Europa Island

Europa Island
Île Europa (French)
Flag of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Anthem: "La Marseillaise"
Disputed island
Map of the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean (Europa Island in the southwest, marked by its French name Île Europa)
Geography
LocationMozambique Channel
Coordinates22°22′S 40°22′E / 22.367°S 40.367°E / -22.367; 40.367
Administration
Overseas territoryFrench Southern and Antarctic Lands
DistrictScattered Islands in the Indian Ocean
Claimed by

Europa Island (French: Île Europa, pronounced [il øʁɔpa]), in Malagasy Nosy Ampela[1] is a 28-square-kilometre (11 sq mi) low-lying tropical atoll in the Mozambique Channel, about a third of the way from southern Madagascar to southern Mozambique. The island had never been inhabited until 1820, when the French family of Rosier moved to it. The island officially became a possession of France in 1897, though it is claimed by Madagascar.

The island, garrisoned by a detachment from Réunion, has a weather station and is visited by scientists. Though uninhabited now, it is part of the Scattered Islands of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands administrative region.

Europa Island was the setting of "Search in the Deep", a 1968 episode of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau,[2] partly focusing on the breeding habits of the green sea turtle.

  1. ^ "Le président Macron envoie l'Armée française sur les îles éparses". KoolSaina. July 27, 2021.
  2. ^ "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau - Collection One". DocuWiki. 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2014-01-07.