Ushant is famous for its maritime past, both as a fishing community and as a key landmark in the Channel approaches.

On 23 July 1815 the captive Emperor Napoleon – aboard HMS Bellerophon towards his final exile – spent several hours on deck watching Ushant, the last part of France he would see.

[7] In March 1978, the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground at Portsall about 19 miles (31 km) from the island, leading to major pollution of the Brittany coast.

This proverb underlines local points, which are often deadly to navigate with many rocks, and tidal streams of more than ten knots.

A standard start and finish line for traditional all-oceans circumnavigations is between Ushant and Lizard Point.

People also live in the outlying hamlets of Feuteun Vélen, Frugullou, Pen ar Lan, and Porsguen.

Passenger ferries of the Penn Ar Bed company operate from Brest and Le Conquet year-round, and also from Camaret in summer, stopping at the island of Molène en route.

The association Conservatoire de l'Abeille Noire Bretonne[19] is attempting to conserve and increase the numbers of the European dark bee, intending to reintroduce it in Western France.

They are mostly at Point Cadoran, on Ushant's north coast, where the strong currents keep the water temperature below 15 degrees Celsius (59 °F), the warmest that the seals can tolerate.