Thinking about relocating? What about the sub-tropical tiny Pacific island of Pitcairn?
In recent years, the island’s population has dwindled to just 50, prompting the search for potential new residents.
But only one applicant has so far responded to the appeal.
The island government has promised all immigrants with a free plot of land to build a house.
“We’ve been appealing for more people to boost the population,” said Jacqui Christian, 44, who represents the island in Europe. “We’ve had many enquiries but only one person has applied to move to Pitcairn.
“The reality is that we don’t really have any jobs to offer. Islanders used to sell stamps to raise funds but, of course, stamp collecting is not as popular as it once was.”
In its favour, she noted: “But once you are there, you are as connected as anywhere else,” she said. “The island has electricity and the internet now.
“It is a special place and it is beautiful seeing the stars without light pollution. There are the bluest waters you have ever seen.”
Now Britain’s smallest colony and one of 14 remaining British overseas territories, it was famously settled by eight mutineers led by Fletcher Christian against Captain William Bligh from the HMS Bounty in 1798.
Most of the islanders are descended from the mutineers and the six Polynesian men and twelve women from Tahiti who accompanied them.
In 2004 the island was hit by revelations of child sex abuse which saw six men imprisoned for sexual offences.
Since then, government aid has sustained the islanders as the population nosedived from some 200 in the 1940s to 50 today.
Shopping is easy either at the one general store which is open three times a week or by ordering every three months from New Zealand, more than 3,000 miles away.
