Portal:Islands

The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a grouping of developing countries which are small island countries and small states that tend to share similar sustainable development challenges. These include small but growing populations, limited resources, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, vulnerability to external shocks, excessive dependence on international trade, and fragile environments. Their growth and development are also held back by high communication, energy and transportation costs, irregular international transport volumes, disproportionately expensive public administration and infrastructure due to their small size, and little to no opportunity to create economies of scale. They consist of some of the most vulnerable countries to anthropogenic climate change.

The SIDS were first recognized as a distinct group of developing countries at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992. The Barbados Programme of Action was produced in 1994 to assist the SIDS in their sustainable development efforts. The United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) represents the group of states. (Full article...)

Filipino cuisine includes the food traditions of more than a hundred ethnolinguistic groups across the Philippine archipelago. Most widely known Filipino dishes come from the culinary practices of groups such as the Ilocano, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, Visayan, Chavacano, and Maranao communities. The dishes associated with these groups evolved over the centuries from a largely indigenous (largely Austronesian) base shared with maritime Southeast Asia with varied influences from Chinese, Spanish, and American cuisines, in line with the major waves of influence that had enriched the cultures of the archipelago, and adapted using indigenous ingredients to meet local preferences.

Dishes range from a simple meal of fried salted fish and rice to curries, paellas, and cozidos of Iberian origin made for fiestas. Popular dishes include lechón (whole roasted pig), longganisa (Philippine sausage), tapa (cured beef), torta (omelette), adobo (vinegar and soy sauce-based stew), kaldereta (meat stewed in tomato sauce and liver paste), mechado (larded beef in soy and tomato sauce), pochero (beef and bananas in tomato sauce), afritada (chicken or beef and vegetables simmered in tomato sauce), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), pinakbet (kabocha squash, eggplant, beans, okra, bitter melon, and tomato stew flavored with shrimp paste), sinigang (meat or seafood with vegetables in sour broth), pancit (noodles), and lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls). (Full article...)

• ... that weightlifter Mattie Sasser switched her sporting nationality twice before qualifying for the Marshall Islands at the 2024 Summer Olympics?
• ... that Bridgeman Island was the first volcano in Antarctica to be seen erupting?
• ... that Hidayat Arsani, the governor of the Bangka Belitung Islands in Indonesia, was dumped into a trash can as a baby by his birth parents?
• ... that Patriots in Georgia conducted a raid on Tybee Island to capture runaway slaves during the American Revolutionary War?
• ... that a committee of Chinese compatriots of all circles from Hong Kong Island and Kowloon struggled against what they viewed as persecution by the British authorities in Hong Kong?
• ... that the Akinada Tobishima Kaido, an island-hopping road, was named after its resemblance to stepping stones in a garden?