Europa Island
Europa Island (French: Île Europa, pronounced [il øʁɔpa]), in Malagasy Nosy Ampela 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.
Europa Island | |
|---|---|
Flag | |
| 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 | |
| Location | Mozambique Channel |
| Coordinates | 22°22′S 40°22′E |
| Administration | |
| Overseas territory | French Southern and Antarctic Lands |
| District | Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean |
| 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, partly focusing on the breeding habits of the green sea turtle.