Scottish Blog

The Island of Rockall is a small stone islet 424 kilometres of the Irish Coast.

Although the Island of Rockall is located near the coast of Ireland, it is, by the Island of Rockall Act of 1972, part of Scotland. More specifically the Island of Rockall is part of the Inverness-shire county of Scotland. The Act whose full title is “An Act to make provision for the incorporation of that part of Her Majesty's Dominions known as the Island of Rockall into that part of the United Kingdom known as Scotland, and for purposes connected therewith", consists of a single section, which reads:

"As from the date of the passing of this Act, the Island of Rockall (of which possession was formally taken in the name of Her Majesty on 18th September 1955 in pursuance of a Royal Warrant dated 14th September 1955 addressed to the Captain of Her Majesty's Ship Vidal) shall be incorporated into that part of the United Kingdom known as Scotland and shall form part of the District of Harris in the County of Inverness, and the law of Scotland shall apply accordingly."

The Island of Rockall consists of a tip of an extinct of volcano. It has a diameter of 27 meters and a height of 23 meters, approximately this comes to 570 square meters. Although the land itself is insignificant, there is much international dispute for the land under the sea near the island. These consist of oil and natural gas. These are disputed between Denmark, Ireland and Iceland.