Tromelin Island
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| Île Tromelin
Tromelin Island
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| Motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité | |||||
| Anthem: La Marseillaise |
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 Location of the Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean:
• 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) |
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Tromelin Island IPA: /troʊmˌlæn ˈʔaɪlənd/ (French: Île Tromelin /il tʀɔmlɛ̃/) is a low, flat 0.8 km² (200 acre) island in the Indian Ocean, about 350 km (220 miles) east of Madagascar (Geographic coordinates . There are no harbours or anchorages and access by sea is difficult. The island has a 1,000 m (3,300 ft) airstrip. It is a French territory. It is claimed by Mauritius and the Seychelles.
Tromelin is a low, scrub-covered sandbank about 1,700 (1.1 miles) metres long and 700 m (0.4 miles) wide, surrounded by coral reefs. The island is 23 ft (7 m) high at its highest point. It is a nesting site for seabirds and turtles.
[edit] History
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 while it was part of Mauritius and 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.
According to Mauritius, this is a violations of the UN declaration 1514 and Resolution 2066 and a case has been filed with the UN.
Tromelin has an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 280,000 km² (about 110,000 sq mi), contiguous with that of Réunion. The island's weather station, which warns of cyclones, is manned by meteorologists from Réunion.
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