North Island is a small granitic island (2.01 km²) in the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

Geography

The island is one of the Seychelles' 42 inner islands. It is 5.8 km (3.6 miles) north of

Silhouette Island Silhouette Island lies northwest of Mahé in the Seychelles. It is the third largest granitic island in the Seychelles. It has an area of 20.1 km2 and has a population of 200, mostly workers on the island. The main settlement is La Passe ...

, and north west of Mahé. The island has four beaches; East Beach, West Beach (or ''Grande Anse''), Honeymoon Cove, and Dive Beach. The highest point of the island is 180 m. The perimeter measures in at 7.55 km, and the area is 2.01 km²

History

North Island was the first Seychelles island to record a landing by seafarers. An expedition in 1609 by Captain Sharpeigh and the crew of the

English East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southe ...

vessel ''Ascension'' reported that the island had a large population of giant land tortoises. From 1826 until the 1970s, North Island was owned by the Beaufond family from

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 ...

. During this time, the island had a plantation for growing fruits and spices, as well as producing guano, fish oil and copra. After the plantation was sold in the 1970s, the island fell into disuse, and was taken over by feral animals and alien species of weeds. In 1981, North Island was given to Marius Maier by his father. He intended to return the island to its former pristine state before human settlers arrived, including the removal of many unwanted animal and plant species, including

pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

, rats,

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...

cows Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

, Indian mynah birds, cats and a very intrusive weed called

lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in ...

. He re-introduced the Seychelles' natural flora & fauna, including

giant tortoise Giant tortoises are any of several species of various large land tortoises, which include a number of extinct species, as well as two extant species with multiple subspecies formerly common on the islands of the western Indian Ocean and on the ...

s, certain birds, and trees such as takamaka, badamier and the famous coco-de-mer palm. in 1982, Marius Maier and the villagers have established a turtle nest monitoring center. In 1997, North Island was purchased for US$5 million by Wilderness Holdings Limited, an ecotourism company from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. They have opened a private resort in 2003, aiming at the eco-tourism market, with 11 private villas. The resort has developed the island and increased its population. North Island stood in for Tracy Island in the 2004 live-action adaptation of ''Thunderbirds''. In May 2011, it was the site for the royal honeymoon of the Duke and

Duchess of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...

Politics

The island is part of

La Digue and Inner Islands La Digue and Inner Islands is one of the 26 districts of Seychelles. It consists of the island of La Digue and assorted smaller islands of the Inner Islands. Geography La Digue and Inner Islands district has an area of and a population of 3506 a ...

district, it was part of Silhouette district until it was dissolved in 1977 following the decline in copra production on this group of islands.

Economics

Most of the population are employed in the tourism business. Accommodations reserved for the permanent staff are located near the island's center.

Facilities

The buildings of the island are either renovated coral buildings or were built from the removal of the unwanted trees on the island, during Marius Maier plan. The resort has 10 standard villas, and a special excluded (Villa North). A gym is in the village, a huge spa, library, restaurant. The resort also features a boutique, a dive center, a main pool, and a bar.info 3
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Tourism

The island has many activities. mountain biking, scuba diving, kayaking and deep sea fishing. The resort offers a unique dining concept: the chef discusses guests' likes and dislikes upon arrival and bases available ingredients on this information. All food on North Island is either grown in the organic vegetable gardens, reared on the island, or caught fresh from the sea.

Gallery

File:North_Island_55.24963E_4.39147S.png, Sat view

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:North Island, Seychelles Islands of La Digue and Inner Islands