Rockall is a small, uninhabited, rocky
isletAn islet is a small island.- Types :As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability....
in the north
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
. It gives its name to one of the sea areas named in the
shipping forecastThe Shipping Forecast is a four-times-daily BBC radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the UK Meteorological Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency...
, provided by the
British Meteorological OfficeThe Met Office , is the United Kingdom's national weather service, and a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence. Part of the Met Office headquarters at Exeter in Devon is the Met Office College, which handles the training for internal personnel and many forecasters from around the world...
. It could be, in
James FisherJames Maxwell McConnell Fisher was a British author, editor, broadcaster, naturalist and ornithologist...
's words, "the most isolated small rock in the oceans of the world".
The ownership of Rockall is disputed as are the exploration and fishing rights on the Rockall Bank. Exchanges continue between the countries involved - the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
(for the
Faroe IslandsThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
),
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
and
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
. Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom have all made submissions to the commission set up under the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaThe United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982...
. Denmark will make a submission before 2014, delaying a resolution until then.
Etymology
The origin of the name is debatable but it has been suggested that it derives from the
GaelicThe Goidelic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. They historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, through the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland. There are three modern Goidelic...
Sgeir Rocail meaning "
skerryA skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef.The term skerry is derived from the Old Norse sker, which means a rock in the sea. The Old Norse term sker was brought into the English language via the Scots language...
(or "sea rock") of roaring", although
rocail can also be translated as "tearing" or "ripping". There may also be an etymological link with the Old Norse
hrukka.
The first literary reference to the isle, where it is called
Rockol, is found in
Martin MartinMartin Martin was a Scottish writer best known for his work A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland . This book is particularly noted for its information on the St. Kilda archipelago. Martin's description of St Kilda, which he visited in 1697, had also been published some years earlier as A...
's
A Description of the Western isles of ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
published in 1703 where he gives an account of a voyage to
St KildaSt Kilda is an isolated archipelago 64 kilometres west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom...
where the locals knew the isle as
Rockabarra (
RocabarraighRocabarra or Rocabarraigh is a phantom island or rock in Scottish Gaelic myth, which is supposed to appear three times, the last being at the end of the world.The name confusingly has also been used to refer to Rockall, a real rock in the North Atlantic...
). The name
Rocabarraigh is also used in Gaelic
folkloreFolklore is the body of expressive culture, including stories, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions of that culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which...
for a mythical rock which is supposed to appear three times, the last being at the end of the world.
- "Nuair a thig Rocabarra ris, is dual gun tèid an Saoghal a sgrios".
- (When Rocabarra returns, the world will likely come to be destroyed/ruined)
Geography
The rock is the summit of the eroded core of an extinct volcano and is located at , (or 162.7
nmiThe nautical mile is a unit of length corresponding approximately to one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian....
) west of the islands of St. Kilda, Scotland and 430 kilometres (267.2mi) north-west of
DonegalDonegal is a town in County Donegal, in the Province of Ulster, in Ireland. Donegal is not the county town of County Donegal, despite being its namesake. Rather, the county town is Lifford, and Letterkenny is the county's largest town. Donegal town is situated at the mouth of Donegal Bay, on the...
in
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
. The surrounding elevated seabed is called Rockall Bank or Rockall Plateau. It is separated from the Western Isles by Rockall Channel (also called Rockall Trough).
Anton Dohrn SeamountThe Anton Dohrn Seamount is a guyot in the Rockall Trough in the northeast Atlantic. It was named after the ship which discovered it which, in turn, had been named after the nineteenth century biologist Anton Dohrn....
is a submarine elevation on Rockall Trough about halfway between Rockall and the
Outer HebridesThe Outer Hebrides, comprise an island chain off the west coast of Scotland...
.
Rockall is mapped by the Ordnance Survey, but as it is officially outside the
OSGB gridThe British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude and longitude....
it is usually shown as an inset without gridlines on a mainland sheet. However, the grid can be extended to put Rockall in grid square MC as shown in this
1:50,000 mockup.
