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An Poblacht An Blascaod Mor (English: The Republic of the Great Blasket Island) is a small island nation. The island is approximately 10 km² in size and has a population of just 143. Although officially an independent state the island works very closely with Sorthern Northland, with Sorthern Northland providing a large amount of money towards basic living nessesities such as housing, food, and transport. Sorthern Northland for example provides the island with a regular ferry, and funds the islands national football team as well as covering it's expenses. All An Blascaod Mor citizens can also apply for a Sorthern Northland passport should they wish. Travel between the two nations is also unrestricted. The island was abandoned in the mid 1950's (although the nation now uses the same calender as Sorthern Northland in which it's not even the year 100 yet, but the village was abandoned around seventy five years ago) and the house fell into a state of disrepair. The houses have all been done up however since the reoccupation of the island.
The Village
The island has just one settlement, known as The Village. The village is home to every one of the islands citizens. It is found on the sheltered east face of the island with the Town Hill rising behind it. Spectacular views across the Blasket Sound to the Sorthern Northland mainland can be seen from the village.
The village in it's abandoned state with Sorthern Northland in the background.
Geography
The island lies approximately 2 km from Sorthern Northland's Dunmore Head, and extends 6 km to the southwest, rising to 292 metres at its highest point (An Cro). Although just 2km from Sorthern Northland the island can go weeks or even months without access to the mainland particularly in winter due to the rough seas and the difficult sea crossing. Storms are not uncommon.
The remains of a signal tower believed to be from the Napoleonic era.
A monument on top of the Town Hill.
Climate
* Highest maximum temperature: 35.2°C (95.4°F).
* Lowest minimum temperature: -23.3°C (-10°F).
* Maximum number of hours of sunshine in a month: 354.3 hours.
* Minimum number of hours of sunshine in a month: 89.5 hours.
* Maximum rainfall in a day (0900 - 0900): 211 mm (8.30 inches).
Looking westwards along the spine of the island.
Looking east towards Sorthern Northland.
Sport
Despite it's small size and very unflat terrain the nation does have it's own national football team. Due to having such a small population it is unlikely the country will ever be successful as they often rely on citizens in their 40's and 50's to make up numbers in the team as well as having little to no money to develop the team. Due to An Blascaod Mor's hilly terrain, there is no where flat for a football pitch so the team play their games on the neighbouring island of Beiginis. Getting across to Beiginis though requires a ferry first of all to An Blascaod Mor before getting a dingy across to Beiginis which means the trip cannot be done if the seas are very rough or their is a bad storm. In these circumstances the team play their games in the village of Dunquin, the nearest village in Sorthern Northland and the place from where the ferry to the island departs.
The tiny island of Beiginis which is used as the nations football pitch.[B] |
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