TIL about the Migingo island, one of the most densely populated islands in the world. The rocky island has density 65,500/km2

I couldn’t get a good vibe for the actual size so I looked it up so you don’t have to.

Area: 2000 m^2 Population: 131

That means every person gets about a parking space (15 m^2) to themselves.

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Off-topic: If the top comment is exactly the additional detail I wanted to know about I have an old school Reddit moment, in the very best way.

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Ummm, either you mixed units or your parking spots are very large.

15m² is slightly less than a 4m x 4m square, that's basically a small flat (larger than the smallest legal flat in a lot of developed countries, in fact)

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- 15m^2 is 5mX3m. Or ~9ft by ~15ft. Parking spots in the US are 8.5ft by 18ft.
  
  https://asphaltindustrial.com/blogs/asphalt-industrial-blog/parking-space-dimension-guide#:~:text=The standard parking space that,8 ½ feet in width.
  
  So actually smaller than a parking spot.
  
  For reference, a honda civic is 6ft wide by 16ft.
  
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- While I’m just using data from the web and not actually measuring the spots in the parking lot atm, the basic size of a parking spot is 8x16 feet (128 sq feet). That works out to just over 11m^2 if Google can be trusted with the conversion.
  
  Larger spots can go up to 10x20 feet which would work out to just over 18m^2.
  
  And a 4mx4m room is not a small flat, that’s a small room in a small flat. But we may have cultural differences in what we determine small here.
  
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- larger than the smallest legal flat
  
  I truly don’t think I can believe this. That’s exponentially tiny, smaller than my childhood bedroom and that room was 10x5ft (3 x 2) which was a single bedroom, not having to accommodate space for a toilet, shower, kitchen, counters, etc. I barely had a dresser and a twin bed in that room
  
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- 15m2 is also 5m x 3m. Standard French parking spaces are 5m x 2.5m depending on the angle of parking.
  
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My own personal hell

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Yeah those numbers are (probably) technically correct, but if I have 15m2 isn't really the same as 1million people doing it together on 15M m2.

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I’ve been there a couple of times! My uncle used to be a buyer for a fish factory supplying Nile Perch. The reason it is so densely populated is because the lake around there used to be loaded with fish, being far from the mainland, most people fish for weeks based off the island and then sell to the buyers and head off to the mainland for r&r until the next tour.

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You say "used to". Has it been overfished?

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- sadly the entire lake has been depleted of fish stocks, pollution has taken care of what overfishing didn’t destroy
  
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So, @mkukiwamagere@lemmy.world, who owns Migingo? From one East African to another. :)

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- If you ask when in Kenya, it is ours but when you are there, we are all Ugandans hehe
  
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Nice username!

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- hehe asante, hio mbao moja ushaspend ama bado unafikiria utapea nani? 😁
  
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That is true, but keep in mind that it’s home to 131 people. That density number makes it sound like thousands but it’s just that the island is very small.

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The fact that the island being so small is what makes the density so high is what's cool to me.

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- What if there's rough sea?
  
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You will also be amused at the extremes the two countries that claim it, Kenya and Uganda, have gone to assert their rightful ownership.

Migingo is the stock of Kenyan and Ugandan jokes -- to imply something so minor yet amplified by politicians.

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Looks like it’s right out of Waterworld…

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I came here to comment the same thing

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Interesting article about it with some photos and vids: https://www.theurbandetective.com/blogs/karibu-migingo-the-most-crowded-island-on-the-planet

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Looks smelly. Can’t imagine the sanitation or trash removal is very good.

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Upon seeing the image, I immediately thought "what's the fresh water / sewage / garbage situation there like?" I would doubt there's any electricity at all outside of portable batteries or gennies.

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It's in the middle of the 2nd largest freshwater lake in the world, I assume they dump everything in the lake and get their water from the lake and can only hope they do those two things on opposite sides of the island

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What if there's rough sea?

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If you bothered to click, you'd quickly learn it's in a lake. 🤦🏼‍♂️

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- What about a rough lake then huh
  
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"hey, you wanna go to the side of the island that has the only tree?"

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Looks like that Island I made in rollercoaster tycoon to banish complaining guests to.

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The island has a population of about 131 (according to the 2009 census), mostly fishermen and fish traders, who are served by four pubs, a number of brothels, and a pharmacy on the island

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migingo_Island

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I'm just commenting because I'm down voting a lot but want to do my part ><. "Density 65,500/km2." Sorry.

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