Rockall is about wide and long at its base and rises sheer to a height of approximately . It is regularly washed over by large storm waves, particularly in winter. There is a small ledge of 3.5 by 1.3 metres (11 by 4 ft), known as "Hall's Ledge", from the summit.
The rock's only permanent inhabitants are periwinkles and other marine molluscs. Small numbers of seabirds, mainly
fulmarFulmars are seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species that are living and two that are extinct.-Taxonomy:...
s,
gannetThe Northern Gannet is a seabird and is the largest member of the gannet family, Sulidae.-Description:...
s,
kittiwakeThe Black-legged Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla, is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae.This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Larus tridactylus....
s, and
guillemotThe Common Murre or Common Guillemot is a large auk. It is also known as the Thin-billed Murre in North America. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North-Atlantic and North Pacific...
s, use the rock for resting in summer, and gannets and guillemots occasionally breed successfully if the summer is calm with no storm waves washing over the rock. There is no natural source of fresh water.
Rockall is also close to the
Darwin MoundsDarwin Mounds describes a vast field of undersea sand mounds situated off the north west coast of Scotland, first discovered in May 1998, they provide a unique habitat for ancient deep water coral reefs...
, deep-water
coralCorals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone-like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals...
mounds about 185 km (100 nmi or 115 mi) north-west of
Cape WrathCape Wrath is a cape in Sutherland, Highland, in northern Scotland. It is the most northwesterly point on the island of Great Britain....
.
Nearest mainland
- 430 kilometres (267.2mi) north-west of Bloody Foreland, Donegal on the mainland of Ireland
Ireland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
. from Ardnamurchan PointArdnamurchan Point is an isolated peninsula with a lighthouse in Highland, Scotland.-Location:Ardnamurchan Point lies at the western end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland...
, the nearest point on the Scottish mainland, and thus of mainland Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
.
Nearest islands
Rockall lies: (or 162.7nmi) west of the Scottish island of Soay in the St Kilda archipelago. Soay has probably never been permanently inhabited.
- 303.3 kilometres (188.4mi) (or 163.8nmi) west of Hirta
Hirta is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago. The name "Hiort" and "Hirta" have also been applied to the entire archipelago....
, the largest island in the St Kilda group. Hirta was permanently inhabited until 1930 when the resident population was evacuated. Since 1957 Hirta has been re-occupied year-round by a small number of civilians working in a military base. (or 198.1nmi) west of the headland of Aird an RunairAird an Rùnair is the most westerly point of the island of North Uist in the Western Isles of Scotland. The headland is approximately 4km south-west of Balmartin....
, near the crofting township of Hogha Gearraidh/Hougharry on the island of North UistNorth Uist is an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.-Description:North Uist is the tenth largest Scottish island and the thirteenth largest island surrounding Great Britain. It has an area of , slightly smaller than South Uist. North Uist is connected by causeways to Benbecula via Grimsay,...
at Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey is an executive agency of the United Kingdom government. It is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, and one of the world's largest producers of maps...
grid reference NF705711. North Uist is part of the Na h-Eileanan SiarThe Outer Hebrides, comprise an island chain off the west coast of Scotland...
council area of Scotland.
Geological surveys
The exact position of Rockall and the size and shape of the Rockall Bank was first charted in 1831 by Captain
A.T.E. VidalAlexander Thomas Emeric Vidal was an officer of the Royal Navy. He became an accomplished surveyor, and reached the rank of vice-admiral.-Early life:...
, a
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
surveyor.
The first scientific expedition to Rockall was led by Miller Christie in 1896 when the
Royal Irish AcademyThe Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has approximately 404 Members,...
sponsored a study of the flora and fauna. They chartered the
Granuaile.
The RV
Celtic Explorer surveyed the Rockall Bank and North West of
DonegalDonegal is a town in County Donegal, in the Province of Ulster, in Ireland. Donegal is not the county town of County Donegal, despite being its namesake. Rather, the county town is Lifford, and Letterkenny is the county's largest town. Donegal town is situated at the mouth of Donegal Bay, on the...
in 2003.
