Who Am I and Island Data
PART ONE
Basics (General Information)
1 What is your (characters)name?
2 What is your name’s origin and meaning, and how was it chosen?
3 Any nicknames?
4 How tall are you (your character)?
5 Who are your parents?
6 Are you married, single, seeking a relationship, avoiding romance?
7 What is your education?
8 What are your priorities in life?
9 What is your goal in life? What is your motivation for this goal?
Bonus Round
1 What is your worldview/religion? What is your level of devotion to that philosophy? 2 What are your current life problems? 3 Who (or what) are your enemies? 4 Who do you live with or near, if anyone?
5 What is your income source and/or occupation? 6 Where is your residence and what is it like? 7 What is your hometown and local culture like?
8 What is your class/income level?
Telling a Story
1 What is your goal in this story? What is your motivation for this goal? 2 What changes do you undergo by the end of the story (emotional, physical, philosophical, relational, etc)?
PART TWO
1 What languages do you know?
2 What is your political stance?
3 How is your self-confidence?
4 Do you like what you do for a living? If so, why? If not, what do you wish you could do instead? 5 Where do you feel most at home?
6 What kind of creature are you (elf, human, alien, etc)? 7 What are your abnormalities (deformity, birthmark, allergies)? 8 What is your figure like (thin, muscular, pudgy)? 9 How fit are you? 10 What is your hair and eye color?
11 What is your hair texture and style? 12 What is your face shape and features (freckles, big eyes, zits, reddish cheeks, birthmark, etc.) 13 How old are you? 14 What kind of colors do you wear? 15 What kind of clothing do you wear? 16 What kind of clothing do you hate on yourself/others? 17 What accessories do you frequently have? 18 How do you feel about your appearance?
19 As a child, what did you want to be and do when you grew up? Did you do it? How do you feel about that? 20 What are your greatest accomplishment?
21 What is something you can’t resist? 22 What is something most people do not know about you? 23 What are your areas of expertise? 24 What is hard for you to do? 25 What special skills do you have? 26 What weather and physical conditions do you like? 27 What would you do all day if you could do anything you wanted?
28 What are your hobbies?
29 Who’s company do you enjoy? 30 How often do you see family and friends?
31 What is the main quality or aspect you look for in a person (good looking, is talkative, seems helpful, has money, etc.)?
32 How do you speak (speak loudly, quickly, whispering, interrupting, talkative, etc)? 33 Are you dominant or easily unnoticed in a conversation, or somewhere in between? 34 What words and phrases do you use frequently (omg, dude, like, um, for pete’s sakes,)?
35 If you were and animal, what kind would you be?
36 Do you dislike any holidays? If so, why?
PART THREE
Deeper Questions
Mind
What is your central philosophy in life? What moral code do you follow and why? What is your outlook on life? What do you wish would happen to you? What do you want to hide? What do you worry most about? What are your phobias? What are your insecurities? Who do you look up do? When and where were you the happiest? If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? How do you feel about showing your emotions?
Body What is your skin like (smooth, pale, dark, rough, tight, saggy, scarred, etc)? How is your health? Any problems? What was your health like as a child? What are your common movement habits and demeanor (swaying, graceful, snapping, wringing hands, staying perfectly still, glancing around, stumbling, etc)? What is your race/ethnicity/nationality? What food do you usually eat (amount, kind of food, what times of day)? What food do you like to eat? What do you like to drink? What is in your refrigerator? What do you smell like (cologne, sweat, musty, cats, etc)? What would you change about yourself physically if you could?
Past
When and where were you born? What are your past occupations and career goals? What are your greatest failures? What is the worst thing that ever happened to you? What is the best thing that ever happened to you, or your most cherished memory? What do you regret? What do you remember most about your childhood? What was your favorite thing to do as a child? What did you dislike most as a child?
Personality
What are your vices? What are your virtues? What is your typical attitude? What are your quirks (only eats raw meat, collects action figures, always wears rubber band on wrist, etc)? What would make you smile? What would make you laugh? What would make you cry? What makes you calm down? What makes you revved up? What do you do when you are happy? What do you do when you are stressed? What do you do when you are upset? What do you do when you are angry? What are your habits (good or bad)? Relationships
Who would you ask for help in a tight spot? How do you interact with other people (cold, awkward, friendly)? Who is your family and what are they like? How do you feel about your parents and how do they feel about you? What is your relationship with your family like? What is the person you are most dependent on (your dad, the welfare office, your personal maid, your seeing-eye-dog, your mailman)? If you could convince any one person or group of people of one thing, what would that be? How does your race/ethnicity/nationality or that of your parents influence you and the way people see you? Is your heritage significant to you or are you removed from it? What is something people often misunderstand about you? Can people get the gist of who you are when first meeting you, or is your true self so hidden we would need to know you for a long time? Or somewhere in between? Who and/or what sort of people like you? How do you feel about other people’s worldview/religions? How do most people see you? What kind of friends and associates do you have, if any? What person or group of people do you dislike the most, and why? Are you dominant, submissive, or somewhere in between? What is your reputation? How do you greet people (if you greet people at all)? How do you feel about and treat authority?
Speech
What expletives do you use in surprise or irritation (swears, gasps, yowza, etc)? Do you speak properly or often use slang and bad grammar? Does your speaking style change when you’re around certain people? If so, how? What is your accent or dialect? What is your pitch and voice texture?
Situations
1 What are the five worst things possible to happen to you? 2 How would you prepare for a hot date? 3 How would you tackle a big research project? 4 How would you react in a fight? 5 What do you do when you’re bored (go crazy, tap your fingers, hum)? 6 What are you or would you be embarrassed about? 7 What is the first thing you do every morning (go for a jog, check your phone, take a pill, check your own pulse, etc)? 8 What would you do with 5 million dollars? 9 If you could teleport anywhere, where would you go (Hawaii, your mom’s house, the theatre, that old barn you used to play in, etc)? 10 What is your favorite holiday and how do you celebrate it? 11 What are your holiday traditions? 12 What do you spend most of your day doing? 13 How do you want to die (suddenly, alone, with a certain person near you, etc.)? 14 What is the worst you’ve ever been injured or sick (broken arm, cancer, hang nail)?
Objects
*What object(s) do you like to keep near you? *What is in your backpack, purse, or closet? *If there was a fire in your house and you only had time to grab whatever you could carry, what would it be? *What is your most valued possession (for a reason other than monetary value)? *Do you still have any possessions from your childhood?
Random
1 How well do/did you do in school? 2 What is your symbol? 3 What is your desktop/cell phone wallpaper (or, if you had one what would it be)? 4 What does your signature look like? 5 What is your theme song? 6 What are your most used bookmarks on your web browser? 7 What is something that really annoys you (loud people, music that is too quite, when your mom vacuums at three in the morning, the sound of trickling water)? 8 What is the place you hate the worst (standing in line at McDonalds, the salon, Toledo Ohio, etc.)? 9 What is your favorite kind of entertainment and what type of content do you like (books, movies, comics, romance, sci-fi, humor)? 10 What is you favorite celebrity or historical figure? 11 Who are your most recent emails/calls/texts from and what did they say? 12 What were you doing before this story started? 13 What time period do you wish you lived in? Past, future? 14 Do you have any special powers? If so, what are they, how do they work, and where do they come from? 15 Do you or have you ever had any pets? 16 What is your most common method of transportation? 17 What are your three favorite songs? 18 And finally... the most important question of all....What is your favorite color (and why)?
