On the world’s most crowded island, just 2️⃣0️⃣ acres hold thousands of people—what’s it really like to live packed in with no space to spare? 😐🤯😳 The truth is stranger (and harder) than you think 🏝💥 Uncover the truth in the article below 👇
This island is located right in the middle of Lake Victoria. The continent is Africa. This small island has broken the record for many things. It is the smallest island in the world, because of which the war began. However, its main record is the largest densely populated island in the world. This is surprising, because this tiny “piece of land” in the middle of the lake can hardly even be called an island. It more resembles a small vegetable garden. The name of the island is Mitingo.
The size of the island – only 2000 square meters, and lives on it at least five hundred people. According to official data, there are fewer people living on the island (in 2018 there were 400), although in general it is difficult to imagine that any person can live there legally.
It is even difficult to draw conclusions about which country this small island belongs to. It is the disputes over this “slice” that once led to a serious conflict between Uganda and Kenya.
To be honest, it was not the island, but greed and stubbornness that caused the conflict. No one wanted the island until Kenyans started fishing there. This happened in about two thousand years.
The fishermen were noticed by the Ugandan government. They sent their officers to demand a tax for fishing. Also, the officers of the law promised protection from pirates. However, the fishermen were less frightened by the possibility of encountering pirates than by the fact that they would be taxed. The fishermen complained to the Kenyan government.
The Kenyan authorities sent their own men to the island. In the end, it almost came to a real military conflict between the countries. Fortunately, Kenya and Uganda made a peaceful solution. They jointly control the fishermen and the island is considered shared. Mitingo was empty for a long time, and then it was settled by fishermen and their families. Now it is even difficult to take one step freely there.
You can see from the photo that Mitingo is built up with tiny houses with aluminum roofs (if I’m not mistaken, as I’m not too familiar with building materials).
Journalists often compare Mitingo to a turtle. Indeed, there is something similar. The roofs of the houses glisten in the sun, a bit like the shell of a turtle. You get the impression that there is only one roof, so flush are the houses.
There is very little space on Mitingo Island. Only the narrow spaces between the houses and the shores where fishermen cut fish carcasses have not been built up yet. I think it is clear that the island is unsanitary. Nevertheless, it is a native land for the people who live there.
We can conclude that if people do not leave the island, it means that they like this life. Every day fishermen go “hunting for perch”. They sell part of the fish to wholesale customers who arrive at the lake by the appointed time, and the rest they eat themselves.
This perch took root in Lake Victoria only in the sixties, even displacing some species of other fish.
It is worth noting that fishermen on the island earn good money. Selling fish on average brings them 250-300 dollars a week. Fishing on neighboring islands brings much less income.
It is surprising that with such a dense population people lead an active life. There is a store, a club and a brothel-like establishment on the island. I guess if earnings allow, there is a demand for all of these things.
Both Kenyan fishermen and Ugandans live on the island. Particularly surprising is the fact that there is an island nearby that is much larger, but it remains deserted. The name of the island is Usingo. According to one theory Usingo is uninhabitable because it is too steep, unlike Mitingo.