The ILV
Granuaile was chartered by the
Geological Survey of IrelandThe Geological Survey of Ireland was founded in 1845. It is part of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. It is based in Beggars Bush Barracks in Dublin. Its multidisciplinary staff work in sections such as Groundwater, Bedrock, Quaternary/Geotechnical, Heritage, Marine...
(GSI), on behalf of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR), to conduct a seismic survey at the Rockall and Hatton Banks in July 2004. The seismic survey was part of the National Seabed Survey which has been ongoing for four years.
Rockall is made of a type of
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
that is relatively rich in
sodiumSodium is a metallic element with a symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals within "group 1"...
and
potassiumPotassium is the chemical element with the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash...
. Within this granite are darker bands richer in the
alkaliIn chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Alkalis are best known for being bases that dissolve in water. Bases are compounds with a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base, especially for...
pyroxeneThe pyroxenes are a group of important rock-forming silicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. They share a common structure consisting of single chains of silica tetrahedra and they crystallize in the monoclinic and orthorhombic systems...
mineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not have a specific...
aegirineAegirine is an inosilicate member of the clinopyroxene group. Aegirine is the sodium endmenber of the aegirine-augite series. Aegirine has the chemical formula NaFeSi
2O
6 in which the iron is present as Fe
3+. In the aegirine-augite series the sodium is variably...
and the alkali
amphiboleAmphibole defines an important group of generally dark-colored rock-forming inosilicate minerals, composed of double chain SiO
4 tetrahedra, linked at the vertices and generally containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structures. Amphiboles crystallize into two crystal systems,...
mineral
riebeckiteRiebeckite is a sodium-rich member of the amphibole group of minerals, chemical formula Na25Si8O222. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system, usually as long prismatic crystals showing a diamond-shaped cross section, but also in fibrous,...
. The dark bands are a type of granite that geologists have named "rockallite", although use of this term is now discouraged. In 1975, a new
mineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not have a specific...
was discovered on Rockall. The mineral is called bazirite, (chemical composition BaZrSi
3O
9), named after the elements
bariumBarium is a chemical element. It has the symbol Ba, atomic number 56, and is the fifth element in Group 2. Barium is a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. It is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with air. Its oxide is historically known as baryta but it reacts...
and
zirconiumZirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. It is a lustrous, gray-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium. Zirconium is used as an alloying agent due to its high resistance to corrosion. It is never found as a native metal; it is obtained mainly from...
. Rockall was formed approximately 55 million years ago, when the ancient continent of
LaurasiaLaurasia was a supercontinent that most recently existed as a part of the split of the Pangaea supercontinent in the late Mesozoic era. It included most of the landmasses which make up today's continents of the northern hemisphere, chiefly Laurentia , Baltica, Siberia, Kazakhstania, and the North...
was split apart by
plate tectonicsPlate tectonics is a theory which describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...
. Greenland and Europe separated and the north-east Atlantic Ocean was formed between them.
Disasters
There have been disasters on the neighbouring Hasselwood Rock and Helen's Reef (the latter was not named until 1830).
- 1686 — a Spanish, French, or Spanish-French ship ran on Rockall. Several men of the crew, Spanish and French, were able to reach St. Kilda in a pinnace
A pinnace is one of two marine craft, the first a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels amongst other things, and the second a ship rigged vessel popular in northern waters through the 17th-19th centuries....
and save their lives. Some details of this event were recounted by Martin MartinMartin Martin was a Scottish writer best known for his work A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland . This book is particularly noted for its information on the St. Kilda archipelago. Martin's description of St Kilda, which he visited in 1697, had also been published some years earlier as A...
in his A late voyage to St. Kilda, published in 1698. The ship was perhaps a fishing vessel based in the Bay of BiscayThe Bay of Biscay or the Cantabrian Sea is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea...
and bound for North Atlantic codCod is the common name for the genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
fisheries.
- 1812 — survey vessel Leonidas foundered on Helen's Reef.
- 1824 — brigantine Helen of Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and, fully named as Dundee City, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It lies on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea....
, bound for QuebecQuébec , is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in the province – after Montreal, about to the southwest...
, foundered at Hasselwood Rock; "the crew left most of the passengers to drown, including seven women and six children".
