Republic of Rose Island
The Republic of Rose Island (Esperanto: Respubliko de la Insulo de la Rozoj) was a short-lived micronation on a man-made platform in the Adriatic Sea, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) off the coast of the province of Rimini, Italy.
In 1967, Italian engineer Giorgio Rosa funded the construction of a 400-square-metre (4,300 sq ft) platform supported by nine pylons, and furnished it with a number of commercial establishments, including a restaurant, bar, nightclub, souvenir shop and a post office. Some reports also mention the presence of a radio station, but this remains unconfirmed.
The platform declared independence on 24 June 1968, under the Esperanto name "Insulo de la Rozoj", with Rosa as self-declared President. Both Esperanto rozo (plural rozoj) and Italian rosa (plural rose) mean "rose". Soon afterwards Rose Island issued a number of stamps, including a stamp showing the approximate location of Rose Island in the Adriatic Sea. The purported currency of the republic was the "Mill" and this appeared on the early stamp issues, although no coins or banknotes are known to have been produced. This denomination was translated into Esperanto as "Miloj" on later stamp issues (it is unrelated to the Esperantist currency spesmilo).
Rose Island
Rose Island can refer to a number of locations:
In Canada
In the United States
Elsewhere
Rose Island (amusement park)
Rose Island was a popular amusement park near Charlestown, Indiana, situated on a peninsula (the "Devil's Backbone") created by Fourteen Mile Creek emptying into the Ohio River. It was a recreational area known as Fern Grove in the 1880s, mostly used as a church camp. It was so named due to the many ferns that grew there. The Louisville and Jeffersonville Ferry Company acquired it and developed it in order to increase the use of its ferry business. As Fern Grove it thrived on church picnics and family outings.
Heyday
In 1923 David Rose purchased the property, added an amusement park, hotel, and swimming pool, spending $250,000 in the process, and renamed it Rose Island. It included a wooden coaster, termed a racing derby and named the Devil's Backbone in honor of the rock formation, and a Ferris wheel. There were wolves in a pen, monkeys in a cage, and a black bear named Teddy Roosevelt. There was also a combined dance hall/ice rink. In total, the park was 118 acres (0.48 km2). To access it, people either took a steamboat or they drove to a footbridge. One of the steamboats was called Idlewild, which would later become the Belle of Louisville. Others were the Steamer America, City of Cincinnati, and the Columbia. A steam ride from Louisville to Rose Island would take 90 minutes-120 minutes, due to the steamboats only going 7–8 miles per hour. There were also speedboats, such as the Vivianne III, that could quickly take businessmen back to Louisville. A ticket to ride the steamboat from Madison was 50 cents. The footbridge was a wooden swinging bridge 50 feet (15 m) above the creek and easily swayed.
Kirkland Island
Kirkland Island, also known as Rose-Kirkland Island, is located within the municipality of Richmond, British Columbia and is part of a small alluvial archipelago known as the South Arm Marshes located within the Ladner Reach of the South Arm of the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada. It is the northernmost island of the group and lies between Richmond on Lulu Island in the north and Delta and Ladner town centre in the south.
The island is predominantly alluvial in nature and is approximately 1.5 miles long. It is separated from Rose Island to the south by a narrow tidal channel; they are sometimes collectively referred to as Rose-Kirkland Island. It is uninhabited and is under the management of the Kirkland Island Waterfowl Society, which does not allow public access. The entire archipelago, comprising Kirkland, Woodward, Barber, Duck, Rose, Gunn and Williamson Islands, falls within the Agricultural Land Reserve and is under the administration of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, designated as the South Arm Marshes Wildlife Management Area.
