THE LEAST VISITED ISLAND COUNTRIES

NEW CALEDONIA

Located just west of Vanuatu, New Caledonia is an overseas

special collective of France. The South Pacific headquarters

of the United States Army and Navy during World War II, the

islands have endured a tumultuous history, including as a

French penal colony in the mid 1800’s, receiving criminals

and political prisoners. Some of its 107,000 visitors in 2014

visited for the flora and fauna – the richest and most diverse

in the world per square kilometre. Not only species but

full genera and families are unique to only the islands

of New Caledonia.

SAINT VINCENT & THE GRENADINES

The fifteenth least visited island country in the world sees a sharp

drop in visitors from New Caledonia The Caribbean islands of

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are located in the southern

end of the Windward Islands near Venezuela and brought in

71,000 tourists in 2014. The thirty-ninth densest country in the

world population-wise, the country has recently received a

tourism boost after being a filming location in the

“Pirates of the Caribbean” films.

ANGUILLA

Formerly part of St. Kitts & Nevis, Anguilla is a popular overseas

tax haven since it charges no capital gains, estate, or profit taxes

on individuals or corporations. The British overseas territory is

one of the only countries in the world that can claim its primary

export to be alcohol beverages at 21%. (The next closest is

domestic non-electric stoves at 7.6%.) The coral reefs around

Anguilla are prime Caribbean diving destinations, drawing

in many of its 71,000 tourists.

TIMOR LESTE

A former Portuguese colony, the small nation of East Timor

(Timor Leste in Portuguese, as it is commonly known) declared

independence in 1975. Sharing an island with Indonesia, the

Indonesian military invaded this eastern part and declared it

an Indonesian province. After decades of war and over

100,000 dead, Indonesia gave up its claim in 1999 and

Timor Leste declared statehood in 2002, the first new country

of the new century. In the Indonesian and Malay languages,

“timur” means “east” so to locals the country’s name is

East-East. Tourists often visit the country’s high mountain

ranges and northern coral reefs.

TONGA

One of the only countries in the world to have never been taken over

by a foreign country, Tonga is an archipelago of 177 islands in the

south Pacific. Due to the large amount of Tongans living abroad,

at least 50% of GDP in 2002 was solely remittances. Ranked by

Forbes as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, Tonga

is beginning to develop its tourism sector. Many who come to this

rarely visited country do so on a cruise ship for whale watching

or game fishing.

FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA

One of five countries and three territories making up Micronesia,

the Federated States of Micronesia is one of the most spread-out

countries on Earth. Its 607 islands are spread over a distance of

nearly 1,678 miles (2,700 km). This leads its 271 square miles

(702 sq. km) to take up 1,000,000 square miles (2.6m sq. km) of

Pacific territory. One of the reasons for its lack of tourists

(only 35,000 in 2014) is its geographical remoteness, though a

tourist industry is trying to develop. The primary source of revenue

at the moment comes from U.S. financial assistance.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

The Solomon Islands was a British overseas territory before gaining

independence in 1978. One of the bloodiest and most important

World War II battles in the Pacific happened on and around its

island of Guadalcanal. Though diving and tourism are important

industries for the chain of islands, infrastructure and transportation

is poor, making it a generally unappealing destination for all

but the most hearty traveller.

AMERICAN SAMOA

Taking up residence to the east of Samoa, American Samoa is an

unincorporated territory of the U.S. in the south Pacific. The

southernmost part of the United States, the islands (about the

size of Washington D.C.) rarely received tourists (only 20,000

visitors in 2013). The country is becoming better known to

mainland Americans since 30 Samoans play in the NFL,

including Pittsburgh Steelers, Troy Polamalu.