Island Geography
What is an Island?
Islands are areas of land that are not connected to a continent and are surrounded by water.
Small islands are sometimes called cays, keys, or islets.
A group of islands is often called an archipelago.
There are two main type of islands; continental islands and oceanic islands.
Continental islands are part of a continental shelf.
One example of this is Great Britain is an island that sits on the continental shelf of Europe.
Oceanic islands are islands that don't sit on a continental shelf.
Many oceanic islands are formed by undersea volcanoes like Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.
Below are some of the major islands in the world:
Greenland
Greenland is by far the world's largest island that is not a continent. It covers 822,706 square miles which is more than double the second largest island,
New Guinea. For such a large island, Greenland only has a population of around 56,000 people making it one of the least densely populated places in the world. This is because most of Greenland is covered by a sheet of ice. Greenland is part of the continent of North America, but politically has generally been part of Europe through the country of Denmark.
Great Britain
Great Britain is the ninth largest island in the world and is the largest island in the British Isles. It is the third most populated island in the world. The British Empire was centered here and at its peak in the 18th to 20th century was the largest empire in the history of the world. It is part of Europe and is located off the northwest coast of France.
Madagascar
Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. It's located off the southeast coast of Africa. Madagascar is home to many animal and plant species that can't be found anywhere else on the planet. Around 80% of the plant and animal life on the island can only be found on Madagascar. It is so unique some scientists refer to it as the eighth continent.
Honshu
Honshu is the largest island that makes up the country of Japan. It is the seventh largest island and has the second most people after the island of Java with a population of over 100 million. The highest mountain on Honshu is the famous volcano Mount Fuji and the largest city is Tokyo.
Luzon
Luzon is the main island of a large number of islands that make up the country of the Philippines. It is the fifth most populated island in the world and is home to the city of Manila. Manila Bay is considered to be one of the best natural port harbors in the world due to its size and location.
Fun Facts about Islands
of the World
Java is the world's most populated island with over 130 million people. The highest mountain on an island is Puncak Jaya on the island of New Guinea.
Some islands are manmade.
One example of this is the Kansai Airport in Japan which sits on a manmade island.
The term desert island is an island with no people on it. This does not mean that the island is a desert, but rather that it is deserted.
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica.
The largest island in the Mediterranean Sea is Sicily.
Around 1 in 6 people on the planet live on an island.
Read more at: http://www.ducksters.com/geography/islands.php
This text is Copyright © Ducksters. Do not use without permission.
Top 10 Islands by Area Size Country
Greenland
New Guinea
Borneo
Madagascar
Baffin Island
Sumatra
Honshu
Victoria Island
Great Britain
Ellesmere Island Area
(Sq. Miles) 822706 303381 288869 226917 195928 171069 87182 83897 80823 75767
Top 10 Islands by Population Island
Java (Indonesia)
Honshu (Japan)
Great Britain (United Kingdom)
Sumatra (Indonesia)
Luzon (Philippines)
Taiwan (Republic of China)
Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka)
Mindanao (Philippines)
Madagascar (Madagascar)
Hispaniolaominican (Republic, Haiti)
Population (Date) 130,667,000 (2009) 103,000,000 (2005) 58,900,000 (2007) 46,797,000 (2009) 46,228,000 (2007) 22,790,000 (2006) 20,700,000 (2005) 19,793,000 (2007) 18,600,000 (2005) 17,400,000 (2005)
Read more at: http://www.ducksters.com/geography/top_10_islands.php
This text is Copyright © Ducksters. Do not use without permission.
Islands Facts
An island is a piece of land surrounded completely by water. Islands can be found in rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans and can be very small or hundreds of square miles in size.
Continental islands are located on a continent's continental shelf, while oceanic islands are remote from any continental land mass but instead were created by volcanoes or earthquake-type disturbances.
There are also many other types of islands found on earth. While most islands occur naturally in nature, some islands are manmade.
Interesting Islands Facts:
The largest islands in the world include
Greenland
New Guinea
Borneo
Madagascar
Baffin Island
Sumatra
Greenland, which is the world's largest island, is a continental island because it is part of North America's continent. Greenland is 822,706 square miles in size, but only has 56,000 residents.
Great Britain is a continental island while Hawaii is an oceanic island, created from volcanoes.
Manitoulin Island, located in Ontario, Canada, is the largest island located in a freshwater lake.
The largest island located in a river is Ilha do Bananal, Brazil.
The largest island in the world that is not inhabited by humans is Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada.
The largest island located within a lake, within an island is Treasure Island, located in Lake Mindemoya, on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada.
The most populated island in the world is Java, in Indonesia, with more than 150 million residents, making up more than half of Indonesia's total population.
Coral islands are a type of island made from the skeletons of coral that build up over time to create reefs.
Coral islands may become atoll islands, if the water level falls, leaving a lagoon in the center. These are more common in the tropics.
The highest mountain located on an island is Puncak Jaya located on New Guinea Island.
Japan's Kansai Airport is located on a manmade island. Other manmade islands include Flevopolder in Netherlands, Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, Rokko Island in Japan, and Port Island in Japan.
When an island is referred to as a desert island it means that it is uninhabited, not that is technically a desert.
It is estimated that approximately 1/6th of the world's population lives on an island.
Borneo is home to creatures that exist nowhere else on earth. Proboscis monkeys are an example of an animal found only in Borneo, but there are hundreds of plant and animal species found there and nowhere else.
It is estimated that as much as 80% of Madagascar's plant and animal life cannot be found elsewhere on earth.
Very tiny islands are referred to as islets.
Islands found in rivers or lakes are sometimes referred to as eyots.
Tropical islands include coral islands, granite islands, and volcanic islands.
The Maldives, Tonga, Polynesia, and Nauru are examples of islands that formed from coral reefs.
Seychelles and Tioman are examples of islands that formed from granite.
A group of islands located in the same area are referred to as archipelagos. The Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, the British Isles, Greece, Hawaii, the Bahamas, New York City, and Azores are all archipelagos.
Report Advertisement
Home Earth and the Environment Geology and Oceanography Geology and Oceanography island
Select Source:
UXL Encyclopedia of Science
Island
UXL Encyclopedia of Science COPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group, Inc.
Island
An island is a relatively small area of land that is completely surrounded by water.
It is impossible to give a total number to the islands that exist on the surface of the planet.
As a result of erosion or rising sea level, some islands drown over time. The longest surviving islands usually last no more than 5 to 10 million years (Earth is 4.5 billion years old).
Ongoing volcanic activity continues to create new islands and to add to existing ones.
On November 14, 1963, a underwater volcanic explosion off the southern coast of Iceland created the island of Surtsey, which continues to gain land as the ongoing lava flows cool.
The eight largest islands on Earth are (in descending order): Greenland
New Guinea
Borneo
Madagascar
Baffin Island
Sumatra
Honshu (largest of the Japanese islands)
Great Britain.