- 1904 — DFDS
DFDS A/S, an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab is a Danish shipping company. It is one of the world's largest ferry operators. DFDS was formed in 1866 as a merger of various minor shipping companies under the leadership of industrialist Carl Frederik Tietgen...
steamer , 3,318 tons with 727 emigrants and a crew of 68, bound for New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
on 28 June 1904; 635 lives were lost with the 163 survivors being taken to StornowayStornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Stornoway is a sister town of Pendleton, in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States....
.
There have also been reports in national newspapers in both Ireland and the United Kingdom that at least two unexploded bombs from World War II lie within a 250-metre radius of Rockall. At present, no attempts have been made to remove them.
Law of the Sea
The
United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaThe United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982...
states, “Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.”
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
, and
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
all acceded to the convention. The
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
acceded to the convention on 25 July 1997. The
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
and
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
have agreed to a delineation which ignores Rockall's existence and have granted exploration rights.
The twenty-fourth session of the Commission to be held in New York from 10 August to 11 September 2009. Iceland
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/isl27_09/isl2009executivesummary.pdf, Ireland
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/irl09/irl09_exsum.pdf, and the United Kingdom
http://huwu.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/gbr09/gbr09_exsum.pdf have made submissions. Denmark will make a submission before 2014
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/irl09/dnk_re_irl_clcs20_2009.pdf.
Irish claims to areas around Rockall
Historically, Ireland's claim to the rock was based on its distance from a mainland (Ireland being nearer to the rock than mainland Great Britain) while Britain's was based on its distance from nearby islands. Ireland regards it as merely an uninhabitable rock without any
territorial watersTerritorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most twelve nautical miles from the baseline of a coastal state...
and thus irrelevant when determining the boundaries of the
exclusive economic zoneUnder the law of the sea, an Exclusive Economic Zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources. It stretches from the edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical miles from its coast...
s. More populist claims to the island are based, in part, on the fact that Rockall is 430 kilometres (267 miles) from
DonegalDonegal is a town in County Donegal, in the Province of Ulster, in Ireland. Donegal is not the county town of County Donegal, despite being its namesake. Rather, the county town is Lifford, and Letterkenny is the county's largest town. Donegal town is situated at the mouth of Donegal Bay, on the...
in
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
.
According to a Written Parliamentary Answer from the Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs on 14 June 1990, an agreement was reached between the British and Irish governments on delimitation of the
continental shelfThe continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and gulfs. The continental rise is below the...
between the two countries and that this included a line of delimitation across the Rockall Plateau. As a result, a very extensive area under Irish jurisdiction, including part of the Rockall Trough and Plateau, is not disputed by the United Kingdom. No further negotiations were taking place in relation to the rock at the time.
More recently, on 11 June 2003, the Irish Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources gave a Written Parliamentary Answer, stating: "Ireland claims an extended continental shelf ... up to more than 500 nautical miles (926 km), particularly in the Hatton–Rockall area".
As the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
has no mandate regarding issues of delimitation between neighbouring states and cannot consider an area under dispute without the agreement of all the parties concerned, Ireland has participated in informal discussions with Iceland and the Faroe Islands in an attempt to resolve the dispute before making its submission to the Commission.
Independent Irish politician
Seán Dublin Bay Rockall LoftusSeán Dublin Bay Rockall Loftus is an Irish environmentalist, barrister and politician who drew attention to his campaign issues by changing his name...
(b. 1927), a former
Lord Mayor of Dublinright|thumb|325px|[[Mansion House, Dublin|The Mansion House]], on [[Dawson Street]], is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin.The Lord Mayor of Dublin is the symbolic head of the city government of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The Lord Mayor is elected to office annually by members...
(1995–1996), has long advocated that Ireland make a territorial claim on Rockall, and enthusiastically supported Greenpeace's occupation. Loftus, who had changed his name by
deed pollA deed poll is a legal document binding only to a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an active intention. It is, strictly speaking, not a contract because it binds only one party and expresses an intention instead of a promise.The most common use is a name change through a...
to "Seán Dublin Bay Loftus" to highlight his campaign for the protection of the environment of
Dublin BayDublin Bay is a delta shaped inlet of the Irish Sea off the east coast of Ireland.The bay is approximately 10 km in width at its north-south base and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin, stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south...
