14 August 2017

#1352 French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF)


The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (French: Terres australes et antarctiques françaisesTAAF) is an overseas territory (French: Territoire d'outre-mer or TOM) of France. It consists of:
  1. Kerguelen Islands (Archipel des Kerguelen), a group of volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean, southeast of Africa, approximately equidistant between Africa, Antarctica and Australia;
  2. St. Paul and Amsterdam islands (Îles Saint Paul et Amsterdam), a group to the north of Kerguelen;
  3. Crozet Islands (Îles Crozet), a group in the southern Indian Ocean, south of Madagascar;
  4. Adélie Land (Terre Adélie), the French claim on the continent of Antarctica;
  5. the Scattered Islands (Îles Éparses), a dispersed group of islands around the coast of Madagascar.

The territory is also called the French Southern Lands (FrenchTerres australes françaises) or French Southern Territories. The latter excludes Adélie Land, where French sovereignty is not widely recognized. The lands are not connected to France Antarctique, a former French colony in Brazil.

The territory has no permanent civilian population. Those resident consist of visiting military personnel, officials, scientific researchers and support staff.
Wikipedia.org


The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean (FrenchÎles Éparses or Îles Éparses de l'océan Indien) consist of four small coral islands, an atoll, and a reef in the Indian Ocean, and have constituted the 5th district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) since February 2007. They have never had a permanent population. Two of the islands—Juan de Nova and Europa—and the Bassas da India atoll lie in the Mozambique Channel west of Madagascar, while a third island, Tromelin, lies about 450 kilometres (280 mi) east of Madagascar and the Glorioso Islands lies about 200 kilometres (120 mi) northwest of Madagascar. Also in the Mozambique Channel is the Banc du Geyser, a reef under French control claimed by Madagascar since 1976. France and the Comoros view the Banc du Geyser as part of the Glorioso Islands.

Tromelin Island (FrenchÎle Tromelin) is a low, flat, island in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) north of Réunion, and about 450 kilometres (280 mi) east of Madagascar. Tromelin is administered as part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, a French overseas territory; however, Mauritius claims sovereignty over the island, on grounds of its absence in the listing of the 8th article of the French version of the 1814 Paris Treaty. France and Mauritius have been negotiating for years in regard to the possible establishment of a condominium over the island.


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Sent on: July 25, 2017
Received on: August 3, 2017

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