Islands can be divided into two types: continental or oceanic.
Continental islands
Continental islands are parts of the continental shelves—the submerged, gradually sloping ledges of continents. These islands are formed in one of two ways: rising ocean waters either cover coastal areas, leaving only the summits of coastal highlands above water, or cut off a peninsula or similar piece of land jutting out from the mainland.
Continental islands lie in shallow water, usually less than 600 feet (180 meters) deep. Greenland and Newfoundland (off the eastern coast of Canada) are examples of continental islands. A drop in sea level would be sufficient to connect these islands to the North American continent.
Words to Know
Barrier islands: Long, thin, sandy stretches of land that lie in shallow waters parallel to a mainland coast.
Lido Sands Home Listings - See the Latest Homes for Sale.
See the Latest Homes for Sale. Find Yours Before They're Sold!
georginajacobsongroup.com | Sponsored▼
Continental shelves: Submerged, gradually sloping ledges of continents.
Hot spot: Plumes of magma welling up from Earth's crust.
Island arc: Curved row of islands of volcanic origin that develops where two plates converge, usually near the edge of a continent.
Magma: Hot, liquid material that underlies areas of volcanic activity; magma at Earth's surface is called lava.
Plate tectonics: Geological theory stating that Earth's crust is divided into a series of vast platelike sections that move as distinct masses over the planet's surface.
Long, thin, sandy stretches of land that lie in shallow waters parallel to a mainland coast are called barrier islands. These are technically not continental islands since they are formed by the erosion of mainland rock (sand). The sand is carried to coastal areas by rivers and then carried offshore by strong waves and other ocean currents.
Oceanic islands
Oceanic islands are not scattered haphazardly about the deep ocean waters. They arise from volcanic activity on the ocean floor. Over time, the cooled lava forms mountains, the tops of which rise above the surface of the ocean as islands. According to the geological theory of plate
Tectonics, Earth's crust is divided into a series of vast platelike sections that move as distinct masses over the planet's surface. Most oceanic islands are formed as oceanic plates move over fixed hot spots (plumes of magma or lava welling up from the crust). Some oceanic islands are situated above the boundaries where oceanic plates converge or come together, while others arise where plates diverge or spread apart (a process called seafloor spreading).
The Hawaiian-Emperor island chain in the north Pacific Ocean formed as a result of a plate moving over a thermal plume of magma from a fixed hot spot. The hot spot is believed to be causing the currently active volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Kilauea on the island of Hawaii.
When two plates converge, the plate carrying the heavier crust dips under, or subducts, the plate carrying the lighter crust. At the point of subduction, a deep trench develops. Parallel to it, on the lighter plate, volcanic action produces a row of islands. These island groups are called island arcs, after their curved pattern. The Aleutian Islands, off the southwest coast of Alaska, are such islands.
Island ecosystems
Islands often contain a strange mix of plants and animals. Because oceanic islands are isolated by their surrounding waters, they are home to only a few species of animals. Many of these animal species are found nowhere else on the planet. The small size of islands also prevents them from supporting a larger number of animal species. A few seabirds and insects exist in greater numbers since they are able to migrate over the waters separating islands. Plant life on islands is most abundant, as seeds are carried by winds, water currents, and birds from remote lands.
Island ecosystems (communities of plants, animals, and microorganisms) are delicate and balanced. Over time, they have reached a steady state—what is taken out of the environment is replaced. The relationship between predators and prey remain constant: those that die are replaced by newborns. The introduction of other life-forms into the closed system of an island, therefore, can have dramatic immediate effects. Changes brought about by humans is particularly devastating to islands. For example, domestic goats and rabbits introduced by human colonizers can completely rob a small island of succulent vegetation in less than a year. Dogs can turn every small mammal into prey.
Such changes to an island's ecosystem can result in the extinction of animal or plant species, many of which are not even known. Scientists are increasingly concerned about raising awareness of the special features of islands and their contributions to geological and evolutionary knowledge.
SPF Seminar on Self SPF Seminar on Self-supporting supporting supporting Economy in Micronesia conomy in Micronesia conomy in Micronesia
31 July 2007 31 July 2007
Small island economies suffer from diseconomies of scale in
Production
Investment
Consumption
Transportation
Education
administrative services.
The problem of diseconomies of scale is greatly intensified where the island countries or territories are fragmented into "mini" islands and located far from large foreign markets. In the South Pacific, Fiji alone consists of nearly 100 inhabited islands, and most of the South Pacific
The exports of these island economies are also characterized by their high geographical concentration. This characteristic may be easily inferred from the fact that island countries, whose politico-economic ties with their former colonial powers are still strong, produce more or less similar primary products in relatively small quantities that will not have any influence on the world market.
A large percentage of all South Pacific exports are directed towards a few developed countries. Nearly all exports from Niue and the Cook Islands are directed towards New Zealand, as are American Samoa's to the United States.
Nearly 60 per cent of all exports from French Polynesia and New Caledonia are destined for their sovereign country, France.
Imports also tend to be geographically concentrated, but are more diversified than exports. The dependency on a few export products and markets makes these island economies vulnerable to fluctuations within the world markets, and susceptible to natural hazards such as
Cyclones
Floods
Drought
disease.
Many small island economies have experienced more rapid population growth and urbanization than other developing economies and these have aggravated the problems of unemployment. The increasing population pressure on a limited amount of land is reflected in rising population densities in most South Pacific countries.
One striking feature of small island economies is a persistent net migration to neighboring mainlands which helps to ease population pressures. Many South Pacific countries, more or less, experienced net migration during the past decade. The Cook Islands and Niue, for example, recorded depopulation during the past decade due to substantial net migration to New Zealand. Out-migration is particularly important in island countries or territories with a population of or below 150,000 inhabitants.
It should also be noted that there is ample evidence of serious unemployment problems in most South Pacific countries, though unemployment statistics are available for only a few of the countries and are often difficult to interpret because of inadequate coverage.
Because of their smallness, remoteness and openness, island economies have a distinctively-shaped industrial structure Commodity producing sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing have declined as global competition accelerates, while service sectors such as
Tourism
Government
labor
offshore banking
have gained strength. Relatively large economies in the South Pacific such as Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu still maintain a wide agricultural sector due largely to protective measures and sizable subsistence sectors. Goods producing sectors in Hawaii and Okinawa have shrunk rapidly because both economies have exhausted their subsistence agriculture and manufacturing sectors under the constant pressure of global competition.
The Pacific island countries have enormous potential to develop a tourism industry
which is a future-oriented industry. The industry is becoming the most important source
of foreign exchange earnings for small islands (Table 1-8). About one-half of the following
island economies depend more on tourism income than their export earnings. The
importance of tourism has been rising in recent years.
SPF Seminar on Self SPF Seminar on Self-supporting supporting supporting Economy in Micronesia conomy in Micronesia conomy in Micronesia
31 July 2007 31 July 2007
Islands’ Islands’ Characteristics and Sustainability Characteristics and Sustainability
Hiroshi Kakazu, Vice President Hiroshi Kakazu, Vice President , Vice President
University of the Ryukyus University of the Ryukyus
When discussing the socio-economic development of small island economies, one is
always troubled as to the definition and measurement of "island." Being an island itself
does not necessarily imply a "small" economy. Japan for instance, the second largest
economy in the world in terms of GDP, is a typical island. According to the Global
Shoreline Database (www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/shorelines/gshhs.html) there are 180,498
islands with a population of 550 million or 10% of the world’s total population in 2006.
