Islands in EuropeDr Gordon Cordina

Data Sources: University of Geneva; Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre;European Perspective of Specific Types of Territory, ESPON GeoSpecs Project, Mar 2013

October 2013

What is an island?• Islands are characterised by a mix of

geographical and behavioural traits that are better described by the term “insularity”.

• This implies that the following three conditions are met:

• In the main part surrounded by the sea;

• Dependent on centres of economic, social and cultural activity outside the territory;

• Peripheral in relation to the main centre of economic, social and cultural activity.

• The extent to which islands are affected by their uniqueness depends on their degree of insularity since islands are heterogeneous.

Islands in Europe

  Area Population

  sq km % of Europe Persons % of Europe

All European Islands 274,931 5.6% 20,518,886 4.1%

of which: sq km% of total for

Islands Persons% of total for

Islands

Island State 9,562 3.5% 1,189,803 5.8%

Without Fixed Link 263,000 85.8% 15,785,558 76.9%

Mountainous 121,695 44.3% 13,200,431 64.3%

South 118,808 43.2% 15,381,270 75.0%

North 156,123 56.8% 5,137,616 25.0%

Iceland 102,699 37.4% 289,542 1.4%

Comparisons with other Territories

Territories Area (% of total)

Access to cities

(min)

Air Destination

s (%)

Employment Rate (%)

Population aged over 60

(%)

Islands 3% 152 1% 32% 27%

Mountains 29% 135 14% 32% 28%

All Territories

100% 121 100% 44% 25%

GeographyLand Area

(sq km)Islands

2006 Population

Average annual hours of sunshine

Population density

(persons per sq km)

Total 271,038 292 20,087,600 6,857 68.7 Island area < 1000 sq km 40,996 264 3,630,267 5,493 85.9 Island area > 1000 sq km 230,042 28 16,457,333 7,401 65.6 Not sparsely populated 158,281 269 19,724,795 6,904 115.4 Sparsely Populated 112,758 23 362,805 6,254 3.1 No fixed link 233,316 225 15,451,288 7,070 63.1 Fixed link 37,722 67 4,636,312 4,812 103.2 Atlantic 120,684 58 3,118,967 4,690 23.4 Baltic 27,742 44 4,077,220 4,874 119.7 Mediterranean 98,617 102 10,908,553 7,728 106.4 North Sea 6,079 48 298,759 4,027 50.5 Norwegian and Barents Seas 12,671 32 190,507 3,570 15.9 Outermost Region 5,245 8 1,493,594 7,317 281.0 Not mountainous 87,849 179 11,360,672 6,604 116.7 Mountainous 183,190 113 8,726,928 7,033 45.7 Island population < 100,000 58,814 267 2,447,045 5,245 40.7 Between 100,000 and 1m 155,376 22 8,456,455 7,445 47.8 Island population > 1m 56,848 3 9,184,100 7,047 154.8

Accessibility% population

accessing an airport of more than

150,000 px/yr in 45 mins

Number of airline connections of

more than 150,000 px/yr

Population potentials of non-stop flights from

airports

Population potential of non-stop flights from airports per person

% of population served by a fixed

link

Total 22.6% 11.4 143,976,092 7.1 22.9%Island area < 1000 sq km 16.0% 8.2 29,064,456 7.7 20.3%Island area > 1000 sq km 25.3% 12.7 114,911,636 7.0 23.5%Not sparsely populated 22.9% 12.0 140,075,741 7.1 22.5%Sparsely Populated 18.9% 3.6 3,900,350 10.8 47.8%No fixed link 23.8% 11.6 135,973,815 8.7 0.0%Fixed link 11.7% 9.4 8,002,277 1.7 100.0%Atlantic 10.4% 13.8 25,492,491 8.2 5.1%Baltic 18.6% 14.3 7,830,265 1.9 95.2%Mediterranean 28.0% 11.6 110,450,423 10.1 2.3%North Sea 7.4% 1.2 181,840 0.6 65.2%Norwegian and Barents Seas 3.9% 0.5 7,379 0.0 80.8%Outermost Region 1.0% 0.1 13,694 0.0 0.0%Not mountainous 24.1% 12.2 61,629,895 5.4 37.9%Mountainous 21.6% 10.9 82,346,197 9.4 3.2%Archipelago 20.4% 20.0 45,238,624 7.8 0.4%Not Archipelago 23.2% 9.2 98,737,468 6.8 32.0%Island population < 100,000 9.9% 3.1 7,548,567 2.9 33.8%Between 100,000 and 1m 27.8% 14.6 95,732,119 11.3 14.2%Island population > 1m 23.2% 12.2 40,695,406 4.4 27.9%

