The Penguin Islands are a group of islands and rocks situated along a stretch of 355 km along the coastline of Namibia, which formally lists them as the Off-Shore islands. The largest island is Possession Island with 0.90 km² in area. Hollam's Bird Island is the most northern and, at a distance of 10.3 kilometers, the farthest from the coast. All islands together measure 2.35 km² in area.[1]
Rich in guano and strategically located, between 1861 and 1867 the islands were annexed by Britain, and formally placed under the Cape Colony in 1873. Confusion over the legality of the transfer required the colony to reaffirm the annexation in 1874. This status was recognized by Germany in 1886. Thus, although close to the mainland they were not part of German Southwest Africa.[2]
Because of their geographic separation from South Africa the islands were considered to be a separate entity ("country") for amateur radio purposes.
In 1990 South-West Africa gained independence as Namibia. But the Penguin Islands remained under South African sovereignty, thus letting it retain an Exclusive Economic Zone off the Namibian coast. Finally, after further negotiation, at midnight on 28 February 1994 sovereignty over the islands, as well as Walvis Bay, were formally transferred to Namibia.[3]
Listed from the most northern to the most southern, the islands include the Penguin Islands (in the historic, narrower sense - printed in bold):