Category: Island
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Palau Checks In
Twelve Mile Circle isn’t one of those sites that uses a lot of exclamation points. However, today I am bestowing that rare honor. I got my first website hit from Palau! And it wasn’t one of those phony accidental hits either. Actually, this visitor from Palau remained on the site for a solid couple of…
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Isles of Shoals
Maine and New Hampshire share a land border that continues outward into the Atlantic Ocean. There it goes straight through the middle of the mysterious Isles of Shoals. There the states share an additional land border along a causeway only a few yards wide. This map shows the Isles of Shoals, a series of rocky…
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A Week in Maine, Part III
I’m quickly approaching the end of my way-to-brief holiday to Maine’s midcoast region. There’s time for one more set of vignettes and then I’ll get back to all the geo-oddities I’ve held in reserve awaiting my return. We spent another day relaxing on the water followed by a day meandering our way further up the…
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A Week in Maine, Part II
We set up shop in the town of Rockland, in the heart of Maine’s midcoast region (map). This is a great staging point for daylong excursions up and down the waterfront, and out among the scattered islands accessible only by ferry. Days are pleasant, nights are cool, and light ocean breezes refresh the soul. I’ve…
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…and Swains Island
I came across a document for a government program recently that restricted its eligibility to “All United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island).” In the United States all citizens are nationals. However, not all nationals are citizens so the distinction needs to be clarified parenthetically. Truly it’s not an issue…
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Smallest of Hawaii
I’ve been getting a fair amount of hits with search terms like “smallest island in Hawaii” and “smallest population in Hawaii.” This probably means a new geo-trivia contest recently started or a homework assignment for a standardized curriculum just came due. The answer is more interesting than I imagined, and once again it comes down…
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Island Isolation doesn’t Require an Island
Juneau is located in Alaska’s southeastern panhandle and serves as the state capital. No roads connect Juneau to the outside world even though it’s clearly part of mainland North America. Access is by sea or by air only. Rather than describe the situation it’s easier to show it. Notice how Juneau hugs a narrow seaside…
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Island on an Island
Sometimes an island has a pond or lake that also happens to contain an island. Twelve Mile Circle likes to call that second, subsidiary island an “island-on-an-island.” Beaver Island, Michigan Beaver Island is the largest on Lake Michigan. It contains several lowlands, marshy areas, and ponds which makes it a perfect candidate for islands-on-an-island. We…
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Union Jack over the USA
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland proudly flies the Union Flag, often called the Union Jack. It retains an official or semi-official designation throughout the Commonwealth Realm. Oddly, it also flies over a tiny corner of the United States with the explicit approval of the American government. I’m not talking about Hawaii…
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Mac and Cheese
I’ve gone Mac! Actually it happened a few weeks ago but it took me a little while to feel proficient. Even so, I don’t want to turn this into a Mac versus PC discussion. People make choices based on personal preferences and that’s fine. Instead, I’ll focus on a couple of different mapping features I’ve…