Demography2006

Population

Population growth

2001-2006

% population aged 60 or

older

% population aged 15 or

younger

% population aged

between 16 and 59

Population density

(persons per sq km)

Total 20,230,332 1.52% 19.54% 17.26% 63.20% 69.2 Island area < 1000 sq km 3,772,999 0.61% 18.31% 16.39% 65.29% 89.2 Island area > 1000 sq km 16,457,333 1.74% 19.84% 17.47% 62.69% 65.6 Not sparsely populated 19,867,527 1.54% 19.52% 17.23% 63.24% 116.3 Sparsely Populated 362,805 0.59% 20.59% 18.49% 60.92% 3.1 No fixed link 15,594,020 0.96% 19.23% 17.10% 63.67% 63.7 Fixed link 4,636,312 3.56% 20.74% 17.86% 61.40% 103.2 Atlantic 3,118,967 2.00% 17.17% 17.50% 65.33% 23.4 Baltic 4,077,220 4.19% 20.40% 17.78% 61.83% 119.7 Mediterranean 10,908,553 0.78% 20.77% 15.89% 63.34% 106.4 North Sea 298,759 -0.56% 19.89% 20.36% 59.75% 50.5 Norwegian and Barents Seas 190,507 -1.10% 20.67% 20.28% 59.05% 15.9 Outermost Region 1,636,326 0.30% 13.52% 24.08% 62.40% 305.3 Not mountainous 11,503,404 2.06% 18.76% 17.00% 64.24% 118.2 Mountainous 8,726,928 0.85% 20.53% 17.58% 61.89% 45.7 Archipelago 5,787,599 1.76% 17.06% 18.57% 64.37% 134.7 Not Archipelago 14,442,733 1.43% 20.51% 16.75% 62.74% 58.1 Island population < 100,000 2,589,777 0.44% 21.75% 17.30% 60.95% 43.1 Between 100,000 and 1m 8,456,455 2.64% 16.65% 17.84% 65.51% 47.8 Island population > 1m 9,184,100 0.86% 21.36% 16.75% 61.88% 154.8

Economic ProfileEmployment Rate out of

Total Population

Share of Primary Sector

Share of Secondary

Sector

Share of Retail and

Accommodation

Share of Public Employment

Share of Education and Health

Index of diversification

(1=highest diversification)

Total 30.8% 7.2% 26.2% 31.0% 11.6% 24.0% 0.79 Island area < 1000 sq km 33.1% 10.6% 26.0% 32.4% 10.4% 20.6% 0.80 Island area > 1000 sq km 30.2% 6.3% 26.2% 30.7% 12.0% 24.9% 0.78 Not sparsely populated 30.6% 7.0% 26.2% 31.2% 11.7% 23.9% 0.78 Sparsely Populated 39.4% 13.4% 26.1% 21.9% 9.4% 29.2% 0.85 No fixed link 29.6% 8.3% 25.9% 32.6% 12.4% 20.9% 0.80 Fixed link 35.3% 3.7% 27.0% 26.1% 9.3% 33.9% 0.69 Atlantic 40.2% 8.2% 26.6% 37.2% 9.6% 18.4% 0.72 Baltic 35.9% 2.9% 26.4% 26.2% 9.4% 35.2% 0.67 Mediterranean 27.2% 8.9% 26.5% 32.1% 12.3% 20.2% 0.80 North Sea 34.8% 5.5% 28.4% 29.2% 7.8% 29.1% 0.71 Norwegian and Barents Seas 36.3% 8.9% 27.1% 18.8% 7.2% 38.0% 0.69 Outermost Region 25.0% 4.9% 20.9% 21.9% 21.9% 30.4% 0.82 Not mountainous 33.0% 5.6% 27.1% 30.6% 10.6% 26.1% 0.75 Mountainous 28.0% 9.5% 24.7% 31.7% 13.1% 21.0% 0.83 Archipelago 35.5% 7.6% 25.7% 37.3% 11.7% 17.7% 0.73 Not Archipelago 28.9% 7.0% 26.4% 27.9% 11.6% 27.1% 0.79 Island population < 100,000 33.6% 11.3% 26.0% 31.3% 9.5% 21.9% 0.81 Between 100,000 and 1m 35.4% 7.2% 27.1% 34.5% 11.1% 20.1% 0.75 Island population > 1m 26.1% 5.8% 25.2% 26.9% 13.0% 29.2% 0.79

