The Isle of Wight is roughly diamond-shaped and covers an area of 380\u00a0km2<\/sup>. Slightly more than half of the island, mainly in the west, is designated as the\u00a0Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The island has 258\u00a0km2<\/sup>\u00a0of farmland, 52\u00a0km2 <\/sup>of developed areas, and 57 miles of coastline. The landscape of the island is diverse, leading to its oft-quoted description of “England in Miniature”. West Wight is predominantly rural, with dramatic coastlines dominated by the chalk\u00a0downland\u00a0ridge, running across the whole island and ending in\u00a0the Needles\u00a0stacks – perhaps the most photographed place on the Isle of Wight. The south western quarter is commonly referred to as the\u00a0Back of the Wight\u00a0because it has a unique social and historical background. The highest point on the island is\u00a0St Boniface Down, at 241 metres (791\u00a0ft),\u00a0which is a\u00a0Marilyn (a mountain or hill).<\/p>\n The rest of the Island’s landscape also has great diversity, with perhaps the most notable habitats being the soft cliffs and sea ledges, which are scenic features and also very important for wildlife, and are internationally protected. The\u00a0River Medina flows north into the\u00a0Solent, whilst the other main river, the\u00a0Eastern Yar\u00a0flows roughly north-east, emerging at\u00a0BembridgeHarbour at the eastern end of the island. There is another river in the west of the island called the\u00a0Western Yar, flowing the short distance from\u00a0FreshwaterBay\u00a0to a relatively large estuary at\u00a0Yarmouth.<\/p>\n The south coast of the island borders the\u00a0English Channel. Without man’s intervention the sea might well have split the island into three; at the west end where a bank of pebbles separates\u00a0Freshwater Bay from the marshy backwaters of the Western Yar east of Freshwater, and at the east end where a thin strip of land separates Sandown Bay from the marshy basin of the Eastern Yar, east of\u00a0Sandown. Yarmouth itself was effectively an island, only connected to the rest of the island by a regularly breached neck of land immediately east of the town.<\/p>\n The Isle of Wight is one of the few places in England where the\u00a0red squirrel\u00a0is flourishing, with a stable population (BrownseaIsland\u00a0in nearby PooleHarbour is another). Unlike most of England, no\u00a0grey squirrels\u00a0are to be found on the island,\u00a0and there are occasional\u00a0sightings of wild\u00a0deer. Rare and protected species such as the dormouse\u00a0and many rare\u00a0bats\u00a0can be found. The\u00a0Glanville Fritillary\u00a0butterfly’s distribution in the United Kingdom is largely restricted to the edges of the crumbling cliffs of the Isle of Wight. A competition in 2002 named the\u00a0Pyramidal Orchid\u00a0as the Isle of Wight’s\u00a0county flower.<\/p>\n The island has one of the most important areas in Europe for\u00a0dinosaur\u00a0fossils. The eroding cliffs often reveal previously hidden remains particularly along the region known as the\u00a0Back of the Wight.<\/p>\n The\u00a0ancient Romans\u00a0knew the Isle of Wight\u00a0as\u00a0Vectis, is a\u00a0county\u00a0and the largest island of\u00a0England, located in the\u00a0English Channel, on average about 3 to 5 mi (5 to 8 km) off the coast of\u00a0Hampshire, separated from\u00a0Great Britain\u00a0(referred to by its residents as “the Mainland”) by a strait called the\u00a0Solent. It has the distinction of being England’s smallest county – but for only half of the time. It has been calculated that during high tide Wight’s area is slightly less than that of\u00a0Rutland, but not during low tide. The island has many resorts which have been holiday destinations since\u00a0Victorian times.<\/p>\n Its rich history includes a brief status as an independent kingdom in the 15th century. Until 1995, like\u00a0Jersey\u00a0and\u00a0Guernsey, the\u00a0island had a Governor.<\/p>\n Home to the poets\u00a0Swinburne\u00a0and\u00a0Tennyson\u00a0and to\u00a0Queen Victoria, who built her much-loved summer residence and final home\u00a0Osborne House\u00a0at East Cowes, the island has a maritime and industrial tradition such as boat building, sail making, the manufacture of\u00a0flying boats, the world’s first hovercraft\u00a0and the testing and development of Britain’s space rockets.<\/p>\n The Isle of Wight is first mentioned in writing in\u00a0Geography<\/i>\u00a0by\u00a0Claudius Ptolemaeus.<\/p>\n The Roman historian\u00a0Suetonius\u00a0mentions that the entire island was captured by the commander\u00a0Vespasian, who later became emperor. The remains of at least 5\u00a0Roman villas\u00a0have been found on the island, including one near\u00a0 Gurnard\u00a0which is submerged.<\/p>\n At the end of the\u00a0Roman Empire, the island of Vectis became a JutishKingdom ruled by King\u00a0Stuf<\/a>\u00a0and his successors until AD 661 when it was invaded by\u00a0Wulfhere\u00a0of\u00a0Mercia\u00a0and forcibly converted to Christianity at sword point. When he left for Mercia the islanders reverted to paganism.<\/p>\nEarly history<\/h3>\n