Although these islands occupy just 2% of the Earth’s surface area, they account for 22%
of all U.N. seats. The UNITAR Study (Rappapor and Therattil, 1971), lists ninety-six
small states and territories with a population of less than one million and makes a
distinction between thirty-nine mainland territories and fifty-seven islands or island
groups. As the study admits, however, information with regard to the number of islands
and their population is incomplete, rather out of date and, therefore, to a large extent
inaccurate. Of the small island states and territories, twenty are located in the Pacific,
seventeen in the Caribbean, eleven in the Atlantic Ocean, eight in the Indian Ocean,
and two in the Mediterranean Sea. The small Pacific islands, which are the main focus
of this investigation, are not only the most numerous, they also consist of the most
scattered and varied islands in the world.
Unique development problems arise in small island economies which are further
intensified if they are also isolated, i.e. if they are located far from their major markets.
In combination these factors have significant socio-economic consequences as seen in
the South Pacific Islands and Ryukyu Islands on which this study focuses. Their impact
has led the United Nations (1975) to identify "geographically disadvantaged developing
island countries" along with the "least developed" and "land-locked" developing
countries as being in need of special attention.
Smallness can be defined in terms of the physical size (land area), population and
GNP (or GDP), or a combination of these variables as attempted by Kakazu (1994),
depending upon the purpose of the analysis. Kuznets (1965 ) used a population of ten
million as the economically significant dividing line between small and large economies.
Most of the arguments, however, favor using the concept of national income as the most
2
appropriate one to measure the size of an economy, particularly in the discussion of
"diseconomies of small-scale production in small countries, and the derivative
arguments concerning instability and trade dependence in small nations. If we want to
see smallness in terms of current productive capacity, GNP or GDP will best serve the
purpose.
Shand's (1979) systematic classification of islands in the South Pacific and Indian
Ocean in terms of “small”, “very small”, and “micro” categories, however, demonstrates
that a small population in general corresponds to a small land area and also to a small
GDP. Of course, as Shand warns, these size indicators are more or less arbitrary and
there will be no economically significant cut-off point for "small," "very small," and
"micro." However, by using these size indicators, we may be able to identify their stage
of economic development as well as similarities in their development problems. If we
then also take into consideration other factors, such as "isolation," "migration," and
"external sources of income," the usefulness of such a classification is greatly enhanced.
(2) General Characteristics of Island Societies General Characteristics of Island Societies of Island Societies
Keeping in mind again that "smallness" is a relative and not absolute idea, the general
characteristics, merits and demerits of small islands from the standpoints of
socio-economic development can be summarized in the following figure (Fig.1-1).
Remoteness and smallness are the most distinguishable characteristics of all island
societies.
3
Fig. 1-1: Main Characteristics. of Small Island Societies
Remoteness O c e a n i c Smallness
Merits Merits Demerits Merits
Non-routine routine routine Crossroad of marine trans. Crossroad of marine trans. Crossroad of marine trans. Weather risk Weather risk Weather risk Easy consensus building Easy consensus building
Aversion of risk Gateway to cross cultural com. High metabolism
Vast marine resources Vast marine resources Risk management Risk management Risk management community bondage (mutual he community bondage (mutual help)
Demerits Small is beautiful Small is beautiful
Tyranny of distance zero emissions
High infra. cost Smallness
(transportation & Demerits
communication) Fragile environments
Digital divide? Diseconomies of scale and scope Diseconomies of scale and scope
Barriers to market Barriers to market Limited division of labor (monoculture)
access Segmented market
Remoteness Insularity High cost economy
Traditional values systems
（Inward （Inward-looking looking looking, land tenure
Ethnic issues Ethnic issues
（Other Characteristics)
１．Colonial legacy
２．Mixed(chmpuru chmpuru chmpuru) culture culture
３．High outmigration High outmigration
４．Biological diversity
５．Conflicts between Indigenous and imported culture
６．Primitive affluence (losing rapidly)
７．Coexistence of subsistence and modern sectors Coexistence of subsistence and modern sectors
８．Periphery and Frontier Periphery and Frontier
９．Over-brown public sector
10. High dependency on external aid and tourism
11. Others?
Source: Kakazu (2007)
Oceanic
The primary negative development issues (demerits) are as follows:
(1) Their overall economic activities are less diversified and more specialized than large
economies due mainly to their narrow range of human and non-human economic
resources and markets. The narrow resource base and domestic market, coupled with
high transport costs, severely limit what Kindleberger (1968) calls the "capacity of
transformation" of economies. All Pacific Island Forum (PIF) countries, except PNG,
have a population of less than one million (Fig.1-2). The island of Niue has just over
2,000 residents.
4
Fig. 1-2: Main Indicators of the Island Countries/Regions of the Pacific Island Economies
Countries/ Population Countries/ Population Population Land Area Land Area Land Area EEZ Per Capita Per Capita Per Capita Major Sources Major Sources Major Sources Political Status Political Status
Regions (000s persons) Regions (000s persons) (000s persons) (km²） (000s km²) ） (000s km²) (000s km²) Income (US$) Income (US$) Income (US$) of Income of Income of Income (Date of Independence) (Date of Independence)
（MELANESIA （MELANESIA MELANESIA）
ＰＮＧ 5,800 ＰＮＧ 5,800 462,840 462,840 462,840 500 Mining／lumber／agri.／tourism tourism tourism Independent (1975) Independent (1975)
FIJI 840 FIJI 840 18,272 1,290 2,240 Sugar/gourmet/remittances Sugar/gourmet/remittances Sugar/gourmet/remittances Independent (1970) Independent (1970)
SOLOMON IS. 521 SOLOMON IS. 521 27,540 560 Agriculture/fish/transfers (aid) Agriculture/fish/transfers (aid) Agriculture/fish/transfers (aid) Independent (1978) Independent (1978)
VANUATS 213 VANUATS 213 240 1,180 Tourism/transfers/US bases Tourism/transfers/US bases Tourism/transfers/US bases Independent (1965) Independent (1965)
（POLYNESIA （POLYNESIA POLYNESIA）
SAMOA 171 SAMOA 171 12,200 1,440 Agriculture/fish/transfers (aid) Agriculture/fish/transfers (aid) Agriculture/fish/transfers (aid) Independent (1962) Independent (1962)
TONGA 102 TONGA 102 2,850 1,440 Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Independent (1970) Independent (1970)
COOK IS. 20 COOK IS. 20 488 629 7,550 Tourism/transfers (aid) Tourism/transfers (aid) Tourism/transfers (aid) SGFA with New Zealand (1965) SGFA with New Zealand (1965)
TUVALU 11 TUVALU 11 21 1,350 Exports of phosphate/agri. Exports of phosphate/agri. Exports of phosphate/agri. Independent (1978) Independent (1978)
NIUE 2 26 1,100 Agri./transfers (aid) Agri./transfers (aid) Agri./transfers (aid) SGFA with New Zealand (1974) SGFA with New Zealand (1974)
（MICRONESIA （MICRONESIA MICRONESIA）
KIRIBATI 104 KIRIBATI 104 718 860 Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Independent (1970) Independent (1970)
FSM 108 FSM 108 717 2,070 Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Independent (1979) Independent (1979)
MARSHALL IS. 61 MARSHALL IS. 61 701 2,978 2,710 Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Independent (1986) Independent (1986)
