Amirante Islands

Amirante Islands
Nickname: Ilhas do Almirante
Satellite Image Map, with neighbouring Alphonse Group in the lower left
Location of Amirante Islands in Seychelles
Geography
Location	Indian Ocean
Coordinates	04°49′S 53°40′E / 4.817°S 53.667°E / -4.817; 53.667Coordinates: 04°49′S 53°40′E / 4.817°S 53.667°E / -4.817; 53.667
Archipelago	Seychelles
Adjacent bodies of water	Indian Ocean
Total islands	20
Major islands	Île Desroches
Area	11.5 km² (4.4 sq mi)
Highest elevation	15 m (49 ft)
Administration
Seychelles
Group	Outer Islands
Sub-Group	Amirante Islands
Districts	Outer Islands District
Largest settlement	Île Desroches (population 40)
Demographics
Demonym	Creole
Population	300 (as of 2014)
Density	26 /km² (67 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Creole, French, East Africans, Indians.
Additional information
Time zone	SCT (UTC+4)
Official website	www.seychelles.travel/en/discover/the-islands/outer-islands
ISO Code = SC-26

The Amirante Islands (Les Amirantes), a group of coral islands and atolls, belong to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles.

They stretch about 155 km from the African Banks (African Islands) in the north to Desnœufs (Isle des Noeufs) in the south, all on the shallow Amirantes Bank (Amirantes Plateau, with depths of mostly 25 to 70 m), except the main island Île Desroches in the east, and submerged Lady Denison-Pender Shoal at the northern end. 90 km south of the Amirante Islands is Alphonse Group, the closest group of islands, which are sometimes incorrectly considered part of the Amirantes.

History

The Amirantes were discovered by Vasco da Gama on his second voyage of exploration in 1502, and named "Ilhas do Almirante" (Admiral Islands). Previous knowledge of the islands by Arab and Indian traders is possible. Along with the Seychelles, the islands were first claimed by France in 1742. Formal possession was asserted in 1756. By the Treaty of Paris (1814), the islands were passed officially to the British, as a part of Mauritius. In 1909, the Seychelles became a separate colony, thereby including the Amirantes. On November 8, 1965, the United Kingdom split Île Desroches from the Seychelles to become part of the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory. The purpose was to allow the construction of a military base for the mutual benefit of the United Kingdom and the United States. On June 23, 1976, Île Desroches was returned to the Seychelles as a result of it attaining independence.

The total land area is 11.5 km². The total population is 300. The biggest concentrations are the Prison 2 km from Marie Louise village and the Collins group construction camp which is 2 km from the capital village of Desroches village (which had a population of 35 in the last census).

Islands

There are eight single islands (five low sand cays and three uplifted sand cays), plus three atolls with a total of 18 islets (St. Joseph Atoll with 14, Desroches with 1, Poivre Atoll with 3). In addition to these 11 units, the following table also has entries for a reef and a shoal without islets, for the sake of completeness. The five largest ones in area are inhabited. The different island types are marked by different background colours in the table.

	Island/Atoll/Reef (alternate name)	type	Area (km²)	Pop. est.	Location
1	Lady Denison-Pender	submerged shoal	-	-	04°49′S 53°20′E / 4.817°S 53.333°E / -4.817; 53.333 (Lady Denison-Pender Shoal)
2	African Banks (African Islands)	sand cay	0.04	-	04°53′S 53°24′E / 4.883°S 53.400°E / -4.883; 53.400 (African Banks)
3	Remire Reef	drying reef	-	-	05°05′S 53°21′E / 5.083°S 53.350°E / -5.083; 53.350 (Remire Reef)
4	Remire (Eagle)	uplifted sand cay	0.27	6	05°07′S 53°19′E / 5.117°S 53.317°E / -5.117; 53.317 (Remire Island)
5	D'Arros	sand cay	1.71	42	05°24.5′S 53°18′E / 5.4083°S 53.300°E / -5.4083; 53.300 (D'Arros Island)
6	St. Joseph	atoll	1.63	0	05°25′S 53°20′E / 5.417°S 53.333°E / -5.417; 53.333 (Saint Joseph Atoll)
7	Bertaut	sand cay	0.002	-	05°39′06″S 53°14′18″E / 5.65167°S 53.23833°E / -5.65167; 53.23833 (Bertaut Reef)
8	Desroches	atoll	4.02	100	05°41′S 53°41′E / 5.683°S 53.683°E / -5.683; 53.683 (Île Desroches)
9	Poivre	atoll	2.78	10	05°46′S 53°19′E / 5.767°S 53.317°E / -5.767; 53.317 (Poivre Islands)
10	Étoile (Lampériaire)	sand cay	0.05	-	05°53′S 53°01′E / 5.883°S 53.017°E / -5.883; 53.017 (Étoile Cay)
11	Boudeuse (King Ross)	sand cay	0.03	-	06°05′31″S 52°49′50″E / 6.09194°S 52.83056°E / -6.09194; 52.83056 (Boudeuse Cay)
12	Marie Louise	uplifted sand cay	0.556	150	06°11′S 53°08′E / 6.183°S 53.133°E / -6.183; 53.133 (Marie Louise Island)
13	Desnœufs (Île des Noeufs)	uplifted sand cay	0.45	-	06°14′S 53°03′E / 6.233°S 53.050°E / -6.233; 53.050 (Île Desnœufs)
	Amirante Islands	island chain	11.5	300	04°49' to 06°14'S, 52°50° to 53°41'E

Alphonse Group

90 km south of the Amirante Islands is Alphonse Group, the closest group of islands, which are sometimes incorrectly considered part of the Amirantes chain because they appear as a southern continuation or extension of the Amirantes chain. Alphonse Group lies however clearly south of the Amirantes Bank, separated from it by deep water (generally 1000 to 2000 metres deep).

Image gallery

Map 1
District Map
Remire (Eagle) Island and Remire Reef (NASA Satellite Image)
NASA astronaut image of Saint Joseph Atoll and D'Arros Island.
Bertaut Reef (NASA Image)
Desroches Island
from the southwest
Poivre Atoll from the south
Marie Louise Island

References

External links

Amirante Islands on Birdlife International

Outer islands of Seychelles / Coralline Seychelles (Zil Elwannyen Sesel)

Outer island Groups

Islands and Atolls

Aldabra Group	Aldabra Assumption Island Cosmoledo Astove Island

Alphonse Group	Alphonse Atoll St. François Atoll

Amirante Islands	African Banks Bertaut Reef Boudeuse Cay D'Arros Island Desroches Island Étoile Cay Île Desnœufs Marie Louise Island Poivre Islands Remire Island Saint Joseph Atoll

Farquhar Group	Farquhar Atoll Providence-Cerf St. Pierre Island

Southern Coral Group	Coëtivy Island Île Platte

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.