Ferdinandea Island, Camillo De Vito, 1831 (Wikimedia Commons)

When The British Claimed An Island That Doesn’t Exist

It just likes to play peek-a-boo

You won’t find Ferdinandea Island (also known as Graham Island, Graham Bank or Graham Shoal if you’re British, or île Julia if you’re French) on any map.

The place where it should be —about 50 km off the south-west coast of Sicily, in the narrow stretch of sea between Sicily and Tunisia — doesn’t show any signs of it. In this area you can easily spot Pantelleria, the largest satellite island of Sicily (and a popular tourist destination) and a number of islets and banks, one evocatively named Banco Terribile (“Terrible Bank”).

But no Graham Island anywhere.

Graham Island should be right here (Wikimedia Commons)

That is because Graham Island only popped its rocky head out of the water for about six months — between July and December 1831 — following a spectacular volcanic eruption, before sinking back into the sea. It’s currently chilling roughly 6 meters (20 feet) below sea level. The (former) island is part of the underwater volcano Empedocles, which is one of a number of submarine volcanoes known as the Phlegraean Fields, or Campi Flegrei — from the Greek phlego, “to burn.”