PALAU 21 PALAU 21 181 2,131 5,740 Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Independent (1986) Independent (1986)
NAURU 10 NAURU 10 101 3,740 Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Agri./tourism/transfers (aid) Independent (1968) Independent (1968)
ＰＩＦ TOTAL ＰＩＦ TOTAL 7,984 526,895 526,895
（REFERENCES （REFERENCES REFERENCES）
GUAM 170 GUAM 170 541 218 21,000 Tourism/transfers/US bases Tourism/transfers/US bases Tourism/transfers/US bases Unincorporated Territory Unincorporated Territory of the US of the US
CNMI 80 CNMI 80 471 1,823 12,500 Tourism/transfers (aid) Tourism/transfers (aid) Tourism/transfers (aid) Commonwealth (US) Commonwealth (US)
HAWAII 1,275 HAWAII 1,275 16,757 ? 30,589 Tourism/US bases Tourism/US bases Tourism/US bases A State of the US A State of the US
NEW CALEDONIA 216 NEW CALEDONIA 216 19,103 1,740 15,000 Tourism/transfers aid)/nickel Tourism/transfers aid)/nickel Tourism/transfers aid)/nickel Overseas Territory of Overseas Territory of France
OKINAWA 1,368 2,274 1,368 2,274 ? 21,148 Tourism/transfers/US bases Tourism/transfers/US bases Tourism/transfers/US bases Japan's Prefecture Japan's Prefecture
*CNMI = Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands * *CNMI = Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands *EEZ = Exclusive Economic Zone Exclusive Economic Zone Exclusive Economic Zone （200 miles from all shorelines miles from all shorelines miles from all shorelines)
*FSM = Federated States of Micronesia
*SGFA = Self-Governing Free Association
Note and Sources: Latest data compiled by H. Kakazu from the Websites of ADB, CIA, State and Prefectural governments of Hawaii and Okinawa.
(2) Because of the small domestic market, there are not many options available for
economic development. Thus, under constant population pressure on the limited arable
land and the "revolution of rising expectations" (see Kakazu, 1994), almost all small
island countries had to open up their economies to the world market. A small country or
island often had a relatively large foreign trade, not only because of her limited
production resources but also because "she has a larger frontier in proportion to her
area than a larger country of the same shape." (Marshall, 1968) The degree of openness
to or dependency on the world market is customarily measured by the trade to GDP
ratio. The smallest trade (exports + imports) to GDP ratio was 47% in 2000 for Kiribati.
For economies such as Fiji and PNG, the ratio is nearly 90%.
(3) It is a well-known fact that small island economies with limited resources and
market do not necessarily mean low per capita income economies. On the contrary, they
are richer than most large developing economies. The per capita incomes of Hawaii and
Okinawa are higher than the average per capita income of OECD countries (Fig.1-2).
According to the latest Economist special report (February 24th 2007), the Caribbean
islands of Bermuda, Cayman and the British Virgin Islands enjoy the highest per capita
income in the world with booming offshore banking businesses. As is discussed later in
this paper, banking and networking businesses are typically high-value added,
future-oriented “footloose service industries” which fit into the island climate
5
environment.
Source: Calculated from ADB' Key Indicators, 2002.
Fig.1-3: Intra-regional Trade among the Pacific Islands Forum Countries,
2000
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
Tuvalu
Cook Islands
Vanuatu
Kiribati
Tonga
Samoa
Solomon I.
Fiji
Marshall I.
PNG
FSM
%
Intra-regional Trade (% of Total Trade)
Total Trade (% of GNP)
Although these trade data are rather outdated, the picture has not changed
significantly in recent years. Considering the fact that the trade to GDP for large island
economies such as Indonesia and the Philippines is typically less than 30 per cent, we
can see how these small economies are heavily dependent upon foreign trade. A heavy
dependency of small island economies on external factors creates the problem of
economic instability and vulnerability, which continues to be one of the most
challenging topics of discussion.
Fig.1-2 also shows intra-regional trade flows among the Pacific Islands which account
for only 2% of the region’s total trade. PNG and FMS have virtually no trade record with
their neighboring island countries. The poor trade interrelationships among and
between the countries of the region are a natural outcome of the meager
complimentarity of their economic activities. Economic diversification within the SPF
countries is a fundamental prerequisite in the achievement of an economically viable
regionalism, a much-discussed subject for many years.
(3) As a direct result of the narrow range of their resource base and production
conditions, small island economies depend upon a few primary products for their export
earnings, while importing a wide range of consumer as well as capital goods. One export
commodity, such as fish in American Samoa and copra in Kiribati and Tokelau, accounts
for nearly all of their export incomes.
6
The exports of these island economies are also characterized by their high
geographical concentration. This characteristic may be easily inferred from the fact that
island countries, whose politico-economic ties with their former colonial powers are still
strong, produce more or less similar primary products in relatively small quantities that
will not have any influence on the world market. A large percentage of all South Pacific
exports are directed towards a few developed countries. Nearly all exports from Niue
and the Cook Islands are directed towards New Zealand, as are American Samoa's to
the United States. Nearly 60 per cent of all exports from French Polynesia and New
Caledonia are destined for their sovereign country, France. Imports also tend to be
geographically concentrated, but are more diversified than exports. The dependency on
a few export products and markets makes these island economies vulnerable to
fluctuations within the world markets, and susceptible to natural hazards such as
cyclones, floods, drought and disease.
(4) Most small island economies have been suffering from chronic deficits in trade
balances which have in large part been financed by growing inflows of remittances,
Official Development Assistance (ODA), and tourism incomes (Fig.1-4,1-5). ODA flows
more than offset trade deficits in the Solomon Islands and Marshall Islands.
7
Note: ROT = Remittances + ODA + Tourism Income
Source: ADB, Key Indicators (2006)
Fig.1-5: Samoa's Main Sources of Financing Trade Deficits
0
50
100
150
200
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
US$ million
ROT
Trade Deficits
Remittances
Tourism Income
ODA
Fig. 1-4: Financing Trade Deficits by ODA for Selected
Island Econmies, 2005
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Samoa
Tonga
Micoronesia
Palau
Vanuatu
Cook Islands
Marshall Is.
Kiribati
Solomon Is.
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00 Trade Deficits
ODA
ODA/Trade Deficits
In addition to ODA, tourism income and remittances from emigrant workers and their
families are the major sources of income used to pay for imports. Samoa is a typical
example in this regard (Fig.1-5). These three external sources of income were able to
cover the deficit in 2005.
(5) Small island economies suffer from diseconomies of scale in production, investment,
consumption, transportation, education, and administrative services. The problem of
diseconomies of scale is greatly intensified where the island countries or territories are
fragmented into "mini" islands and located far from large foreign markets. In the South
Pacific, Fiji alone consists of nearly 100 inhabited islands, and most of the South Pacific
8
islands are located more than 1,000 km from the nearest continent .
