(; mg, Nosy Bedimaky) is an uninhabited, roughly circular French

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

that is part of the

French Southern and Antarctic Lands The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (french: Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, TAAF) is an Overseas Territory (french: Territoire d'outre-mer or ) of France. It consists of: # Adélie Land (), the French claim on the continent ...

. Located in the southern

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long ...

, about halfway between

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

(about further east) and around northwest of

Europa Island Europa Island (, ), in Malagasy Nosy Ampela is a 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 fam ...

, the rim of the atoll averages around in width and encloses a shallow

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

of depth no greater than . Overall, the atoll is about in diameter, rising steeply from the

seabed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

below to encircle an area (including lagoon) of . Its exclusive economic zone, in size, is

contiguous Contiguity or contiguous may refer to: *Contiguous data storage, in computer science *Contiguity (probability theory) *Contiguity (psychology) *Contiguous distribution of species, in biogeography *Geographic contiguity of territorial land *Contigu ...

with that of Europa Island. The atoll consists of ten barren rocky

islets An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...

, with no vegetation, totalling in area. Those on the north and east sides are high, while those on the west and south sides are high. The reef, whose coastline measures , is completely covered by the sea from three hours before

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can ...

to three hours afterward. The region is also subject to

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

s, making the atoll a long-time maritime hazard and the site of numerous shipwrecks. Jaguar Seamount and

Hall Tablemount In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

lie, respectively, about further southwest.

History

The was first recorded by

Portuguese explorers Portuguese maritime exploration resulted in the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of Eu ...

in the early sixteenth century as the "''Baixo da'' Judia" ("''Jewess'' Shoals"). The ''Judia'' ("''Jewess''", for the ancestry of its owner

Fernão de Loronha Fernão de Loronha ( or earlier – ), whose name is often corrupted to Fernando de Noronha or Fernando della Rogna, was a prominent 16th-century Portuguese merchant of Lisbon, of Jewish descent. He was the first charter-holder (1502–1512) ...

) was the Portuguese ship that discovered the feature by running aground on it in 1506. The name became "" due to transcription errors by cartographers. The ''Santiago'' broke up on the shoal in 1585. It was rediscovered by the ''Europa'' in 1774, whence the name "Europa Rocks". The ''Malay'' was lost 27 July 1842 on the Europa Rocks. In 1897, the shoal became a French possession, later being placed under the administration of a commissioner residing in

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

in 1968.

became independent in 1960 and has claimed sovereignty over the shoal since 1972.

Wildlife

The presence of

Galapagos shark The Galapagos shark (''Carcharhinus galapagensis'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, found worldwide. It favors clear reef environments around oceanic islands, where it is often the most abundant shark species. A larg ...

s was reported in 2003, which is a first in the

Tourism

Mooring A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''an ...

at requires a permit from the French Government. Fishing without such a permit may result in the boat being expelled or even confiscated. Several illegal tourism charters departing from Mozambique or South Africa have been seized since 2013 by the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

Gallery

File:Bassas da India atoll map-fr.png, Detailed map. File:Bassas da india.jpg,

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

(ISS) photograph. File:Bassas da India.png,

Landsat 7 Landsat 7 is the seventh satellite of the Landsat program. Launched on 15 April 1999, Landsat 7's primary goal is to refresh the global archive of satellite photos, providing up-to-date and cloud-free images. The Landsat program is managed and ...

image. File:Bassas da India-CIA WFB Map.png, ''CIA World Factbook'' map. File:Bassas da india 76.jpg,

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

map. File:Bassas da India in Sunglint.jpg, ISS image of with varying degrees of sunglint.

References

External links

* *
Sailing Directions: East Africa and the South Indian OceanFrench Southern and Antarctic Lands
''

The World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...

''.

.. {{Coord, 21, 29, S, 39, 41, E, region:FR-TF_type:isle, display=title Indian Ocean atolls of France Atolls of Madagascar Uninhabited islands of France Islands of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands Territorial disputes of France Territorial disputes of Madagascar France–Madagascar relations