An islet ( / ˈ aɪ l ə t / EYE -lət ) is generally a small island . Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation . It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral ; may be permanent or tidal (i.e. surfaced reef or seamount ); and may exist in the sea , lakes , rivers or any other sizeable bodies of water .
7-560: Tatihou is an islet of Normandy in France with an area of 29 hectares (72 acres). It is located to the east of the Cotentin peninsula just off the coast near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue . It is almost uninhabited, and is usually reached by amphibious craft although, being a tidal island , it is also possible to walk there over the local oyster beds at low tide. Access to the island is limited to 500 visitors per day. Tatihou, like many of
14-482: A botanical garden on the island. Tatihou is twinned with: Islet As suggested by its origin islette , an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability. The World Landforms website says, "An islet landform is generally considered to be a rock or small island that has little vegetation and cannot sustain human habitation", and further that size may vary from
21-592: A few square feet to several square miles, with no specific rule pertaining to size. Whether an islet is considered a rock or not, it can have significant economic consequences under Article 121 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea , which stipulates that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf ." One long-term dispute over
28-463: A year. The watch-tower on Tatihou is among the Fortifications of Vauban UNESCO World Heritage Sites . An ornithological reserve was founded in 1990 with an area of 3 hectares (7.4 acres). The island is a stopping place for many migrating birds, including the herring gull , great black-backed gull , common shelduck , little egret , eider , wigeon and yellow-legged gull . There is also
35-472: The 36-gun frigate HMS Shannon grounded on Tatihou. All her crew survived to be captured by troops from a battery. The next day a party from HMS Merlin burned Shannon to prevent her arms and stores falling into French hands. Tatihou has hosted a small folk festival since 1995, Les Traversées de Tatihou , every August 15. The hours are selected according to the tides to allow the festival goers to get home. The island also hosts music courses several times
42-623: The islets of the Channel Islands contains the -hou suffix. In 1692 the naval Battle of La Hougue took place between the English and the French close to the island of Tatihou. In 1756 the surroundings of La Hougue were defended by many batteries and forts, but the lack of regular maintenance ensured that these quickly fell into disrepair. In 1720 Tatihou was used for quarantining plague victims from Marseilles . On 10 December 1803,
49-529: The status of such an islet was that of Snake Island (Black Sea) . The International Court of Justice jurisprudence however sometimes ignores islets, regardless of inhabitation status, in deciding territorial disputes; it did so in 2009 in adjudicating the Romania-Ukraine dispute , and previously in the dispute between Libya and Malta involving the islet of Filfla . There are thousands of islets on Earth: approximately 24,000 islands and islets in
#680319