
Norway’s Island with a Population of 1 - MiriamWeiner
http://www.bbc.com/travel/gallery/20190308-norways-wild-isle-population-of-1
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sandworm101
>> Its two boats – Stjernesund, which accommodates up to 28 people, and
Sulejet, carrying up to 16 – also offer twice-daily passenger service for
locals year-round [...] Gåsvær is flexible with timings and allows passengers
to call in advance to book their spot for 55 kroner (about £5).

I'm missing something here. How can 55 kroner possibly cover the cost of doing
anything with such vessels? I assume there is some sort of government backing
for this service. That is all well and good, but I live in an area with
similar problems (Coastal BC). Maintaining services to remote villages is one
thing, subsidizing the retirement dreams of a lucky few is another.

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duado
Countries often oversubsidize homesteaders at the edges of their territory for
strategic protection of that territory. If another country wants to encroach
on land it’s much harder with a population there. Russia is seeing this
encroachment happen on their Chinese border.

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sandworm101
Indeed. That is basically what canada does with the north. The touchy subject
is determining where and if such frontiers exist. And, should they become
popular, whether such support should be extended to subsidizing a tourist
industry. BC has gone so far as to demolish some remote ghost towns (mining
towns) because we don't want them to become tourist destinations.

If you have the time, there are some great youtube vids of Kitsault BC, the
famous 1980s ghost town in BC.

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frosted-flakes
I'm not sure why this is being downvoted, because it's true.

In the '60s or '70s, the Canadian government actually forced a large group of
native people to move from their native lands in Nunavik (northern Quebec) to
the far north, where nobody or nothing lived, except seals and fish. I believe
this was so that the Canada could claim that they had sovereignty over the
Arctic because people lived there, unlike Antarctica. Imagine being dumped on
a frozen wasteland thousands of km from civilisation with a few supplies and
being told to deal with it, with no recourse. Many people died.

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AMerrit
Reminds me of Port Hood Island in Nova Scotia.

[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/port-hood-
island-...](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/port-hood-island-
housing-weather-transportation-climate-change-1.4911933)

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NelsonMinar
I'm reminded of Lofoten, a peninsula and group of islands way further north in
Norway that's a very popular summer tourist destination. It's absolutely
beautiful. I wonder why Lofoten has thrived while Solund has not? Relative
size of landmass has to be part of it.

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markgavalda
Lofoten is unique. The rise of social media, the non-stop posts of its
picturesque landscape sells it to the masses. The infrastructure is better,
it's bigger and there are a lot of inhabitants, hotels and whatnot. Solund is
tiny compared to the Lofoten region.

~~~
zandor
Lofoten also has quite a long history of fishing making it known in
international trade.

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steQ
I think in Greece there are similar cases in small islands eg
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_Ro](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_Ro)