Diseconomies of scale are probably the most discussed subject in the development of
small island economies. Except for some fragmentary evidence, however, there has been
no systematic empirical study on the subject. The current author once calculated the
scale effect of unit cost in generating electricity in the islands of Okinawa. The unit cost
curve in generating electricity decreases dramatically as the size of the islands in terms
of population increases (Fig.1-6). The cost of generating electricity per hour in such
neighboring small islands as Miyako and Yaeyama, which account for 87 per cent of the
total population of Okinawa, is more than 196 and 58 per cent respectively.
Fig. 1-6: Unit Cost Curve for Generating Electricity in the Islands of Okinawa, 1980
Unit Cost
Per 1 KW/H (yen)
51.5 Neighboring Small Islands 51.5 Neighboring Small Islands
30.9 All Neighboring Islands 30.9 All Neighboring Islands
27.5 Miyako & Yaeyama Islands
17.4 Okinawa Island 17.4 Okinawa Island
// (10KW/H)
190 2,640 190 2,640 (optimum plant size) (optimum plant size)
Source and notes (Kakazu, 1994)
(6) The heavy burden of transportation costs may be the single most important barrier
to the socioeconomic development of small islands. The UNECOSOC Report states that
the problem of transportation is not only the high cost of shipping resulting from
extremely small-scale operations, but also "the irregularity of supply which leads, even
in the absence of any balance of payments constraints on imports, to periodic shortages
and erratic price movements."
(7) Many small island economies have experienced more rapid population growth and
urbanization than other developing economies and these have aggravated the problems
of unemployment. The increasing population pressure on a limited amount of land is
reflected in rising population densities in most South Pacific countries.
One striking feature of small island economies is a persistent net migration to
neighboring mainlands which helps to ease population pressures. Many South Pacific
9
countries, more or less, experienced net migration during the past decade. The Cook
Islands and Niue, for example, recorded depopulation during the past decade due to
substantial net migration to New Zealand. Out-migration is particularly important in
island countries or territories with a population of or below 150,000 inhabitants. It
should also be noted that there is ample evidence of serious unemployment problems in
most South Pacific countries, though unemployment statistics are available for only a
few of the countries and are often difficult to interpret because of inadequate coverage.
(8) Because of their smallness, remoteness and openness, island economies have a
distinctively-shaped industrial structure (Table 1-1). Commodity producing sectors such
as agriculture and manufacturing have declined as global competition accelerates,
while service sectors such as tourism, government, labor and offshore banking have
gained strength. Relatively large economies in the South Pacific such as Fiji, Tonga and
Vanuatu still maintain a wide agricultural sector due largely to protective measures
and sizable subsistence sectors. Goods producing sectors in Hawaii and Okinawa have
shrunk rapidly because both economies have exhausted their subsistence agriculture
and manufacturing sectors under the constant pressure of global competition.
Table 1-1: Industrial Structure of Selected Island Economies
(% of Gross Domestic Products)
Population (1000) Agriculture Population (1000) Agriculture Agriculture Manufactuirng Manufactuirng Manufactuirng Services Services
1990 2005 1990 2005 1990 2005 1990 2005 1990 2005
Cook Islands 17 Cook Islands 17 20 21.2 12.8 3.9 3.7 73.8 81.1
Fiji 737 Fiji 737 846 22.2 14.5 12.7 15.0 60.4 65.6
Hawaii 1,108 Hawaii 1,108 1,275 1.2 1.0 2.8 1.6 96.0 97.4
Kiribati 72 Kiribati 72 92 18.6 10.1 1.2 0.7 73.8 77.6
Marshall Is. 46 Marshall Is. 46 64 13.9 10.4 1.2 4.5 70.1 69.1
Okinawa 1,222 Okinawa 1,222 1,361 3.0 1.9 5.8 4.7 80.3 89.5
Palau 15 Palau 15 20 8.1 3.1 0.9 0.4 82.2 76.9
Samoa 160 Samoa 160 183 23.0 13.1 19.6 14.6 48.7 60.9
Tonga 96 Tonga 96 102 34.7 28.5 6.0 4.8 51.7 60.2
Tuvalu 9 Tuvalu 9 10 25.6 16.6 3.1 3.7 59.9 73.4
Vanuatu 147 Vanuatu 147 218 20.7 15.0 5.5 3.6 67.0 76.8
Notes: Agriculture includes all primary incomes; Services include all tertiary incomes.
Sources: ADB, Key Indicators; State of Hawaii Data Book; Okinawa Statistical Yearbook
(9) As we have already seen, most Pacific island economies are hybrids, or dual systems,
where the monetary sector co-exists with a substantial subsistence sector. Subsistence
activities have remained strong despite long contact with the modern trade economy;
and Walsh (1975) suggests that semi subsistence involvement should be regarded as at
least a semi-permanent feature of Pacific island society and policy makers should
operate within this term of reference.
10
The primary role of a subsistence economy is to reduce the increasingly heavy
dependency on imported foods which has aggravated the balance of payments positions
and adversely affected nutritional standards in these islands. Subsistence activities,
however, are not limited to food production. They can be classified into broad categories:
for example, food production, which includes food processing; building activity; capital
works; furniture-making; and traditional crafts. They also include village councils; the
local government rule of village elders and chiefs; indigenous medicine; the
entrepreneurial role of family heads; the maintenance and upkeep of village facilities
and utilities; and family funerals and religious services.
A range of specific subsistence-based activities with employment potential are:
handicrafts, dressmaking, carpentry, and producing a range of agricultural products
such as cassava, taro, coconut, breadfruit, fish, pork and poultry. Other possibilities are
capital items such as the traditional building of houses, canoes, bridges, and control
measures. Processing and household manufacturing activities are also important in
many countries; some examples are the processing of cassava flour, rice, tapioca powder,
homegrown tobacco, and coconut oil; home brewing; and food preservation (e.g.,
breadfruit in Samoa and babai in Kiribati and Tuvalu).
The contributions of these subsistence activities to the social and economic life of
island countries can be summarized as follows:
(a) They provide many categories of goods and services that form a basic and highly
valued ingredient of contemporary village life: these often have no direct substitute in
the modern trade sector; (b) They provide a source of livelihood for those unable to find
secure employment in the wage sector; (c) They constitute a familiar base from which
innovations in commercial agriculture and other areas can be carried out by
villagers should they desire such changes; (d) Many subsistence foodstuffs are highly
nutritious and cheap compared with trade store substitutes; and (e) Subsistence
activities are valued as integral elements of what many Pacific Islanders conceive of as
the sort of life-style they wish to maintain and encourage.
Due to the diverse nature of these subsistence income generating activities which
makes them hard to account for in formal income statistics, there are wide
discrepancies between market-valued per capita income and purchasing power parity
(PPP) estimates (Fig. 1-7). Tonga’s per capita income in terms of PPP for instance is
more than 6 times higher than its nominal (foreign exchange) income. It can be said
that the wider the gap between market measure and PPP, the relatively larger the
subsistence sector.
