BouvetØya

Bouvetøya 54° 26'S, 03° 24'E

• One isolated volcanic island and offlier in the Southern Ocean. 
• Area: 54 kmē
• Highest elevation- 780 m (Olavtoppen)
• .93 % glaciated
• Sighted 1739, first landing (by sealers) 1822
• Uninhabited, no wintering population recorded
• Norwegian dependency (biland).

Bouvetøya is the most isolated island on earth. The nearest substantial land mass is more than 1600 km away. Glaciers cover 93% of the 54 sq km island and prevent landings on the south and east coasts, while steep cliffs as high as 490 m block access to the north, west and southwest. Sometime between 1955 and 1958, a low-lying shelf of lava appeared on Bouvetoya's west coast, providing the only bird nesting site of any size on the island. The island is rarely visited, but two events in its history are rather mysterious.   First, a sunken lifeboat and assorted supplies were discovered on the island in 1964, but their origin could not be determined. Then, in September 1979, a thermonuclear bomb blast was detected to the west of Bouvetøya, though no country ever admitted to setting off a nuclear device there.