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Difference between revisions of "Balleny Islands"
Material for bulk of article sourced from Wikipedia article on the Balleny Islands.
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Westarctica (talk | contribs) (Material for bulk of article sourced from Wikipedia article on the Balleny Islands.) |
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==Island and rocks from north to south== | ==Island and rocks from north to south== | ||
The [[Antarctic Circle]] is close to [[Borradaile Island]], in the eight kilometer channel between Young and Buckle Islands. Buckle Island and the nearby Sabrina Islet are home to several colonies of Adelie and chinstrap penguins. | The [[Antarctic Circle]] is close to [[Borradaile Island]], in the eight kilometer channel between Young and Buckle Islands. Buckle Island and the nearby Sabrina Islet are home to several colonies of Adelie and chinstrap penguins. | ||
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==Politics== | ==Politics== | ||
[[Marquis of Williamson|Jorge Fernandez Vidal]] learned about the Balleny Islands while researching unclaimed land in Antarctica. His intention was a find an area or region suitably outside the jurisdiction of other countries, that could be used as a basis for minting coins of his own design. Jorge settled on the Balleny Islands in March 2004, after closely examining the language used in the Antarctic Treaty and realizing that New Zealand's claim to the Balleny Islands could not be legally recognized by any nation, including their own. Therefore, it was highly unlikely New Zealand would ever mint coins for the islands on their own, and they were equally unlikely to assert any kind of legal jurisdiction if Jorge were to mint coins under the name of the Balleny Islands. In his own words, the islands were: “officially unclaimed. A beautiful free land to mint a coin.” | |||
The Balleny Islands became a colony when [[Westarctica]] formally annexed it from New Zealand on January 14, 2005. Mr. Vidal was appointed its Governor, and following the first successful minting of the Balleny Islands coin, Jorge was given the title Count of Sturge. | |||
===Coins=== | |||
The Balleny Islands coins were the first coins minted by the Central Bank, they were released in early 2005, shortly after the creation of the bank itself. The obverse of the coin shows Westarctica's original coat of arms as designed by [[Duke of Moulton-Berlin|Jon-Lawrence Langer]]. On the reverse is a map of the Balleny Islands showing the islands Young, Buckle, and Sturge. It was released in two different metals (bronze and silver), but otherwise, the two coins of the series are identical. | |||
[[File:Coin-Balleny Island 1 2005 Bronze.jpg|thumb|300px|Balleny Islands Coin]] | |||
[[File:Coin-Balleny Island 1 2005 Bronze.jpg|thumb|300px|Balleny Islands Coin | |||