the century.
Of course, this does not occur on all islands: Japan is an island country, but despite this it is at the forefront of networks; Australia, on the other hand, has fallen behind in this regard and its citizens suffer when they are deprived of services common in other English-speaking countries, such as on-demand television in ultra high definition or online games.
A type of town hall
In Spain , meanwhile, there is the island council . This is the name given to the administrative corporation of the Canary Islands, in charge of representing the population of each of the islands of the archipelago.
The Canary Islands archipelago constitutes an autonomous community. It is made up of seven main islands: Lanzarote , Fuerteventura , Gran Canaria , Tenerife , La Palma , La Gomera and El Hierro . Each of these islands has its island council, with various powers and powers (the Island Council of Lanzarote , the Island Council of Fuerteventura , the Island Council of Gran Canaria , etc.).