, changed it again, adding "Rockall" to demonstrate his commitment to an Irish claim on the islet.
The United Kingdom's claims
Rockall is within the
Exclusive Economic ZoneUnder the law of the sea, an Exclusive Economic Zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources. It stretches from the edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical miles from its coast...
(EEZ) claimed by the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.. In 1997, the UK ratified the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaThe United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982...
and thus relinquished any claim to an extension of its EEZ beyond the islet. The remaining issue is the status of the
continental shelfThe continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and gulfs. The continental rise is below the...
rights of surrounding ocean floor. These are the exclusive rights to exploit any resources on or under the ocean floor (
oilPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
,
natural gasNatural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills...
, etc.) and should not be confused with the EEZ, as continental shelf rights do not carry any privileges with regard to fisheries. Ownership of these rights in the Rockall area are disputed between the United Kingdom,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
(for the
Faroe IslandsThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
),
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
and
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
.
The United Kingdom formally annexed Rockall under the
Island of Rockall Act 1972The Island of Rockall Act 1972 is a UK Act of Parliament formally annexing Rockall in its entirety to protect it from Irish and Icelandic claims...
.
The nearest permanently inhabitable land to Rockall is Hirta, and the nearest actually inhabited land is North Uist, both of which are in the United Kingdom (see above). In 1997 the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
ratified the 1982
United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaThe United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982...
. In doing so it relinquished its right to claim an
exclusive economic zoneUnder the law of the sea, an Exclusive Economic Zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources. It stretches from the edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical miles from its coast...
(EEZ) of 200 nmi (370 km) extending onward from the rock, as the agreement states that
"Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelfThe continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and gulfs. The continental rise is below the...
". However, as Rockall lies within 200 nmi (370 km) of both
St KildaSt Kilda is an isolated archipelago 64 kilometres west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom...
and
North UistNorth Uist is an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.-Description:North Uist is the tenth largest Scottish island and the thirteenth largest island surrounding Great Britain. It has an area of , slightly smaller than South Uist. North Uist is connected by causeways to Benbecula via Grimsay,...
, the island itself remains within the EEZ of the United Kingdom and as such, under
international lawPublic international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states, analogous entities, such as the Holy See, and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
the UK can claim
"..the sovereignty of the coastal state in relation to the exploitation, conservation and management of natural and living resources fishery and mineral resources" of the rock itself and an area of
territorial watersTerritorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most twelve nautical miles from the baseline of a coastal state...
extending for around it. Furthermore, the United Kingdom and Ireland have signed a boundary agreement which includes Rockall in the United Kingdom area.
Rockall, and a large sea area around it, was declared as coming under the
jurisdictionJurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility.Alternatively, jurisdiction is the authority given...
of
Scots lawScots law is a unique legal system with an ancient basis in Roman law. Grounded in uncodified civil law dating back to the Corpus Juris Civilis, it also features elements of common law with medieval sources...
under the
Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries OrderThe Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 is a statutory instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, defining "the boundaries between waters which are to be treated as internal waters or territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland and those which are not"...
(
map) in 1999.
The earliest recorded landing on the island was on 8 July 1810 when a
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
officer named
Basil HallBasil Hall was a British naval officer from Scotland, a traveller, and an author. He was the second son of Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, an eminent man of science.-Biography:...
led a small landing party from the
frigateA frigate is a warship. The term has been used for warships of many sizes and roles over the past few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and manoeuvrability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
to the summit. The frigate was taking depth measurements around Rockall when it drifted away in a haze. The expedition made a brief attempt to find the frigate in the haze, but soon gave up and returned to Rockall. After the haze became a fog, the lookout sent to the top of Rockall spotted the ship again, but it turned away from Rockall before the expedition in their boats reached it. Finally, just before sunset, the frigate was again spotted from the top of Rockall, and the expedition was able to get back on board. The crew of the
Endymion reported that they had been searching for five or six hours, firing their cannon every ten minutes. Hall related this experience and other adventures in a book entitled
Fragment of Voyages and Travels Including Anecdotes of a Naval Life.