11
Note: PPP = In terms of purchasing power parity
Nominal = In terms of nominal exchange rate
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Tonga Samoa Fiji Vanuatu Solomon Is.
Per Capita (Nominal)
Per Capita (PPP)
Fig. 1-7: Per Capita Income for Selected Island Economies, 2005
The theory of comparative advantage has better served for large economies where
alternative resources for exports can more easily be developed than small ones. For the
very small economies of the South Pacific the exhaustion of non-renewable exportable
resources means the complete collapse of external trade and a return to a subsistence
economy. There is a good possibility that the return to a subsistence economy will result
in a lower level of production than the level of pre-trade due to the possible loss of a
traditional subsistence skill and other subsistence resources.
It should be noted here that in the process of export-led growth, resources have been
transferred from the subsistence economies as Nauru, New Caledonia, French
Polynesia and Tuvalu and are now highly monetized. Island researchers have
questioned for many years the sustainability of export-led growth. There are two
possible reasons that a small export-oriented economy with a relatively high per capita
income might collapse into subsistence poverty. One is the exhaustion of non-renewable
natural resources such as the phosphates of Nauru and Kiribati or the nickel of New
Caledonia. Another reason is the deterioration of the terms of trade or the
disappearance of the demand for exportable goods. The speed of collapse will be
accelerated by deliberate specialization in exportable goods, population growth, the loss
of traditional production skills and above all by environmental degradation.
This author proposes two clear-cut approaches for diversification which may prevent
these economies from collapsing into subsistence poverty or severe deprivation (For
12
details, see Kakazu 1994). One approach is to conduct the development policies so as to
maintain the balance of payments equilibrium. This approach would be particularly
effective in the South Pacific where the growing trade deficits have been a source of
alarming concern to policy-makers. The other approach is based upon the concept of the
Safe Minimum Standard (SMS) which is designed to secure a minimum caloric
requirement for survival of the island people through domestic food production.
This concept of food security has much more practical meaning for the small Pacific
island economies than large ones because of their isolation, unstable export incomes, and
frequent occurrences of natural hazards such as tropical cyclones, droughts, earthquakes
and tsunamies. This approach can also be defended from the standpoint of improving the
nutritional standards of the South Pacific where malnutrition, due mainly to the
increasing consumption of imported foodstuffs at the expense of subsistence foods, has
been the recent major developmental issue.
Although this approach is particularly relevant for small island economies, we need
more conceptual refinement as well as a reliable data base for a successful application of
the concept to the South Pacific. Policy implications of the two approaches are mutually
reinforcing; they require a resource shift from the export sector to the subsistence sector
which is a mainstay of many South Pacific island economies and has a great potential
for development. We have suggested that in order to diversify the economic base
through revitalizing the subsistence sector, an import-displacement approach may be
much more effective than an import replacement or import substitution approach.
We should caution, however, that policy prescriptions may differ according to the
stage of socio-economic development, natural resource endowments and the importance
of the subsistence sector. The best available policy mix for each island economy cannot
be found without considering interrelated issues such as possible changes in technology,
demographics and decision-making processes at all levels.
(10) Another characteristic of island economies, which is more or less related to the
aforementioned problems, is their heavy dependence on government activities as a
major source of income, employment, and probably as a symbol of prestige. It is
astonishing to know that the government expenditures in the Cook Islands, Niue, and
Samoa account for more than 80 per cent of their respective gross national products.
Government involvement in private commerce has crowed out private enterprise while
drawing resources away from the provision of public services which is so necessary for
growth of private enterprise. Poor property rights to land, insecurity of debt contracts,
unsustainable budget deficits, and political and policy instability have all raised the
13
risk premium on investment, resulting in the high grading of investment opportunities.
(11) Some small island countries are also dependent on the monetary authorities of
industrial countries in the sense that "they do not have an independent currency and/or
do not follow autonomous monetary policies." (see Chapter 1, Kakazu, 1994)We should
also note that one or more large multinational corporations dominate foreign trade in a
number of small island economies. The policies and decisions of these companies have a
determining influence on the island's development. These characteristics are a vestige
of the colonial heritage of other developing countries. Specialization in a few primary
export products in the South Pacific has been intensified both by colonial economic
policies and new demands created through imported goods. There is a very interesting
study entitled “Colonialism and Modern Income: Islands as Natural Experiments
(James Feyrer and Bruce Sacerdote, 2006) which discusses this situation. After
examining the long term effects of colonial history on islands’’ economic performance,
the paper concludes that longer Western colonial exposure is good for the modern
inhabitants of the islands in terms of GDP. However, “there is a discernable pecking
order amongst the colonizers. Years spent under US and Dutch colonial rule are
significantly better than years under the Spanish and Portuguese” (ibid. p.28). The
authors believe that the good performance under colonial rule is largely the result of the
efficient transfer of Western institutions or governance which have been pro-growth
factors for the colonized.
(12) Pacific islands have developed enormously complex socio-cultural systems
through the interactions of their traditional lifestyles with the Western legal system
and cultures. Despite a rapid commercialization of their economic activities, customary
land ownership is still prevalent throughout the South Pacific. Like centrally planned
economies, there are no or limited individual property rights to land, profit, and income
and hence no or reduced incentive for people to pursue individual self-interest (ADB,
1999). The Matai (local chief) still plays very important economic, moral and political
roles in village life.
(13) Finally, we have to touch on the environmental vulnerability of small island
societies. Following the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development which
recognized special island issues for islands with regard to the environment and
development, the 1994 UN Global Conference held in Barbados adopted the program of
actions for the sustainable development of small islands (see Briguglio 2004, for his
14
painstaking efforts in constructing vulnerability indices)
The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has
following particular remarks on small islands:
Small islands, whether located in the Tropics or higher latitudes, have
characteristics which make them especially vulnerable to the effects of
climate change, sea level rise and extreme events. Deterioration in coastal
conditions, for example through erosion of beaches and coral bleaching
is expected to affect local resources, e.g., fisheries, and reduce the value
of these destinations for tourism. Sea-level rise is expected to exacerbate
inundation, storm surge, erosion and other coastal hazards, thus threatening
vital infrastructure, settlements and facilities that support the livelihood
of island communities. Climate change is projected by the mid-century to
reduce water resources in many small islands, e.g., in the Caribbean and
Pacific, to the point where they become insufficient to meet demand during
Low rainfall periods. With higher temperatures, increased invasion by non
native species is expected to occur, particularly on middle and high-latitude islands
(IPCC, Summary for Policymaker, April 6, 2007).
These environmental disruptions are mostly man-made arising from increasing
populations and rising material expectations which are placing considerable pressure
on the extremely limited land resources and coastal marine ecosystems. It should be
noted, however, that although proper environmental planning and conservation
management are vital for sustainable development of these small islands, a large part
of global warming is attributable to industrial activities of much larger economies
notably the United States, China and Japan.
(The Advantages of Small Island Advantages of Small Island Advantages of Small Islands)
There are, however, a number of characteristics of small islands which can be
considered to be economically advantageous over larger economies, such as "the
importance of being unimportant in external commercial policy, more unified national
markets, greater flexibility, and perhaps greater potential social cohesion." The huge
expanse of ocean surrounding these island masses may also provide rich marine
resources and natural energy which can be tapped for future economic development.
