Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean explained

Conventional Long Name:Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean
Flag Caption:Flag of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Alt Flag:Flag of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Coat Caption:Coat of arms of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Alt Coat:Coat of arms of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Status:District of French Southern and Antarctic Lands
National Motto:"French: [[Liberté, égalité, fraternité]]"
National Anthem:"La Marseillaise"
"The Marsellaise"
Footnotes:Disputed with Madagascar, the Comoros, and Mauritius

The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean (French: Îles Éparses 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,[1] 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, though the French armed forces maintain small troop contingents on some of the islands.[2]

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 450km (280miles) east of Madagascar and the Glorioso Islands lies about 200km (100miles) 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 1000m (3,000feet).

Overview

Island / AtollStation
Staff
Area
(km2)
Lagoon
(km2)
EEZ
(km2)
Coordinates Location
(including
Banc du Geyser)
11 5 29.6 48,350 Northern Mozambique Channel
19 0.8 280,000 Western Indian Ocean
14 4.4 (1) 61,050 Central Mozambique Channel
0.2 79.8 123,700 Southern Mozambique Channel
12 28 9 127,300 Southern Mozambique Channel
Total 56 38.4 118.4 640,400  

Individual islands

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. The troops are supported by French naval vessels based in Réunion conducting patrol missions and re-supply operations about four times per year.[3] The Glorioso Islands are also claimed by the Comoros, while Mauritius claims Tromelin Island.[4]

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,[5] and a 1979 United Nations resolution (without binding force) demanded the cession of these islands to Madagascar.[6] [7] Seychelles claimed a part of the Scattered Islands too before the signing of the France–Seychelles Maritime Boundary Agreement.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: TAAF . 2010-02-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100128105956/http://www.taaf.fr/spip/spip.php?article309 . 2010-01-28 . French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) Official website
  2. Web site: Le Champlain : un soutien logistique pour les îles Éparses . 30 August 2023 . Ministère des Armées . 23 August 2023 . fr .
  3. Web site: Le Champlain : un soutien logistique pour les îles Éparses . 30 August 2023 . Ministère des Armées . 23 August 2023 . fr .
  4. Web site: Conflict about Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean . 2 April 2024 . Sentinel Vision . 23 July 2020.
  5. Web site: Archived copy . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071030155138/http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Documents/Decisions/com/19CoM_1980b.pdf . 2007-10-30 . 2009-08-17 . africa-union.org.
  6. Web site: United Nations Resolution 34/91 . 12 December 1979 . Question of the Islands of Gloriesus, Juan de Nova, Europa and Bassas da India . . 13 June 2020.
  7. Web site: United Nations Resolution 35/123 . 11 December 1980 . Question of the Islands of Gloriesus, Juan de Nova, Europa and Bassas da India . . 13 June 2020.