The next landing was accomplished by a Mr Johns of , whilst the ship was on a mission, from June and August 1862, to make a survey of the sea bed prior to the laying of a
transatlantic telegraph cableThe transatlantic telegraph cable was the first cable used for telegraph communications laid across the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. It crossed from , Foilhommerum Bay, Valentia Island, in western Ireland to Heart's Content in eastern Newfoundland. The transatlantic cable bridged North America and...
. Johns managed to gain foothold on the island, but failed to reach the summit.
On 18 September 1955 at precisely 10.16 am, in what would be the final territorial expansion of the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
, the island was officially
annexedAnnexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities...
by the UK when Lieutenant-Commander Desmond Scott
RNThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
,
SergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Brian Peel
RMThe Royal Marines are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service. They are also the United Kingdom's specialists in amphibious warfare, including the operation of landing craft; mountain warfare;...
,
CorporalCorporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and also by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4. The word is probably derived from a medieval Italian phrase capo corporale, meaning "head of a body "...
AA Fraser RM, and
James FisherJames Maxwell McConnell Fisher was a British author, editor, broadcaster, naturalist and ornithologist...
(a civilian
naturalistNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards the observational than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research that is published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, Natural history is the systematic...
and former Royal Marine), were deposited on the island by a Royal Navy helicopter from (coincidentally named after the man who first charted the island). The team cemented in a brass plaque on Hall's Ledge and hoisted the
Union FlagThe Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada...
to stake the UK's claim.
The inscription on the plaque reads:
- "By authority of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-three independent member states. Most of them were formerly part of the British Empire. They co-operate within a framework of common values...
, Defender of the FaithDefender of the Faith may refer to*Fidei defensor , a title of several European Christian monarchs.*Defender of the Faith, a title of the heads of the ruling Solomonic dynasty of the former Ethiopian Empire....
, and in accordance with Her Majesty's instructions dated the 14th day of September, 1955, a landing was effected this day upon this island of Rockall from HMS Vidal. The Union flag was hoisted and possession of the island was taken in the name of Her Majesty. [Signed] R H Connell, CaptainCaptain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel.The equivalent rank in many navies is Ship-of-the-Line Captain...
, HMS Vidal, 18 September 1955."
The formal annexation of Rockall was announced by the
AdmiraltyThe Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Originally exercised by a single person, the office of Lord High Admiral was from the 18th century onward almost invariably put "in commission", and was exercised by a Board of Admiralty.In...
on 21 September 1955.
The initial incentive for the annexation of Rockall had little to do with any territorial claim to rights of exploitation of the seas around the island. It was the test firing of the UK's first guided
nuclear weaponA nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion...
, the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-made
Corporal missileThe American-made MGM-5 Corporal missile was the first Guided Weapon authorised by the US to carry a nuclear warhead. A surface-to-surface guided missile, the Corporal could deliver either a nuclear fission or high-explosive warhead up to a range of ....
. The missile was to be launched from South Uist and over the North Atlantic. The
Ministry of DefenceThe Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
was concerned that the unclaimed island would provide a unique opportunity for the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
to spy on the test by placing surveillance equipment on the island; and so in April 1955 a request was sent to the Admiralty to seize the island, and declare UK sovereignty lest it become an outpost for foreign observers.
On 10 February 1972 the
Island of Rockall ActThe Island of Rockall Act 1972 is a UK Act of Parliament formally annexing Rockall in its entirety to protect it from Irish and Icelandic claims...
received
Royal AssentThe granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which a constitutional monarch completes the legislative process of lawmaking by formally assenting to an Act of Parliament. While the power to withhold Royal Assent was once exercised often, it is exceedingly rare in the modern, democratic...
to make the island administratively part of the Isle of Harris (St Kilda being administratively part of Harris), in what was then
Inverness-shireInverness was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland region was a region of eight...
, fully incorporating it into the United Kingdom. A navigational beacon was later installed on the island and the UK declared that no ship would be allowed within a radius of the rock. In United Kingdom law, it now falls administratively under the
Outer HebridesThe Outer Hebrides, comprise an island chain off the west coast of Scotland...
