African Banks

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African Banks
Nickname: Îlots Africains
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African Banks
Location of African North Island in Seychelles
Geography
Location Indian Ocean
Coordinates 04°54′S53°20′E / 4.900°S 53.333°E / -4.900; 53.333 Coordinates: 04°54′S53°20′E / 4.900°S 53.333°E / -4.900; 53.333
Archipelago Seychelles
Adjacent bodies of water Indian Ocean
Total islands2
Major islands
  • African North Island
  • African South Island
Area0.039 km2 (0.015 sq mi)
Length0.45 km (0.28 mi)
Width0.09 km (0.056 mi)
Coastline1 km (0.6 mi)
Highest elevation3 m (10 ft)
Administration
Group Outer Islands
Sub-Group Amirante Islands
Sub-Group African Banks
Districts Outer Islands District
Demographics
Population0 (2014)
Pop. density0/km2 (0/sq mi)
Ethnic groups Creole, French, East Africans, Indians.
Additional information
Time zone
ISO code SC-26
Official website www.seychelles.travel/en/discover/the-islands/outer-islands

The African Banks are the uninhabited northernmost islands of the Amirante Islands, of the Outer Islands of the Republic of Seychelles, in the western Indian Ocean.

Contents

History

The islands were discovered in 1797 and named Îlots Africains by Admiral Willaumez commanding the frigate La Régénérée . [1] North Island had for a couple of months a guano mining camp.

Geography

The African Banks lie about 230 km west of the city of Victoria on the main Seychelles island of Mahé, close to the edge of the Amirantes Bank. The nearest island is Remire Island, lying 27 km south. The group is a pseudo-atoll, has two small islands, which are gradually undergoing coastal erosion, and appear as just small sandstone ridges exposed only at low tide. The underwater banks extend over 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) north-south and 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) east-west and occupy a total area of about 10 square kilometres (3.9 square miles). With a shallow coral ring, it appears as an incomplete atoll. To the west of the coral ring, however, it is 19 to 36 metres (62–118 feet) deep.

North Island

North Island ( fr. Île du Nord ) is small and flat with an area of 3.3 hectares (8.2 acres). It has a derelict automatic lighthouse on the north point. and is occasionally visited by tourists in charter yachts. It was formed from sandstone, is almost treeless (one coconut tree in 1995), and covered by grass and low-growing vegetation (shrubland). It is significant as a nesting site for terns, the colonies of which are subject to frequent exploitation and disturbance by poachers. [2]

South Island

South Island ( fr. Île du Sud ) is a small and flat island with an area of 0.6 hectares (1.5 acres). It lies 3.1 kilometres (1.9 miles) south of North Island. It has a small ruin of a poachers hut. [2] HMS Spitfire was wrecked on South Island on August 1801. [1]

Flora & Fauna

The islands, with an associated tract of coastal marine habitat, form a 750-hectare (1,900-acre) Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports populations of black-naped (10 breeding pairs) and sooty terns (5000–10,000 pairs), and brown noddies (2000–5900 pairs). green and hawksbill sea turtles nest there. [2] African Banks are surrounded by coral rim (the eastern side) and waters rich in fish, especially mackerel , tuna and sharks.

Related Research Articles

Lists of islands Wikipedia list article

This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the other lists of islands below.

Seychelles Country in the Indian Ocean

Seychelles, officially the Republic of Seychelles, is an archipelagic island country consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean at the eastern edge of the Somali Sea. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, is 1,500 kilometres east of mainland Africa. Nearby island countries and territories include the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and the French overseas regions of Mayotte and Réunion to the south; and Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago to the east. It is the least populous sovereign African country, with an estimated 2020 population of 98,462.

Geography of Seychelles

Seychelles is a small island country located in the Somali sea northeast of Madagascar and about 835 mi (1,344 km) from Mogadishu, Somalia, its nearest foreign mainland city, while Antsiranana is the nearest foreign city overall. Seychelles lies between approximately 4ºS and 10ºS and 46ºE and 54ºE. The nation is an archipelago of 115 tropical islands, some granite and some coral. the majority of which are small and uninhabited. The landmass is only 452 km2 (175 sq mi), but the islands are spread wide over an exclusive economic zone of 1,336,559 km2 (516,048 sq mi). About 90 percent of the population of 90,000 live on Mahé, 9 percent on Praslin and La Digue. Around a third of the land area is the island of Mahé and a further third the atoll of Aldabra.

