Cargados Carajos (Cargados Carajos)
Politically, St. Brandon is part of the territory of the Republic of Mauritius and is grouped within the Outer Islands of Mauritius along with Agaléga, Tromelin (sovereignty disputed with France) and the Chagos Archipelago (sovereignty disputed with Britain), including Diego Garcia. The Outer Islands are geographically defined as "all the islands comprised in the State of Mauritius other than the Islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues". They are administered from Port Louis by the Outer Island Development Corporation (OIDC), which is responsible for their management and development. OIDC reports directly to the prime minister's office. Under a judgment by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on 30 July 2008, thirteen islands of Saint Brandon were adjudged as being a permanent grant to the Raphaël Fishing Company Ltd.
The reef measures more than 50 km from north to south and is 5 km wide, cut by three passes. The reef area is 190 sqkm. The islands have a small population, mostly fishermen, counted at 63 people on census night in 2001. The bulk of this population, approximately 40 people, live on Île Raphael, with smaller settlements existing on Avocaré Island, L'Île Coco, and L'île du Sud (South Island, l'île Boisées). A settlement on Albatross Island was abandoned in 1988. The islands are rich in marine flora and fauna, but on some government-held islands the birds have been severely affected by the uncontrolled presence of rats. Apart from the ongoing conservation work carried out by the centenarian Raphael Fishing Company, there is no infrastructure in place by the Republic of Mauritius to protect government-held islands from rats and invasive species.
In the past, the Cargados Carajos shoals were a large, volcanic island (part of the Mascarenes, caused by the Réunion hotspot). Over time the island has been eroded becoming submerged with an accompanying coral atoll. The archipelago is part of the Mascarene plateau, a submarine plateau North and East of Madagascar that is the second largest in the Indian Ocean after the Kerguelen Plateau.
Some of the Individual islands on the reef include:
A number of unnamed islands and sand cays complete the Cargados. The total number of islands on the reef can change and be close to 40.
Siren Island, L'île du Sud (South Island, l'île Boisées), Pearl Island (Île Perle), and Frigate Island (Île Frégate) are west of the reef, while North Island (Île du Nord) is about 4 km northeast of the northern tip of the reef.
Albatross Island, about 18 km north, is geographically a separate single coral island at location 16°15'S, 59°35'E.
Albatross Island is the highest (its highest point is 6 m above sea level) and the largest of the islands in the group, with an area of 1.01 sqkm, followed by Raphaël, Tortue, Avocaré Island, L'Île Coco (Coco Island) and L'île du Sud (South Island, IDS, l'île Boisées).
The main settlement and the administrative centre of St. Brandon is Île Raphaël, which is held on permanent grant by the Raphaël Fishing Company together with twelve other islands L'île du Sud (South Island, l'île Boisées), Petit Fou, Avocaré Island, l'île aux Fous (Fous, Ile Fou), l'île du Gouvernement, Petit Mapou, Grand Mapou, La Baleine, L'Île Coco, Verronge, l'île aux Bois and Baleines Rocks) under adjudication by the UK's Privy Council in 2008. Île Raphaël can have up to 35 resident employees and a coast guard and meteorological station (with eight residents in 1996). Smaller settlements exist on Avocaré Island, L'Île Coco, and L'île du Sud (South Island, l'île Boisées); the settlement on Albatross was abandoned in 1988.
Map - Cargados Carajos (Cargados Carajos)
Map
Country - Mauritius
Flag of Mauritius |
Arab sailors were the first to discover the uninhabited island, around 975, and they called it Dina Arobi. In 1507, Portuguese sailors visited the uninhabited island. The island appears with the Portuguese names Cirne or Do-Cerne on early Portuguese maps. The Dutch took possession in 1598, establishing a succession of short-lived settlements over a period of about 120 years, before abandoning their efforts in 1710. France took control in 1715, renaming it Isle de France. In 1810, the United Kingdom seized the island, and four years later, in the Treaty of Paris, France ceded Mauritius and its dependencies to the United Kingdom. The British colony of Mauritius included Rodrigues, Agaléga, St. Brandon, the Chagos Archipelago, and, until 1906, the Seychelles. Mauritius and France dispute sovereignty over the island of Tromelin as the Treaty of Paris failed to mention it specifically. Mauritius remained a primarily plantation-based colony of the United Kingdom until independence in 1968.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
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MUR | Mauritian rupee | ₨ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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EN | English language |
FR | French language |