Bouvet Island is desolate.
The most remote island is a harsh place, unforgiving and isolated from humanity until its discovery in 1739. Located in the South Atlantic Ocean, Bouvet Island is over 1,700 kilometres (1100 miles) away from its closest neighbour, the uninhabited Queen Maud Land in Antarctica. The closest inhabited land is Cape Agulhas in South Africa, 2,200 kilometres (1,400 miles) to the northeast.
If you happened to be ship wrecked on Bouvet Island, you probably wouldn’t survive very long. It is a volcanic island, covered mostly by glacier. The coastline is treacherous, marked by cliffs and rough seas. During winter, the island is usually surrounded by pack ice. Temperatures regularly fall below freezing. That said, if you like eating penguins, living in a snow cave and have the ability to start a fire, you might just live long enough for rescue by an expedition or research team. But that’s unlikely.
Short answer: Bouvet Island is a glaciated, uninhabited volcanic rock, over 1,700 kilometres (1100 miles) away from its closest neighbour.
