Assomption (Seychelles)

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Assomption
NASA image from Assomption
NASA image from Assomption
Waters Indian Ocean
Archipelago Aldabra group
Geographical location 9 ° 43 '54 "  S , 46 ° 30' 52"  E Coordinates: 9 ° 43 '54 "  S , 46 ° 30' 52"  E
Assomption (Seychelles) (Seychelles)
Assomption (Seychelles)
length 6.9 km
width 2.4 km
surface 11.07 km²
Highest elevation 32  m
Residents uninhabited

Assomption (also known under the English spelling Assumption or Assumption Island ) is a small island in the Indian Ocean , north of Madagascar , which belongs to the island republic of Seychelles . The coral island is almost 7 kilometers long and 11.07 square kilometers in size. Two large sand dunes, one of them 32 meters high, shape the image of the island.

The island is located about 30 kilometers southeast of the Aldabra Atoll and belongs to the Aldabra Group , which is one of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles .

Assomption is only inhabited by an island administrator. For coconut -Ernte and plant care guest workers every year for several weeks on the island. The island is a popular day trip destination for cruise tourists, but has no infrastructure . In addition, as part of its nature conservation program, the Seychelles government ensures that such excursions are only permitted in limited numbers.

When the Seychelles were a British colony , Guano was mined on Assomption , which destroyed large parts of the then dense vegetation cover. By 1920 most of the island's flora and fauna were wiped out. A part of the former flora and fauna has been restored through renaturation programs.

Portions of Jacques-Yves Cousteau's and Louis Malles award-winning documentary The Silent World were filmed on Assomption.

In the mid-1960s, Assomption and Aldabra were to be expanded into a British- American military base including a deep-sea port. However, after violent protests by environmental organizations, this plan was rejected. Fifty years later, however, the project is reactivated, this time by India . In early 2016, the President of the Seychelles approved the construction of a base for the Indian Armed Forces.

Web links

Commons : Assomption  - collection of images, videos and audio files