There was an island called Ferdinandea between Sicily and Tunisia in 1831. It was formed of volcanic material. It was in a strategical position for any naval power. When the tug-of-war for sovereignty between four powerful nations began, the island had sunk back into the sea, unable to withstand the ocean waves. Since 1863, Ferdinandea Island has been lying 8 metres below the sea level–within scrapping distance of the hull of a ship. In 2000, renewed seismic activity around led volcanologists to speculate that the seamount might once again become an island. Should the island emerge again it would rightly belong to Italy.
The Lost Island of Ferdinandea
