Bouvet Island

Declared a Norwegian nature reserve in 1971, Bouvet Island is routinely reckoned the most remote island on the planet, lying more than 1,700 km from the nearest coast (mainland Antarctica) and a similar distance from any inhabited land, almost entirely covered by an ice cap over an ancient volcano. Its extreme isolation and the almost permanently hostile weather — fog, violent swell and a complete absence of natural harbours — mean that only a handful of scientific expeditions have ever managed to land successfully, making it one of the least visited and least studied territories on the planet.