Okinawa, for example, is making full use of ocean resources including the promotion
and development of aquaculture, utilization of deep-sea water for various healthy
products and marine or “blue” tourism such as whale-watching and scuba diving.
15
The Pacific island countries have enormous potential to develop a tourism industry
which is a future-oriented industry. The industry is becoming the most important source
of foreign exchange earnings for small islands (Table 1-8). About one-half of the following
island economies depend more on tourism income than their export earnings. The
importance of tourism has been rising in recent years.
Table 1-8: Tourism in Selected Island Countries
GDP
（$million）
Trade balance
（$million）
Tourism
income
（$million）
Exports／
GDP
Tourism
income／
GDP
Tourism
income
＞
Exports
The South Pacific Islands
Papua New Guinea 3,182 877 60 59.4% 1.9%
Fiji 2,036 -464 431 31.5% 20.3%
Vanuatu 283 -78 71 10.3% 26.8% ●
Samoa 268 -122 53 6.0% 18.1% ●
Solomon Islands 253 8 9 24.0% 3.6%
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 243 -65 17 6.6% 7.0% ●
Tonga 163 -75 15 7.8% 6.0%
Palau 126 -129 59 11.7% 48.0% ●
Marshall Islands 106 -46 4 9.8% 3.9%
Kiribati 55 -37 3 7.2% 5.8%
The Caribbean Islands
Dominican Republic 16,541 -2,444 3,110 27.2% 14.5%
Jamaica 8,147 -2,435 1,621 14.8% 18.9% ●
Bahamas 5,260 -892 1,795 13.7% 35.6% ●
Haiti 2,921 -841 93 8.7% 3.1%
Barbados 2,627 -923 767 9.2% 28.0% ●
Belize 989 -347 156 19.7% 14.6%
Antigua and Barbuda 757 -275 301 5.1% 40.1% ●
Guyana 742 -60 39 68.7% 7.8%
St. Lucia 693 -300 282 6.3% 37.4% ●
Grenada 439 -198 104 13.0% 22.4% ●
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 371 -162 85 11.6% 22.8% ●
St. Kitts and Nevis 346 -207 61 9.6% 17.2% ●
Dominica 259 -87 51 16.9% 18.3% ●
Original Sources: World Bank (2005) World Development Indicators , WTO (2005) Compendium of Tourism Statistics
ADB (2005) Key Indicaorts 2005
From Tetsuo ”An Empirical Analysis on International Tourism and Economic Growth
in Small Island Developing States" (Draft, January 2006), p.6.
The tourism industry, however, is in many ways beyond the control of these small
island economies. It depends not only on economic conditions of industrialized countries
but also on various imported inputs such as transportation, hotels, sales promotion, raw
materials, souvenirs, and even foodstuffs, all of which consist of leakages from the
16
economies. Even in Fiji, one of the largest Pacific island economies, more than 70% of
tourist expenditures leak out of the country in the form of imports, profit expropriation
and expatriate salaries.
Another future-oriented growth industry which is well-suited to small islands is the
information and communication technology (ICT) industry. The ICT industry is a
“footloose” and does not require natural resources, transportation and heavy technology
which are prerequisites for agriculture and manufacturing. Okinawa has been emerging
as a center of the ICT industry in recent years, supported by the Japanese Government
and the Okinawa Prefectural Government (Fig. 1-8). As of December 2005, there were
105 ICT companies with new employment of about 20,000 which is a very large figure by
small island standards. Initially, NTT’s telephone directory call centers were established
in 2001 followed by more sophisticated called centers, software companies, Internet cafes
and data centers. Some of them moved their operations from Singapore, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Shanghai and Dalian.
Fig. 1-9: Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Companies (investments mainly from Mainland Japan)
Goals
Unit 2001 Unit 2001 2004 2005 2010
ICT Companies number ICT Companies number 54 90 103
Employment person Employment person 8,600 16,700 18,009 22,400
ICT Sales \100mil. ICT Sales \100mil. \100mil. 1,391 2,203 2,362 3,590
Source: Mid-term Review of Okinawa Promotion Plan (March 2007)
The ICT industry is also future-oriented because the resultant nest society will be a
knowledge society. Knowledge will be its key resource, and knowledge workers will be
the dominant group in its workforce. Its three main characteristics will be:
borderlessness, because knowledge travels even more effortlessly than money; upward
mobility, available to everyone through easily acquired formal education, and the
potential for failure as well as success. Anyone can acquire the “means of production”,
i.e., the knowledge required for the job, but not everyone can succeed. Together, these
three characteristics will make a knowledge society a highly competitive one, for
organizations and individuals alike. Manufacturing was the dominant social and
political force in the 20th century, knowledge technologists are likely to become the
dominant social and perhaps also political force over the next decades.
Small islands may also have comparative advantages in environmental economic
activities such as recycling, reusing, and reducing environmental hazards. Small
17
islands can be model cases for a zero-emission society. Okinawa has been emerging as a
model island of environmentally friendly products such as recycling used bottles,
eternal production from sugarcane and waste materials.
References References
ADB, Pursuing Economic Reform in the Pacific (1999), Pacific Studies Series: Manila.
Briguglio, L. (2004) Economic Vulnerability and Resilience: Concepts and
Measurements. Malta: Commonwealth Secretariat and the University of Malta.
Feyrer, J. and Bruce Sacerdote (2006) NBER Working Paper, No.12546 (October 2006),
pp.1-47.
Kakazu, H. (2006) “Networking Island Societies under the Globalizing World: The Case
of the Pacific Islands,” Journal of Island Studies, No.6, pp.1-10.
Kakazu, H. (1994) Sustainable Development of Small Island Economies, Westview
Press, p.228.
Kakazu, H. (2003) “Globalization and Regional Economy,” Economic Research Center,
School of Economics, Nagoya University, Monograph , no. 127, pp.1-33.
Kindleberger C.P.(1968) International Economics. Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, p.82.
Kuznets, S. (1965) "Economic Growth of Small Nations," in Robinson, ed., Economic
Consequences of the Size of Nations, New York: AEA, pp.14-32.
Marshall A. (1972). Industry and Trade .London: Macmillan, p. 25; and G. M. Meier
(1968). International Economics of Development .New York: Harper and Row.
Rappaport, J. E. Muteba, and J. J. Therattil (1971) Small States and Territories: Status
and Problems. New York: Arno Press, for the United Nations Institute of Training and
Research (UNITAR).
18
Shand R.T(1979) Island Smallness: Some Definitions and Implications (Paper
presented to the Development Studies Centre Conference of the Australian National
University, May 1979), p.4.
United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNESC, 1975), Special Economic
Problems and Development Needs of Geographically More Disadvantaged Developing
Island Countries: Note by the Secretary –General. New York.
Walsh A.C.(1975) "Subsistence Agriculture and the Communication of Innovations:
Some Niuean Examples," in J. B. Hardaker, ed., The Subsistence Sector in the South
Pacific. Suva: University of the South Pacific.
https://www.spf.org/yashinomi/pdf/pacific/economic/kakazu01.pdf
