Island which contains a prison, jail or correctional facility.
Aerial view of Alcatraz, probably the most famous island prison.Plan of Spike Island, Ireland.The deposed emperor Napoleon on Saint Helena; he spent the last 6 years of his life as a prisoner there.
A prison island is an island housing a prison. Islands have often been used as sites of prisons throughout history due to their natural isolation preventing escape.[1][2]
Prison islands by country
Oceania
Christmas Island, location of Christmas Island Detention Centre which houses people who have entered Australia as illegal immigrants. Processing centre to determine individuals genuinely seeking asylum and return those who are not.[3]
Nusa Kambangan, notorious prison island off the southern coast of Java, containing a number of prisons
Ireland
Spike Island, County Cork, a prison from as early as the 17th century (current structure is an 18th century bastion fort named Fort Mitchel). It closed in 2004 and is now a museum.
Robben Island, location of Robben Island Prison from 1961 to 1996. The Island was used to incarcerate political prisoners as early as the 17th Century, and later during the Xhosa Wars
