Rockall

Rockall (/ˈrɒkɔːl/) is a 17.15-metre-high (56 ft 3 in), uninhabitable granite islet in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is 301 kilometres (187 statute miles; 163 nautical miles) west of Soay, St Kilda, Scotland; 423 kilometres (263 statute miles; 228 nautical miles) north-west of Tory Island, Ireland; and 700 kilometres (430 statute miles; 380 nautical miles) south of Iceland. The nearest permanently inhabited place is in North Uist, 367 kilometres (228 mi; 198 nmi) east in Scotland's Outer Hebrides.

The granite rock from which Rockall is comprised formed during the Paleogene period, by magmatism as part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province. Rockall, Hasselwood Rock, 200 metres north, and the skerries of Helen's Reef two kilometers to the northeast are the only emergent parts of the Rockall Plateau. Twenty-nine-metre waves just east of Rockall were reported in 2006 as the largest ever recorded by scientific instruments in the open ocean. Rockall's first named geographic location and only occupiable area is Hall's Ledge.

Rockall has appeared on maps since at least 1550 and in literature since at least 1698. Marine surveyors, scientists, adventurers, amateur radio operators, and environmental activists have variously landed on or briefly occupied the islet. The earliest documented landing on Rockall was in 1811 by a small Royal Navy party led by Basil Hall. The longest known continuous occupation is 45 days, achieved solo in 2014 by Nick Hancock.

Possession of Rockall was for many decades deemed imperative to claims to the vast surrounding fisheries and oil-rich Atlantic seabed. The Irish Times claims to have reported on the economic value of Rockall's fisheries as long ago as 1861. Driven by Cold War national security concerns, the United Kingdom claimed Rockall in 1955 and incorporated it as part of Scotland in 1972. The UK claims a 12-nautical-mile (22-kilometre) territorial sea at Rockall. While never claiming sovereignty of Rockall, Ireland maintains that UK claims to Rockall are invalid. Denmark (on behalf of the Faroes) and Iceland have lodged claims of the adjoining seabed.

In 2021, officers on a Marine Scotland patrol boat boarded an Irish fishing boat and ordered it to leave Rockall's 12-nautical-mile zone. In 2024, the Irish and Scottish governments bilaterally proposed to allow Irish fishing boats to return to the 12-nautical-mile zone. The UK's Foreign Secretary at the time, David Cameron, vetoed the proposal.