.
Former
SASThe Special Air Service is a special forces regiment within the British Army which has served as a model for the special forces of other countries. The SAS forms a significant section of United Kingdom Special Forces alongside the Special Boat Service , Special Reconnaissance Regiment , and the...
member and
survivalSurvivalism is a movement of individuals or groups who are actively preparing for future possible disruptions in local, regional, national, or international social or political order...
expert
Tom McLeanTom McClean is a veteran of both the Parachute Regiment and the SAS and is a survival expert who lived on the island of Rockall from 26 May to 4 July 1985 to affirm Britain's claim to the island.-Military career:...
lived on the island from 26 May 1985 to 4 July 1985 to affirm the UK's claim to the island.
Rockall 2011 is an expedition to be undertaken by Nick Hancock in order to raise money for the charity
Help for HeroesHelp for Heroes is a British charity launched in September 2007 to help provide better facilities for wounded British servicemen and women. It was founded by Bryn Parry, a cartoonist and former member of The Royal Green Jackets, after he visited soldiers at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham...
.
The challenge is to land on Rockall and survive solo for 60 days on this isolated rock thereby setting a record for the longest occupation of Rockall in history.
It is proposed that this landing will coincide with the 200th anniversary of the first recorded landing on Rockall, by the Royal Navy in 1811.
Icelandic claims in the area
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
does not claim the rock itself, considering it irrelevant as far as delimitation of EEZs and continental shelf is concerned. Iceland however claims an extended continental shelf in the Hatton-Rockall area.
Iceland considers St Kilda to be
"a minuscule, effectively uninhabited, islet, categorized under article 121(3) of the Law of the Sea Convention". Furthermore St Kilda lies outside the British territoral sea limit. Therefore it is not an
"equitable basepoint for an equidistant line".
Iceland ratified
UNCLOSThe United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982...
in 1985; it was the first
WesternThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
country to do so. A regulation was issued by the government in that same year outlining the area where Iceland claimed continental shelf rights for itself; the
regulation was based on
legislation from 1979 claiming for Iceland the exclusive right to research and exploitation of continental shelf-based resources within the limits of the Icelandic continental shelf. Regarding the Hatton-Rockall area, it claims the area within from the foot of the continental shelf and assumes that the UK and Ireland cannot claim a continental shelf outside their EEZs. To its fullest extent, this area reaches about to the south from Iceland's coast, which is further south than the United Kingdom's southernmost point.
In 2001, Iceland began working on its submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf; it is scheduled to finish in 2007. The most important aspect of this work is to survey the entire ocean floor in the areas claimed outside the EEZ and, in Iceland's case, a part of the area inside the EEZ as well. In all, 1.3 million
square kilometreSquare kilometre , symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units.1 km2 is equal to:* 1,000,000 m2...
s (500,000 sq mi) have been surveyed by Icelandic marine research institutions for this purpose, an area 13 times larger than the land area of Iceland. The commission does however not make proposals regarding areas that are claimed by two or more states unless they have already reached an agreement on its division. Therefore Iceland's submission is expected to deal only with the area that just Iceland has claimed and not the Hatton-Rockall area. Iceland also hosted an informal meeting of all parties to the dispute in 2001. It was the first such meeting regarding the dispute where all four countries participated.
Danish/Faroese claims in the area
The
Faroe IslandsThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
are an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark. Since 1948 they have had self-government in almost all matters except defence and foreign affairs. Consequently their interests in Rockall are represented by Denmark. On their behalf, Denmark claims continental shelf rights in the Hatton-Rockall area.
A communiqué issued by the Prime Minister's Office on 7 May 1985 announced the designation of not only the seabed in the immediate vicinity of the Faroes but also a vast area of the Rockall plateau to the south west. The press release which accompanied the communiqué indicated that the legal basis of this designation was the assumption that
"the Faroe Islands are part of the microcontinent" formed by the
"Faroes-Rockall Plateau", an
"elevated plain with its summit in the Faroe Islands".
