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:
“We crossed a deep and wide bay which makes eastward north of Kineo, leaving an island on our left, and keeping to the eastern side of the lake. This way or that led to some Tomhegan or Socatarian stream, up which the Indian had hunted, and whither I longed to go. The last name, however, had a bogus sound, too much like sectarian for me, as if a missionary had tampered with it; but I knew that the Indians were very liberal. I think I should have inclined to the Tomhegan first.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)