Land useShare of artificial

surfacesShare of agricultural

surfacesShare of Protected

areasTotal 2.6% 26.1% 22.6%Island area < 1000 sq km 3.3% 29.8% 30.8%Island area > 1000 sq km 2.4% 25.4% 21.2%Not sparsely populated 4.2% 41.9% 26.7%Sparsely Populated 0.3% 3.9% 16.9%No fixed link 2.1% 23.7% 23.7%Fixed link 5.6% 40.6% 16.3%Atlantic 1.0% 5.5% 20.3%Baltic 6.8% 54.2% 17.2%Mediterranean 3.7% 46.8% 26.5%North Sea 3.2% 30.1% 20.4%Norwegian and Barents Seas 0.8% 6.3% 7.8%Outermost Region 0.7% 5.1% 71.2%Not mountainous 5.4% 42.7% 17.7%Mountainous 1.2% 18.1% 25.0%Archipelago 3.0% 28.7% 41.0%Not Archipelago 2.5% 25.6% 19.5%Island population < 100,000 2.2% 25.8% 27.0%Between 100,000 and 1m 1.8% 14.4% 22.5%Island population > 1m 5.2% 58.3% 18.6%

Islands: Challenges and Opportunities

Main conclusions Islands with physical constraints, eg. the presence of

mountains, appear to exhibit common traits: higher employment rates, which is fuelled by a larger primary

sector, most likely related to agriculture or mineral extraction; a higher diversification index, which is a sign of the inability to

specialise in a few areas of comparative advantage. This exposes the need for islanders to be more flexible in

order to be able to generate an income throughout the year, as many of the activities undertaken on an island, whether tourism-related, or agriculturally related, are highly seasonal.

Tourism plays an important role in the economy of most islands, especially smaller islands and those that are more densely populated.

Main conclusions

The Mediterranean Sea: contains the three islands with the largest populations as well as the

greatest number of islanders in the ESPON space; the greatest incidence of an ageing population, low population growth

and very few fixed links; large proportions of protected areas, and high levels of agricultural land; a large presence of agriculture and tourism, as well as high levels of

public sector employment. Islands with fixed links:

are likely to have weaker air connectivity; are more generally smaller islands with lower population density; have a more developed manufacturing sector but a lower tourism sector

than those without fixed links; may experience a population outflow (North and Norwegian Seas).

Proposed policy framework

Top-Down Approach

Bottom-Up Approach

DG RegionalDevelopment Island Observatory

Regional/Local Authorities

Islands’Development

Miti

gatin

g

cons

train

ts

Developing islands’

potentialEva

luation

activit

iesMonitoring

activities

Funding

InstrumentsRegulatory

Instr

uments

Identifying islands’

Roles w

ithin EU

Iden

tifyin

g re

sidua

l

cons

train

ts

Recommendation: Top-down and Bottom-up policy framework

Top-down approaches generally fail to garner support at ground level and results in lack of ownership of development policy.

Bottom-up approaches may work on a small scale but momentum is lost when there is lack of higher level coordination.

Proposed policy framework: Top-down:

• An overarching body, such as the European Commission, could give guidance to European islands as to how they can contribute to the EU as a whole, eg. recreational tourism; renewable energy; creation of artistic, cultural and thinking centres; RTDI in specific areas including health and social sciences.

• A coordination and leadership body, such as an Island Observatory within DG Regio, should coordinate such development plans. It would serve to identify which inherent disadvantages unfairly preclude individuals, groups, and all EU islands from realising their potential within the EU territory, while at the same time working with communities through a bottom-up approach. 

Bottom-up:• In order to ensure that islanders feel ownership of the economic activities,

they would be encouraged to prepare development plans that incorporate strategies on how best to exploit their assets and inherited characteristics.

Thank you