Waveland and the Greenpeace occupation
In 1997 the
environmentalistEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the state of the environment...
organisation
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental organization for the protection and conservation of the environment. Greenpeace uses direct action, lobbying and research to achieve its goals. Greenpeace has a worldwide presence with national and regional offices in 46 countries, which are affiliated to the...
occupied the islet for a short time, calling it Waveland, to protest against
oil explorationHydrocarbon exploration is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Earth's surface, such as oil and natural gas...
under the authority of the British. Greenpeace declared the island to be a “new Global State”, and offered citizenship to anyone willing to take their pledge of allegiance. The British Government's response was simply to give them permission to be there, and otherwise ignore them. Indeed, when asked, the
Home OfficeThe Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security and order. As such it is responsible for the police, United Kingdom Borders Agency and MI5. It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counter-terrorism...
responded that since Rockall was part of the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, and since the UK was a free country,
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental organization for the protection and conservation of the environment. Greenpeace uses direct action, lobbying and research to achieve its goals. Greenpeace has a worldwide presence with national and regional offices in 46 countries, which are affiliated to the...
were perfectly entitled to be at Rockall.
The project continued until 1999, when the company sponsoring it collapsed and the experiment ended.
Negotiations
Ongoing talks have been held over the last five years with the aim of reaching an agreement which will end the dispute over territorial rights to Rockall-Hatton basin.
Reykjavík conference
Representatives from the UK, Ireland, Iceland and
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
(the last acting on behalf of the Faroe Islands), met in
ReykjavíkReykjavík is the capital and largest city of Iceland. Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's most northern capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, Iceland in September 2007 for negotiations over territorial rights over the continental shelf in the area. The final boundary will be determined by the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. The parties have until May 2009 to submit reports to the commission, which it will take into account when determining the boundary. The involved nations have the option of submitting separate reports, or a joint one.
Ownership of the rock itself did not form part of the negotiations.
Copenhagen conference
In November 2007 talks were held in
CopenhagenCopenhagen ; ) is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,167,569 and a metropolitan area with a population of 1,875,179...
. Here a template for a deal was secured by Irish, Danish, British and Icelandic diplomats.
Dublin conference
As a follow-up to Copenhagen, the Government of Ireland will host negotiations. They were due to commence in January 2008, but have been postponed because of elections in the
Faroe IslandsThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
. The talks are hoped to bring the four nations closer to reaching an agreement over the Rockall-Hatton basin. It is understood a final deal is not likely to be agreed at the Dublin meeting.
The
Irish Minister for Foreign AffairsThe Minister for Foreign Affairs is the senior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Ireland. Its headquarters are at Iveagh House, on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin; "Iveagh House" is often used as a metonym for the department as a whole.The current Minister for...
,
Dermot AhernDermot Christopher Ahern is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and is the current Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. He is a Teachta Dála for the Louth constituency.- Early and private life :...
said "There have certainly been protracted talks, but that is not unusual when one considers the complexity of the issue at hand and the competing interests. However, there was some progress made at the last talks in Copenhagen. I believe further progress can be made in Dublin. The deadline is May 2009 so we have time on our hands. It is in the interests of Ireland, UK, Denmark and Iceland to come to a deal on the division of the seabed area. We have come to outline agreements in relation to other parts of our seabed in the Atlantic. There is no reason ultimately why we also can't do a deal on this protracted issue. Finding a deal is a significant challenge but the rewards are there for future generations from all four countries"
Other sources
- British Birds
British Birds could refer to* The magazine British Birds.* Birds recorded in Great Britain, see List of British birds....
, birds breeding on Rockall. 86: 16–17, 320–321 (1993).
- Houses of the Oireachtas, Parliament of Ireland - Tithe an Oireachtais debate with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Dáil Éireann
is the principal chamber of the Oireachtas . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote . Its powers are similar to those of lower houses under many other bicameral parliamentary systems and it is...
, 1 November 1973.
- Martin Martin
Martin Martin was a Scottish writer best known for his work A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland . This book is particularly noted for its information on the St. Kilda archipelago. Martin's description of St Kilda, which he visited in 1697, had also been published some years earlier as A...
A Description of the Western isles of Scotland (1716).
External links