Editing Phantom island (section)

==Examples==
Some may have been purely mythical, such as the [[Isle of Demons]] near [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], which may have been based on local legends of a haunted island. The far-northern island of [[Thule]] was reported to exist by the 4th-century BC Greek explorer [[Pytheas]], but information about its purported location was lost; explorers and geographers since have speculated that it was the [[Shetland Islands]], [[Iceland]], [[Scandinavia]], or possibly nonexistent. The island of [[Brasil (mythical island)|Hy-Brasil]] was sometimes depicted on maps west of Ireland, but all accounts of it have been fanciful.

Some phantom islands arose through the faulty positioning of actual islands, or other geographical errors. [[Pepys Island]] was a misidentification of the [[Falkland Islands]]. The [[Baja California Peninsula]] and the [[Banks Peninsula]] in [[New Zealand]] each appear as islands on some early maps, but were later discovered to be attached to their mainlands. [[Isle Phelipeaux]], an apparent duplication of [[Isle Royale]] in [[Lake Superior]],<ref>{{Cite book|url={{GBurl|id=8LqC9MHAl54C|q=Michipicoten+pontchartrain|pg=PA837}}|title=Canada and its Provinces|date=1914|language=en}}</ref> appeared on explorers' maps for many years, and even served as a landmark for the border between the United States and the territory that would become Canada, before subsequent exploration by surveyors determined that it did not exist. 

[[Sandy Island, New Caledonia|Sandy Island]] appeared on maps of the [[Coral Sea]] beginning in the late 19th century. Purportedly, it existed between the [[Chesterfield Islands]] and Nereus Reef near [[New Caledonia]]; however, it was "undiscovered" in the 1970s. Nonetheless, it continued to be included in mapping data sets into the early 21st century, until its non-existence was re-confirmed in 2012.<ref name="bbc2">{{cite web|date=22 November 2012|title=South Pacific Sandy Island 'proven not to exist'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20442487|accessdate=22 November 2012|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="guardian2">{{cite web|date=22 November 2012|title=The Pacific island that never was|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/22/sandy-island-missing-google-earth|accessdate=22 November 2012|work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name="Eos">{{cite journal|last=Seton|first=Maria |author2=Williams, Simon |author3=Zahirovic, Sabin|title=Obituary: Sandy Island (1876–2012)|journal=[[Eos (journal)|Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union]]|date=9 April 2013|volume=94|issue=15|pages=141–148|issn=2324-9250|doi=10.1002/2013eo150001|bibcode=2013EOSTr..94..141S |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Other phantom islands are misidentifications of [[Breaker (reef)|breakers]], icebergs, fog banks, [[pumice raft]]s from underwater volcanoes, or optical illusions. Observed in the [[Weddell Sea]] in 1823 but never again seen, [[New South Greenland]] may have been the result of a [[superior mirage]]. Some such as [[Thompson Island (South Atlantic)|Thompson Island]] or [[Bermeja]] may have been actual islands subsequently destroyed by volcanic explosions, earthquakes, submarine landslides, or low-lying lands such as [[shoal|sand bank]]s that are no longer above water. [[Pactolus Bank]], visited by [[Francis Drake|Sir Francis Drake]] in 1578, may fit into this former sand bank category.

In some cases, cartographers intentionally include [[Fictitious entry#Maps|invented geographic features]] in their maps, either for fraudulent purposes or to [[copyright trap|catch plagiarists]].<ref>[{{GBurl|id=UIUOAAAAQAAJ|pg=PA47}} ''Antarctica''], p. 47, Paul Simpson-Housley, 1992.</ref><ref>[{{GBurl|id=PYdBH4dOOM4C|pg=PA435}} ''Exploring Polar Frontiers''], p. 435, William James Mills, 2003.</ref>

{{wide image|Overview of the phantom islands.jpg|900px|Map of region below [[Tropic of Capricorn]], showing several phantom islands (circled, three phantom types)}}