Tromelin Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• 1 : Bassas da India
• 2 : Europa Island
• 3 : Glorioso Islands
• 4 : Juan de Nova Island
• 5 : Tromelin Island
(KM : Comoros, MG : Madagascar, MU : Mauritius, MZ : Mozambique, RE : Réunion, YT : Mayotte)
Tromelin Island IPA: [troʊmˈlæn ʕaɪlənd] (French: Île Tromelin /il tʀɔmlɛ̃/) is a low, flat one km² island in the Indian Ocean, about 350 km east of Madagascar (Geographic coordinates ). There are no harbours or anchorages and access by sea is difficult. The island has a 1,000-metre airstrip.
Tromelin is a low, scrub-covered sandbank about 1,700 metres long and 700 metres wide, surrounded by coral reefs. It is a nesting site for seabirds and turtles.
The island was first recorded by a French navigator in 1722. It takes its name from the chevalier de Tromelin, captain of the French warship La Dauphine, who visited the island in 1776. Tromelin Island was occupied by France in 1954, but it is claimed by Mauritius. In 1761 the French ship Utile, carrying slaves from Madagascar to Mauritius, ran onto the reefs of the island. The crew reached Madagascar in a raft, abandoning some 60 slaves on the desert island. Fifteen years later, the chevalier de Tromelin rescued the survivors — seven women and an eight-month-old child.
Tromelin has an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 280,000 km², contiguous with that of Réunion. The island's weather station, which warns of cyclones, is manned by meteorologists from Réunion.
| Overseas departments and territories of France | |
|---|---|
| Overseas departments1 | French Guiana · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Réunion |
| Overseas collectivities | French Polynesia · Mayotte2 · Saint Barthelemy · Saint Martin · Saint Pierre and Miquelon · Wallis and Futuna |
| Special status | New Caledonia |
| Uninhabited lands | Clipperton Island French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Amsterdam Island • Saint-Paul Island • Crozet Islands • Kerguelen Islands • Adélie Land Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean: Bassas da India3 • Europa Island3 • Glorioso Islands2, 3, 4 • Juan de Nova Island3 • Tromelin Island5) |
|
1 Also known as overseas regions • 2 claimed by Comoros • 3 claimed by Madagascar • 4 claimed by Seychelles • 5 claimed by Mauritius
|
|
1 Sovereignity over territories in Antarctica currently suspended under the Antarctic Treaty System.
