The
Glorieuses or
Glorioso Islands
(
French:
Îles Glorieuses
or officially also
Archipel des Glorieuses)
are a group of
French islands and rocks totalling 5 square
kilometres (1,200 acres), at
11°33′S
47°20′E
/ 11.55°S
47.333°E /
-11.55; 47.333Coordinates:
11°33′S
47°20′E
/ 11.55°S
47.333°E /
-11.55; 47.333,
in the northern Mozambique channel, about
160 kilometres (99 mi) northwest of
Madagascar. The Glorieuses have an
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of
48,350 square kilometres (18,670 sq mi). There
are anchorages offshore, and Grande Glorieuse
has a 1,300-metre (4,300 ft) long
airstrip.
The
archipelago consists of two islands, Grande
Glorieuse (11°34′46.549″S
47°17′54.146″E
/ 11.57959694°S
47.29837389°E
/ -11.57959694; 47.29837389
(Grande Glorieuse))
and Île du Lys, as well as eight rock islets (Roches
Vertes): Wreck Rock (11°30′45.194″S
47°22′54.178″E
/ 11.51255389°S
47.38171611°E
/ -11.51255389; 47.38171611
(Wreck Rock)),
South Rock (11°35′43.760″S
47°18′6.6600″E
/ 11.59548889°S
47.30185°E /
-11.59548889; 47.30185
(South Rock))
and Verte Rocks (11°34′15.636″S
47°19′54.188″E
/ 11.57101°S
47.33171889°E
/ -11.57101; 47.33171889
(Verte Rocks))
and three others that are unnamed. They form
part of a
coral reef and
lagoon. Grande Glorieuses is roughly
circular and measures about 3 kilometres
(1.9 mi) across. It is thickly vegetated, mainly
by the remains of a coconut plantation and
casuarina trees.
Île du Lys, located at
11°30′59.350″S
47°22′36.023″E
/ 11.51648611°S
47.37667306°E
/ -11.51648611; 47.37667306
(Île du Lys)
about five miles (about 8 km) northeast of
Grande Glorieuses, is about 600 metres
(2,000 ft) long and consists of
sand dunes and scrub with some
mangroves. It was formerly quarried for
phosphate (guano).
The Glorieuses were named and settled in 1880
by a
Frenchman, Hippolyte Caltaux, who
established a
coconut and
maize plantation on Grande Glorieuse. The
archipelago became a French possession in 1892.
From 1914 to 1958 concessions to exploit the
islands were given to
Seychelles companies.
The islands are today
nature reserves with a
meteorological station garrisoned by French
troops (The
French Foreign Legion). They are claimed by
Madagascar (because of their strategic
importance), the
Seychelles (considering the islands part of
the
Seychelles Archipelago) and the
Comoros (considering the islands part of the
Comoros Archipelago).
The climate is tropical and the terrain is
low and flat, varying from sea level to 12 metres
(39 ft). Île de Lys in particular is a nesting
ground for
migratory
seabirds, and
turtles lay eggs on the beaches.
