Coordinates: 15°53′32″S 54°31′29″E / 15.89222°S 54.52472°E / -15.89222; 54.52472

Tromelin Island Île Tromelin
Motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Anthem: La Marseillaise
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)

Tromelin Island (pronounced /ˌtroʊmlɪn ˈaɪlənd/; French: Île Tromelin, pronounced: [il tʀɔmlɛ̃]) is a low, flat 0.8 square kilometres (200 acres) island in the Indian Ocean, about 350 kilometres (220 mi) east of Madagascar (Geographic coordinates 15°53′32″S 54°31′29″E / 15.89222°S 54.52472°E / -15.89222; 54.52472. There are no harbours or anchorages and access by sea is difficult. The island has a 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) airstrip. It is a French territory. It is claimed by Mauritius and the Seychelles.

Map of Tromelin Island

Tromelin is a low, scrub-covered sandbank about 1,700 metres (1.1 mi) long and 700 metres (0.43 mi) wide, surrounded by coral reefs. The island is 23 feet (7.0 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. 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 in 1776, the chevalier de Tromelin, (from whom the island takes its name) captain of the French warship La Dauphine, visited the island and rescued the survivors — seven women and an eight-month-old child. Tromelin Island was occupied by France in 1954 while it was part of Mauritius and it is claimed by Mauritius.

Satellite image of Tromelin Island

Tromelin has an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 280,000 square kilometres (110,000 sq mi), contiguous with that of Réunion. The island's weather station, which warns of cyclones, is manned by meteorologists from Réunion.

[edit] External links

• The shipwrecked memory of the L'Utile slaves

v • d • e Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean Bassas da India · Europa Island · Glorioso Islands · Juan de Nova Island · Tromelin Island

v • d • e Overseas departments and territories of France   Inhabited areas Overseas departments1 French Guiana · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Réunion Overseas collectivities French Polynesia · Mayotte2 · Saint Barthélemy · Saint Martin · Saint Pierre and Miquelon · Wallis and Futuna Special status New Caledonia   Uninhabited areas Pacific Ocean Clipperton Island French Southern and Antarctic Lands Île Amsterdam · Île Saint-Paul · Crozet Islands · Kerguelen Islands · Adélie Land Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean Bassas da India3 · Europa Island3 · Glorioso Islands2, 3, 4 · Juan de Nova Island3 · Tromelin Island5 1 Also known as overseas regions.  2 Overseas department by 2011, claimed by Comoros.  3 Claimed by Madagascar.  4 Claimed by Seychelles.  5 Claimed by Mauritius.