The Amirante Islands (Les Amirantes), a group of coral islands and atolls, belong to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles. They stretch about 155 km from the African Banks (African Islands) in the north to Île Desnœufs (Isle des Noeufs) in the south, all on the shallow Amirantes Bank (Amirantes Plateau, with depths of mostly 25 to 70 m), except the main island Île Desroches in the east, and submerged Lady Denison-Pender Shoal at the northern end. 90 km south of the Amirante Islands is Alphonse Group, the closest group of islands, which are sometimes incorrectly considered part of the Amirantes.
The Amirantes were discovered by Vasco da Gama on his second voyage of exploration in 1502, and named "Ilhas do Almirante" (Admiral Islands). Previous knowledge of the islands by Arab and Indian traders is possible. Along with the Seychelles, the islands were first claimed by France in 1742. Formal possession was asserted in 1756. By the Treaty of Paris (1814), the islands were passed officially to the British, as a part of Mauritius. In 1909, the Seychelles became a separate colony, thereby including the Amirantes. On November 8, 1965, the United Kingdom split Île Desroches from the Seychelles to become part of the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory. The purpose was to allow the construction of military facilities for the mutual benefit of the United Kingdom and the United States. On June 23, 1976, Île Desroches was returned to the Seychelles as a result of it attaining independence.
The total land area is 9.91 km². The total population is less than 100, with 50 in the main settlement of Desroches.
There are eight single islands (five low sand cays and three uplifted sand cays), plus three atolls with a total of 18 islets (St. Joseph Atoll with 14, Desroches with 1, Poivre Atoll with 3). In addition to these 11 units, the following table also has entries for a reef and a shoal without islets, for the sake of completeness. The five largest ones in area are inhabited. The different island types are marked by different background colors in the table.
| Island/Atoll/Reef (alternate name) |
type | Area (km²) |
Pop. est. |
Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lady Denison-Pender Shoal | submerged shoal | - | - | 04°49′S 53°20′E / 4.817°S 53.333°E / -4.817; 53.333 (Lady Denison-Pender Shoal) |
| 2 | African Banks (African Islands) | sand cay | 0.3 | - | 04°53′S 53°24′E / 4.883°S 53.4°E / -4.883; 53.4 (African Banks) |
| 3 | Remire Reef | drying reef | - | - | 05°05′S 53°21′E / 5.083°S 53.35°E / -5.083; 53.35 (Remire Reef) |
| 4 | Remire Island (Eagle) | uplifted sand cay | 0.27 | - | 05°07′S 53°19′E / 5.117°S 53.317°E / -5.117; 53.317 (Remire Island) |
| 5 | D'Arros Island (Daros) | sand cay | 1.50 | 15 | 05°24.5′S 53°18′E / 5.4083°S 53.3°E / -5.4083; 53.3 (D'Arros Island) |
| 6 | Saint Joseph Atoll | atoll | 1.21 | 10? | 05°25′S 53°20′E / 5.417°S 53.333°E / -5.417; 53.333 (Saint Joseph Atoll) |
| 7 | Bertaut Reef | sand cay | 0.002 | - | 05°39′06″S 53°14′18″E / 5.65167°S 53.23833°E / -5.65167; 53.23833 (Bertaut Reef) |
| 8 | Île Desroches | atoll | 3.24 | 50 | 05°41′S 53°41′E / 5.683°S 53.683°E / -5.683; 53.683 (Île Desroches) |
| 9 | Poivre Islands | atoll | 2.48 | 10 | 05°46′S 53°19′E / 5.767°S 53.317°E / -5.767; 53.317 (Poivre Islands) |
| 10 | Étoile Cay (Lampériaire) | sand cay | 0.01 | - | 05°53′S 53°01′E / 5.883°S 53.017°E / -5.883; 53.017 (Étoile Cay) |
| 11 | Boudeuse Cay (King Ross) | sand cay | 0.01 | - | 06°05′31″S 52°49′50″E / 6.09194°S 52.83056°E / -6.09194; 52.83056 (Boudeuse Cay) |
| 12 | Marie Louise Island | uplifted sand cay | 0.526 | 15 | 06°11′S 53°08′E / 6.183°S 53.133°E / -6.183; 53.133 (Marie Louise Island) |
| 13 | Île Desnœufs (Isle des Noeufs) | uplifted sand cay | 0.35 | - | 06°14′S 53°03′E / 6.233°S 53.05°E / -6.233; 53.05 (Île Desnœufs) |
| Amirante Islands | island chain | 9.90 | 100 | 04°49' to 06°14'S, 52°50° to 53°41'E |
Read more about Amirante Islands: Lady Denison-Pender Shoal, African Banks, Remire Reef, Remire Island, D'Arros Island, Saint Joseph Atoll, Bertaut Reef, Île Desroches, Poivre Islands, Étoile Cay, Boudeuse Cay, Marie Louise Island, Île Desnœufs, Alphonse Group
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