Ushant

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Ushant

Ushant () is an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
in the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
which marks the north-westernmost point of European France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. It belongs to Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon. Administratively, Ushant is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative divisions in the France. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin Medieval commune, meaning a small gathering of people sharing a common life, from Latin communis, things held in common....
in the Finistère

Finistère

Finist?re is a Departments of France of France, located in Bretagne ....
department. It is the only place in Brittany with a separate name in English.

nt marks the southern entrance to the western English Channel

English Channel

Isles of Scilly

The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornwall of Great Britain. Traditionally administered as part of the county of Cornwall, the islands are now a unitary authority and have their own council....
, southwest of Land's End

Land's End

Land's End is a Headlands and bays on the Penwith peninsula, located near Penzance in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the most Extreme points of the United Kingdom tip of the southern mainland ....
in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
, England

England

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Encyclopedia

Ushant () is an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
in the English Channel

English Channel

France

Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon. Administratively, Ushant is a commune

Communes of France

Finistère

Finist?re is a Departments of France of France, located in Bretagne ....
department. It is the only place in Brittany with a separate name in English.

Geography

Ushant marks the southern entrance to the western English Channel

English Channel

Isles of Scilly

Land's End

Cornwall

England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. Although it is an island in the English Channel, it does not form part of the Channel Islands

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are a group of islands in the English Channel, off the France coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey....
.

The island is a rocky landmass some by with a total area of .

Demographics

There is only one significant community on the island, the village of Lambaol/Lampaul. Ushant has a total population of 932 people (1999).

The Kreac'h lighthouse

Phare du Creach

Phare du Creach or Kreac'h lighthouse or Cr?ac'h lighthouse is a lighthouse in Ushant, France. It is one of the most powerful in the world....
is reputedly the most powerful in the world.

History

Ushant is famous for its maritime past, both as a fishing community and as a key landmark in the Channel approaches. It is named in the refrain of the sea shanty

Sea shanty

Sea shanties were shipboard work songs. Some speculate that shanties may have been sung as early as the 15th century though there is little evidence to support this claim....
Spanish Ladies
Spanish Ladies

Spanish Ladies is a traditional England sea shanty, describing a voyage from Spain to the Downs....
:

We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors,

We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas,

Until we strike soundings in the channel of old England,

From Ushant to Scilly
Isles of Scilly

The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornwall of Great Britain. Traditionally administered as part of the county of Cornwall, the islands are now a unitary authority and have their own council....
is thirty-five leagues.

Several naval battle

Naval battle

A naval battle is a battle fought using ships or other waterborne vessels. Most naval battles have occurred at sea, but a few have taken place on lakes or rivers....
s have been fought near Ushant between the British and French navies. See Battle of Ushant

Battle of Ushant

Several naval battles between the British and French navies have been named after the island of Ushant off the western tip Brittany, partly because it is close to the French naval base of Brest and partly because, like Finisterre and Cape St....
.

In March 1978, a U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
oil tanker, Amoco Cadiz
Amoco Cadiz

The Amoco Cadiz was a VLCC , owned by Amoco, that split in two after running aground on Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany , on March 16, 1978, resulting at that time in the largest oil spill ever, currently the fifth-largest in history ....
, ran aground at Portsall about 19 miles from the island, leading to major pollution of the Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
coast.

An old Breton proverb says : .

"The one who sees Ushant sees his blood, The one who sees Sein sees his end."

This proverb is related to the area around the island, considered one of the most challenging to navigate in the world with its many rocks and more than ten knot

Knot (speed)

The knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour. Its kn abbreviation is preferred by American and Canadian maritime authorities, and by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; however, the kt and kts abbreviations also are used....
tide streams.

The usual start and finish line for circumnavigation

Circumnavigation

To circumnavigate a place, such as an island, a continent, or the Earth, is to travel all the way around it by boat or ship. More recently, the term has also been used to cover aerial round-the-world flights....
s of the globe is between Ushant and Lizard Point

Lizard Point, Cornwall

Lizard Point in Cornwall is the southernmost tip of the The Lizard. It is the southernmost tip of Great Britain, at 49?57' N, and, with the exception of parts of the Isles of Scilly is the Extreme points of the United Kingdom of England....
.

Literary references

Ushant is also the title of the autobiography of the American

United States

Conrad Aiken

Conrad Potter Aiken was an American novelist and poet, whose work includes poetry, short story, novels, and an autobiography.He was born in Savannah, Georgia....
, published in 1952.

Ushant is mentioned in George Orwell

George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an England author. His work is marked by a profound consciousness of social injustice, an intense dislike of totalitarianism, and a passion for clarity in language....
's diaries, in passing.

Ushant is also a character briefly appearing in Herman Melville

Herman Melville

Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet. His first three books gained much attention, the first becoming a bestseller, but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime....
's White-Jacket
White-Jacket

White-Jacket, or The World in a Man-of-War, usually referred to as White-Jacket, is an 1850 novel by Herman Melville first published in England on January 23 by Richard Bentley and in the U.S....
. Ushant is highly admired for his beard. See chapter 84 of the book for further information.

External links

– article about the island by William Langewiesche in the December 2001 issue of The Atlantic