Key challenges facing island development

Close to 10% of the world's population - some 600 million people - live on islands today. One fourth of the world's sovereign states consist of islands or archipelagos. The combined land area and exclusive economic zone of the world's islands takes up over one sixth of the Earth's surface. Islands have pioneered the emergence of such disciplines as biogeography and anthropology; they are typical 'hot spots' for both biological diversity and international political tension. Islands offer distinct identities and spaces in an increasingly homogenous and placeless world. A World of Islands provides a global, research-based, comprehensive and pluri-disciplinary overview of the study of islands. The expertise and insights of 42 scholars and contributors offer a uniuqe collection of theoretical principles, ideas, observations and policy proposals from, and for, the study of islands and island life.