The Penguins are held on the banks of Corinthian bay in the Australian territory of Heard Island, one of the targets of the Trump administration.
Matt Curnock / Australian Division Antarctica / AFP
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Matt Curnock / Australian Division Antarctica / AFP
The long list of Nations of the Trump administration targeted by the upcoming American prices includes several territories so far away that they have no permanent human residents.
On Wednesday, President Trump announced a reference rate of 10% on all goods imported into the United States and more steep “reciprocal” prices on dozens of its business partners. The amounts vary from 49% for Cambodia to 34% for China and 20% for the European Union.
The two prices sets – which should take effect on Saturday and Wednesday, respectively – rocked the markets in the country and abroad, caused discussions on reprisals from various countries and threatened to trigger a world trade war.
They also drew attention to several places that many people have never heard before – like the island heard and the McDonald and Jan Mayen islands – probably because most of them are unoccupied by humans.
The White House did not immediately answer NPR questions about the reasons why the following places are subject to prices, especially since the territories have no active trade relations with the United States
Heard islands and mcdonald islands
An excellent example is the island heard and the McDonald islands, an external Australian territory made up of volcanically active subantarctic islands. They face – at least on paper – which the Trump administration calls a reciprocal rate of 10%, even if the islands had no trade with the United States last year, according to US Census Bureau data, and have no human population.
The extremely remote islands, which are located in the Southwest Indian Ocean, halfway between Australia and South Africa, are only sheltered from large populations of sea birds and mammals, including seals, Albatross and penguins.
UNESCO, which designated the islands a World Heritage Site in 1997, says that they contain “exceptional examples of biological and physical processes continuing in an environment essentially not disturbed by humans”.
“The distinctive conservation value of Heard and McDonald – one of the rare ecosystems of the virgin island of the world – lies in the complete absence of extraterrestrial plants and animals, as well as human impact,” said the website of the United Nations Agency.
The Antarctic Australian program claims that the highest level of activity in Heard Island – which is dominated by an active volcano named Big Ben – occurs during the Australian expeditions of Antarctic Science, which occur every three years and last only a few months.
“At other times, birds and seals have room for themselves, with the exception of the very occasional visit of a group of commercial tourists, private expedition or periodic fishing / defense surveillance patrol,” he adds.
These are incredibly rare: the Australian government says that since the first landing on Heard Island in 1855, there were only around 240 visits to the ground on the island and only two landings on the McDonald Islands, more recently in 1980.
Potential visitors must request a license from the Antarctic Australian division and can only travel in boat – at least in theory.
“The catch is that Heard Island is far from anywhere (about two weeks of Australia navigation) and you have to go through some of the most difficult seas on the planet to get there, and go home,” said the Antarctic Australian program.
The inclusion by the White House of the Insocus Islands and the McDonald Islands on the list of prices has triggered a breakdown of research and memes on the Internet in the region, many have focused on the fact that it houses more penguins than people.
“Breaking: A massive demonstration is now occurring on the Heard and McDonald Islands after Trump announced a 10% reprisal rate against the islands,” wrote a wire user, accompanied by a colony video at the colony.
Svalbard and Jan Mayen
The weather station of Jan Mayen in the Arctic Sea, illustrated in 2009. The Norwegian territory shelters only a handful of soldiers who operate the station.
Heiko Jung / AFP via Getty Images
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Heiko Jung / AFP via Getty Images
Svalbard and Jan Mayen, according to the United States, are also faced at a 10% tariff by 10%.
The distant Norwegian territories, both in the Arctic Ocean, are often mentioned together because of their geographic proximity and the fact that they are collectively designated by the International Organization for Statistical Employees (for statistical purposes). But these are two distinct jurisdictions.
In particular, Jan Mayen has no permanent residents. Its population – estimated at 18 in 2019 – is made up of Norwegian military personnel who operates its military aerodrome and its weather station.
The CIA World Factbook describes it as a “sorry mountain island” with a total area of ​​around 144 square miles, a little more than twice Washington’s size, DC, it houses Beerenberg, the northernmost volcano in the world, which broke out for the last time in 1985.
The island – which bears the name of the Dutch captain who discovered it in 1614 – was largely sorry for centuries, according to the Arctic Portal, a non -profit organization based in Iceland.
It briefly became a destination for Norwegian fox hunters at the beginning of the 20th century, leading to the extinction of the species around 1930-that is to say when it is officially subject to Norwegian sovereignty. Jan Mayen was declared a nature reserve in 2010 and has strict regulations on visitors. The government requires non-norwegians to obtain prior authorization before visiting.
Svalbard, on the other hand, has a total population of around 2,500 inhabitants, from the latest data from the Norway’s Statistics Bureau.
Svalbard is an archipelago located halfway between continental Norway and the North Pole. Its largest city and administrative center, Longyearbyen, is the most northern permanent colony in the world.
On Svalbard, humans are in numerical inferiority by polar bears – the Svalbard tourism office says that the population of the species on the archipelago and the sea of ​​Barents is around 3,000 – and that people carry firearms for their safety during turning outside the colonies.
“This is one of the rare places in the world where it is not uncommon to see mothers push a praise while wearing a rifle on their backs,” says the Svalbard website, adding that “we are all fully aware that we are invited in the field of polar bear.”
British Indian Ocean territory
An image published by the US Navy shows an aerial view of Diego Garcia. The largest island in the Chagos archipelago measures 11.58 miles square.
AP / US Navy
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AP / US Navy
Another 10% tariff objective is the British Indian Ocean territory (Biot), an overseas territory of the United Kingdom created in 1965. It is an archipelago of Indian Ocean islands, halfway between Africa and Indonesia.
There is no permanent civilian population on the islands, only one – called Diego Garcia – has residents, according to the CIA World Factbook.
The American support factory, Diego Garcia, provides “logistical support for the operational forces deployed in the Indian Ocean and the areas of the Persian Gulf”, according to its website. The American army also operates telescopes on the island as part of its deep-optical monitoring system on the ground for the monitoring of objects in deep space.
The United States Ministry of Defense claims that around 2,400 people live on the island between the military of the joint forces, the civilians of the DOD and the entrepreneurs.
In the 1960s and 70s, the United States and the United Kingdom have moved entirely the entire indigenous population – hundreds of people known as Chagossians – of the Chagos archipelago, including Diego Garcia, Mauritius and Seychelles in order to build the military base.
Mauritius has long claimed sovereignty over the islands of Chagos. In recent months, he has negotiated a treaty with Great Britain to regain control of the archipelago, which would involve the United Kingdom in the United Kingdom to rent the base for 99 years. The British government said this week that it was about to finalize the agreement after the Trump administration – which was consulted on it – gave its approval.
