Redonda facts for kids
The island of Redonda, viewed from the south in 2011
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 Redonda
Location in Antigua and Barbuda
Redonda
Location in Lesser Antilles
Redonda
Location in Caribbean
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Caribbean Sea |
| Coordinates | 16°56′18″N 62°20′42″W / 16.93833°N 62.34500°W |
| Archipelago | Leeward Islands, Lesser Antilles |
| Length | 1.6 km (0.99 mi) |
| Width | 0.5 km (0.31 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 296 m (971 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Saint John Parish, Antigua and Barbuda |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
Redonda is a small Caribbean island that nobody lives on. It is part of the country Antigua and Barbuda. This island is located in the Leeward Islands, which are part of the West Indies.
Redonda is about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) long and 0.5 kilometers (0.3 miles) wide. Its highest point is about 296 meters (971 feet) high.
This tiny island sits between the islands of Nevis and Montserrat. It is about 56.2 kilometers (35 miles) southwest of Antigua. Redonda is closer to Montserrat, being 22.5 kilometers (14 miles) northwest of it. It is 32 kilometers (20 miles) southeast of Nevis.
Redonda is home to many sea birds. In the past, the island was an important place for collecting guano. Guano is bird droppings used as a natural plant food (fertilizer). People started mining guano in the 1860s. This stopped when World War I began. During the mining time, some buildings were put on the island. You can still see parts of these old structures today.
The name "Redonda" comes from the Spanish language word for "round." In 1493, Christopher Columbus discovered the island on his second trip to the New World. He named it "Santa María la Redonda," which means "Saint Mary the Round."
The island became part of the Parish of Saint John in Antigua on March 26, 1872.
About Redonda Island
When you see Redonda from far away, it looks like one very large rock. It is actually what's left of an old, inactive volcano. The land rises from the sea mostly as very steep cliffs. This is especially true on the west side, which is called the leeward side. At the top of the island, there is a somewhat flat, grassy area. This area slopes down towards the east. The island has no fresh water source except for rain.
Christopher Columbus thought the island looked round when he saw it from the side. That's why he named it "the Round." But in reality, the island is long and narrow. It reaches a height of almost 300 meters (1,000 feet). It's hard to know the exact size of the island because its slopes are so steep. However, it is thought to be between 1.6 square kilometers (400 acres) and 2.6 square kilometers (640 acres).
Redonda is not a place where people live. It is very difficult to walk on because of its steepness. There is also no safe place to land a boat. Plus, there is no fresh water except for rainwater. All these things make the island a tough place for humans to live.
In 2017, a group of wild goats and many rats were removed from the island. This helped the native plants and animals grow back.
History of Redonda
In 1493, Christopher Columbus and his crew were the first Europeans known to see Redonda. This was during his second journey. He claimed the island for the Crown of Castile, which was part of Spain. But he did not actually land on the island. He named it Santa María la Redonda, meaning Saint Mary the Round. This name came from how the island looked from the side.
Because Redonda is just a rock of about one square kilometer, it was not very interesting to the big countries exploring the Americas. For many centuries, it became a hiding place for pirates.
In the 1860s, the island became a possession of Great Britain.
For several decades after the 1860s, people mined the rich guano deposits on Redonda. Guano was used as fertilizer for crops. Each year, up to 7,000 tons of guano were collected. During this time, workers lived on the island. In 1901, there were 120 people living there. After guano mining, another material called aluminium phosphate was found and mined. This was used to make gunpowder. A special cableway was built to carry the mined materials down to a loading dock by the sea.
In 1914, when the First World War started, the mining operations stopped. Most of the workers left the island. A few maintenance workers stayed until 1929. Then, a strong hurricane destroyed almost all the buildings and equipment left on the island. Redonda has been uninhabited ever since. Two stone huts from the mining days can still be seen. Even though Montserrat is the closest island and Nevis is the second closest, Redonda became a dependency of the more distant Antigua in 1967. Antigua is now part of Antigua and Barbuda.
Scientists from the Montserrat Volcano Observatory visit Redonda by helicopter from time to time. They use Redonda as a good spot to measure the Soufrière Hills. This is an active volcano on Montserrat.
Island Animals
Redonda is home to some special animals found nowhere else in the world. These include the Redonda ground dragon, the Redonda anole, and a type of dwarf gecko that doesn't have a name yet.
Many different kinds of seabirds also come to the island to lay their eggs and raise their young.
The Kingdom of Redonda
Redonda is famous for a fun story about the "Kingdom of Redonda." M. P. Shiel, a writer of fantasy books, said that in 1865, the year he was born, his father decided to make him King of Redonda. His father, Matthew Dowdy Shiell, was from Montserrat. The story says that when M. P. Shiel was 15, a bishop performed a ceremony on the small island to crown him king.
Shiel first wrote about the "Kingdom of Redonda" in a flyer for his books. Since then, the title of "King" has been passed down to others. This tradition continues today. For a while, the "Royal" line of Redonda was mostly about literature. The title was given to writers like John Gawsworth and Jon Wynne-Tyson. These "kings," including Wynne-Tyson (King Juan II) and the Spanish writer Javier Marías (King Xavier), were featured in a BBC Radio 4 radio show in 2007. The show was called Redonda: The Island with Too Many Kings.
See also
