Rottnest Island is located 18 kilometres (11 mi) off the Western Australian coast, near Fremantle. It is called Wadjemup by the Noongar people, meaning "place across the water". The island is 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) long, and 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) at its widest point. Its total land area is 19 square kilometres (7.3 sq mi). Rottnest Island has been a popular local holiday destination for over 50 years.
The Western Australian vernacular diminutive is "Rotto", or "Rottnest".
In 1917 Rottnest Island was declared an A-Class Reserve under the Permanent Reserve Act 1899 and the Rottnest Board of Control was formed, known today as the Rottnest Island Authority. No private ownership of land is allowed. The authority collects revenue by imposing a landing fee on all visitors to the island as well as managing holiday rental accommodation.
Read more about Rottnest Island: Geographical Features, Climate, Tourism and Facilities, Services, Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the word island:
“I ... would rather be in dependance on Great Britain, properly limited, than on any nation upon earth, or than on no nation. But I am one of those too who rather than submit to the right of legislating for us assumed by the British parliament, and which late experience has shewn they will so cruelly exercise, would lend my hand to sink the whole island in the ocean.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)