Aldabra Coral atoll in the Indian Ocean

Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll. It is situated in the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 km (700 mi) southwest of the capital, Victoria, on Mahé Island.

Geography of the British Indian Ocean Territory

The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is an archipelago of 55 islands in the Indian Ocean, located south of India. It is situated approximately halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The islands form a semicircular group with an open sea towards the east. The largest, Diego Garcia, is located at the southern extreme end. It measures 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi) and accounts for almost three-quarters of the total land area of the territory. Diego Garcia is the only inhabited island and is home to the joint UK-US naval support facility. Other islands within the archipelago include Danger Island, Three Brothers Islands, Nelson Island, and Peros Banhos, as well as the island groups of the Egmont Islands, Eagle Islands, and the Salomon Islands.

Cosmoledo Atoll is an atoll of the Aldabra Group and belongs to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, and is located 1,029 km (639 mi) southwest of the capital, Victoria, on Mahé Island.

Amirante Islands Archipelago in the Seychelles

The Amirante Islands are a group of coral islands and atolls that belong to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles.

The Farquhar Atoll is part of the Farquhar Group of islands in the Seychelles that are part of the Outer Islands. It is located 770 kilometres southwest of the capital, Victoria, on Mahé Island.

Alphonse Atoll is one of two atolls of the Alphonse Group, the other being St. François Atoll — both in the Outer Islands coral archipelago of the Seychelles.

Platte Island or Île Platte is an island in the Southern Coral Group that is part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles.

Kalpeni is an inhabited Atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It has a distance of 287 km (178 mi) west of the city of Kochi.

Desroches Island or Île Desroches is the main island of the Amirante Islands, part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles.

Outer Islands (Seychelles) Collective term for those islands of the Seychelles that are not on the shallow Seychelles Bank

The Outer Islands or Coralline Seychelles (archipelago) is a collective term for those islands of the Seychelles that are not on the shallow Seychelles Bank which defines the location of the granitic Inner Islands archipelago to the east. The local Seychellois Creole name for the outer islands is Zil Elwannyen Sesel, while the French name is Îles Eloignées. They are all of coral formation, and in the western Indian Ocean.

St. François Atoll is one of two atolls of the Alphonse Group in the Seychelles that are part of the Outer Islands.

DArros Island

D'Arros Island is part of the Amirante Islands group, which are in the Outer Islands coral archipelago of the Seychelles islands and nation. The island is located west of the granitic Inner Seychelles archipelago, with a distance of 255 km south of Victoria, Seychelles.

Marie Louise Island is a low-lying coral island in the Amirantes group of the Outer Islands of the Republic of Seychelles, in the western Indian Ocean, with a distance of 308 km south-west of Victoria, Seychelles.

Boudeuse Cay is an uninhabited islet lying at the western edge of the Amirantes group, of the Outer Islands of the Republic of Seychelles, in the western Indian Ocean. It is located with a distance of 332 km south of Victoria, Seychelles.

Desnœufs Island is an island in Seychelles, lying at the southern edge of the Amirantes group, in the Outer Islands, with a distance of 321 km south of Victoria, Seychelles.

St. Joseph Atoll

Saint Joseph Atoll is part of the Amirante Islands group, which are in the Outer Islands coral archipelago of the Seychelles islands and nation. The atoll is located southwest of the granitic Inner Seychelles archipelago, with a distance of 248 km south of Victoria, Seychelles.

Étoile Cay is an uninhabited circular coral cay in Seychelles, lying in the Amirantes group of the Outer Islands of Seychelles, with a distance of 302 km south of Victoria, Seychelles.

References

  1. 1 2 Atoll Research Bulletin
  2. 1 2 3 "African Banks". Important Bird Areas factsheet. BirdLife International. 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
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