Souvenir Islands

There is a historical phenomenon across the world that I think should have a name. After the Imperial Era, or instances where one country is ruled by another, the ruled countries eventually gain independence but small islands often get left behind. 

It seems that the more populous a land is the more likely it is to gain independence. This means that sparsely populated islands often remain under the control of the former imperial or controlling power. The islands may have strategic value that is not important to a small country but is important to a military power. Such islands effectively remain with the former imperial power as souvenirs of days past and that is why I think they should be called "Souvenir Islands".

All of the following images are from either Google Earth or Google Maps.

Nearly a thousand years ago, England and France became entangled first by the Norman Invasion and then, much later, when an English king claimed the right to the French throne. There are two main legacies of this. The first is the effect on our language, which we saw in "Traces Of The Normans". The second is that the Channel Islands got left behind with England although they are much closer to France.

The largest of the Channel Islands are Guernsey and Jersey. The others are Alderney, Jethou and, Sark. France is to the right and bottom.

Denmark's Faroe Islands, about halfway between Scotland and Iceland, are a souvenir of long-ago Viking days.

The Canadian province of Quebec used to be known as "New France". It has long been part of an independent Canada but France has kept a couple of souvenirs from that era. The islands of St. Pierre And Miquelon, just off the coast of Newfoundland, are not considered as French colonies but as actually a part of France. If you ever encounter a trivia question as to whether Canada has a maritime border with France, the answer is "yes".

France has other souvenirs, on the other side of the world, that are considered as part of the country rather than as colonies.

Spain's souvenir of the Imperial Era is the Canary Islands. The islands are off the coast of Morocco and a long way from mainland Spain. These are actually part of Spain and not a colony.

Portugal's imperial souvenirs, not as colonies but as an actual part of the country, are the Azores, upper left, and Madeira, lower right.

Britain has a number of imperial island souvenirs, such as Bermuda and the British Indian Ocean Territory.

The islands of St. Helena, Ascension and, Tristan da Cunha are British souvenir islands in the South Atlantic, about halfway between Africa and South America.

The world's souvenir shop is the Caribbean. Only some of the Souvenir Islands are shown in the following two images. Islands with a green dot next to them have become independent countries. Islands with a red dot are British, with a yellow dot are French and, with a purple dot are Dutch.

America has gotten some Souvenir Islands from the Spanish American War of 1898. Most of Spanish colonial possessions in the western hemisphere gained independence while Spain was occupied by Napoleon. Spain managed to hold onto Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and some small islands. The U.S. inherited these after the war with Spain. Puerto Rico seems to have decided to remain with the U.S., Cuba and the Philippines are independent, but an island like Guam is still a U.S. Territory.