Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean

Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean
The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean (or ) consist of four small coral islands, an atoll, as well as a reef in the Indian Ocean; they have constituted the fifth district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, though sovereignty over some or all of the islands is contested by the Comoros, Madagascar, and Mauritius. None of the islands have ever had a permanent population.
Two of the islands—Europa Island and Juan de Nova Island—and the Bassas da India atoll lie in the Mozambique Channel west of Madagascar, while a third island, Tromelin Island, lies about east of Madagascar and the Glorioso Islands lies about northwest of Madagascar. Also in the Mozambique Channel is Banc du Geyser, a mostly submerged reef considered a part of the Glorioso Islands by France and the Comoros.
The islands have been classified as nature reserves. Except for Bassas da India, they all support meteorological stations: those on the Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova, and Europa Island are automated. The station on Tromelin Island, in particular, provides warning of cyclones threatening Madagascar, Mauritius, or Réunion. Each of the islands, except Banc du Geyser and Bassas da India, has an airstrip of more than .
Overview
Individual islands
Bassas da India
Ten unnamed rock islets
Europa Island
Île Europa
Eight unnamed rock islets
Glorioso Islands
Banc du Geyser
Grande Glorieuse
Île du Lys
South Rock
Verte Rocks (three islets)
Wreck Rock
Three unnamed islets
Juan de Nova Island
Tromelin Island
Administration
Since January 3, 2005, the Scattered Islands have been administered on behalf of the French state by the senior administrator of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, based in Réunion. The Scattered Islands had previously been under the administration of the prefect of Réunion since the Independence of Madagascar in 1960. France maintains a military garrison of around 14 troops on each of the islands in the Mozambique Channel that are claimed by Madagascar. There troops are supported by French naval vessels based in Réunion conducting patrol missions and re-supply operations about four times per year. The Glorioso Islands are also claimed by the Comoros, while Mauritius claims Tromelin Island.
France has an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles around each of the small islands in the Scattered Islands, which together with the EEZ claims for the islands of Mayotte and Réunion totals more than one million square kilometres in the western Indian Ocean. There is considerable overlap of the EEZ with the neighbouring states.
Sovereignty dispute
Mauritius, Madagascar, and the Comoros dispute France's sovereignty over these islands. Mauritius claims Tromelin Island and states that the island, discovered by France in 1722, was not ceded by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. Madagascar claims sovereignty over the Glorioso Islands (including Banc du Geyser), though the island group was never a part of the Malagasy Protectorate, having been a part of the Colony of Mayotte and dependencies, then a part of the French Comoros that had become a separately administered colony from Madagascar in 1946. The Comoros also claims the Glorioso Islands (including Banc du Geyser), as a part of the disputed French region of Mayotte. Furthermore, Madagascar has also claimed Bassas da India, Europa Island, and Juan de Nova Island since 1972, and a 1979 United Nations resolution (without binding force) demanded the cession of these islands to Madagascar. Seychelles claimed a part of the Scattered Islands too before the signing of the France–Seychelles Maritime Boundary Agreement.
See also
Administrative divisions of France
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
List of territorial disputes
Overseas France
References
External links
2007 establishments in Africa
2007 establishments in France
Dependent territories in Africa
Disputed islands
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
•
Island countries of the Indian Ocean
Islands of Africa
Islands of Madagascar
Mozambique Channel
Protected areas of Africa
Protected areas of Overseas France
Southeast African countries
States and territories established in 2007
Uninhabited islands of France
Irredentism