The article discusses the 9 most mysterious islands on earth. These islands include:
1. Socotra Island, off the coast of Somalia, believed by some to be the location of the biblical Garden of Eden, with unique plant species found nowhere else on earth.
2. Palmyra Atoll, between American Samoa and Hawaii, with a history of violent shipwrecks, mysterious disappearances, and reported sightings of ghosts, sea monsters, and strange lights.
3. Vulcan Island, in the Philippines, with a unique geological formation featuring a lake within an island, within a lake, and located on an active volcano.
4. Easter Island, famous for its moai statues, with an unsolved mystery surrounding the origins and genetic heritage of the Rapa Nui people who built them.
5. The Island of the Dolls, in Mexico, with a floating garden featuring hundreds of decaying dolls, believed by some to be haunted by the spirit of a young girl.
6. Poveglia Island, off the coast of Venice, Italy, with a dark history as a quarantine station for the bubonic plague and later as a mental hospital, now forbidden to visit due to its hazardous condition.
7. Isla Bermeja, a supposedly lost island off the coast of Mexico, with theories ranging from a cartographic mistake to its deliberate destruction by the US government.
8. Floating Isle Island, in Argentina, with an island in a lake that appears to be rotating and has sparked conspiracy theories about secret alien bases.
9. Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, with a history of colonialism, slavery, and forced relocation of its inhabitants to make way for a US naval base, surrounded by conspiracy theories about its current use.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Socotra Island is located off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean.
2. Socotra Island is home to several species of plants that can't be found anywhere else on earth.
3. The island is home to the dragon's blood trees, which have thick, tightly bunched branches that shoot upwards and form a mushroom-like crown.
4. Socotra Island is also home to three geographically unique species of bird: the Socotra son bird, Socotra grosbeak, and Socotra Starling.
5. Palmyra Atoll is located between American Samoa and Hawaii.
6. Palmyra Atoll is full of lush vegetation and appears unblemished by man.
7. The atoll has been the subject of superstition and pulp tales, with reports of violent shipwrecks and mysterious disappearances.
8. Vulcan Island is located in the Philippines and is home to the world's largest crater lake.
9. Vulcan Island is situated on one of the most active volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean, making it incredibly dangerous to visit.
10. Easter Island is located off the coast of Chile and is famous for its giant stone statues called moai.
11. The moai statues were designed to have pot-bellied shapes, allowing them to be rocked back and forth until they were wiggled to their desired location.
12. The Rapa Nui people, who built the moai statues, have a completely separate genetic heritage to nearby native South American peoples.
13. The Rapa Nui people's closest genetic relatives are actually Pacific Islanders who live near Southeast Asia.
14. The Island of the Dolls is located in the Mexico City borough of Xochimilco.
15. The island was created as a tribute to a young girl who died in the waters of one of the canals.
16. The island is home to hundreds of dolls, which are hung on the trees in various states of decay.
17. Poveglia Island is located off the coast of Venice, Italy, and has a history of being used as a quarantine station during the bubonic plague outbreak in the 14th century.
18. The island was also home to a mental hospital in the 1920s, where patients were subjected to inhumane treatment.
19. Isla Bermeja was a supposed island that was located off the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico, but its existence has been disputed.
20. Some experts believe that the island never existed, while others believe it may have sunk into the ocean.
21. Floating Island is located in the Parana Delta of northern Argentina and is a circular island that appears to be floating in the water.
22. The island is surrounded by a thin ring of water and has a hard, rocky bottom.
23. Diego Garcia Island is located in the middle of the Indian Ocean and has been shrouded in conspiracy theories.
24. The island was uninhabited when it was settled by French colonists in 1793, who brought hundreds of slaves to the island to work their plantations.
25. The island was eventually taken over by the British, and the freed slaves who had established their own cultural identity were forced out of their home in 1971 to make way for a US naval base.