D'Arros
| D'Arros | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Waters | Indian Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Amiranten | |
| Geographical location | 5 ° 24 '56 " S , 53 ° 17' 54" E | |
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| length | 2 km | |
| width | 990 m | |
| surface | 1.5 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 3 m | |
| Residents | 85 (August 22, 2002) 57 inhabitants / km² |
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 southeast of it the larger Saint-Joseph-Atoll |
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D'Arros is a small island in the western Indian Ocean . Geographically it is one of the Amiranten and politically it is one of the Outer Islands of the island republic of Seychelles . The island belonged to the L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt until 2012 , and the sales price was 60 million US dollars.
geography
The densely overgrown island is located 255 kilometers southwest of Mahé , the main island of the Seychelles, and only two kilometers northwest of the Saint Joseph Atoll , but is one of the first due to its 60 to 62 meters deep water (much deeper than large areas of the Amirant Bank) , 1 km wide canal clearly separated. D'Arros rises barely more than three meters above sea level. The flat island made of coral sand is oval with an orientation northeast-southwest and has a land area of almost 1.5 km². The island sits on a similarly oriented platform reef that measures 2.8 × 1.4 km. A shallow sand spike extends 800 meters northeast of the island. The island is located in the northern part of the reef. Dry reef areas extend 250 to 400 meters wide in the south, while in the north there is only a 75 meters narrow fringing reef.
Much of the island's area is overgrown with coconut palms and Casuarina equisetifolia . A small part is cultivated for the residents' own consumption.
The island has 40 inhabitants. On the coast and in the interior of D'Arros there are a few commercial and residential buildings. One larger building is reserved for use by guests renting the island and the smaller, permanently occupied buildings are reserved for staff.
A 975 meter long unpaved runway ( ICAO code FSDA) in the south-west visually divides the island into two sectors. There are no regular scheduled flights, but scheduled flights to the neighboring Desroches Island occasionally branch off to D'Arros.
history
The island was discovered by European sailors in the 18th century. The island's name goes back to the naval officer Baron d'Arros, who was naval commander in Mauritius (then Île de France) from 1770 to 1771 . Although coconut palms naturally grew here , French colonialists used to set up additional plantations for copra extraction .
The island is privately owned. A nephew of the last Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi bought D'Arros in 1975, he stopped commercial use and promoted nature conservation; In 1998 the island was sold to a third party. In the meantime, it was owned by Liliane Bettencourt , who D'Arros sold in August 2012.
Web links
- D'Arros in the BirdLife Factsheet (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19084125
- ↑ D'Arros. Seychelles Tourism Board, accessed September 21, 2017 .
- ↑ Important Bird Area factsheet: D'Arros island, Seychelles. BirdLife International, 2009, accessed July 2, 2010 .
- ↑ Oliver Meiler: Tax affair brings bank secrecy opponent Woerth in distress. In: Basler Zeitung. June 28, 2010, accessed July 2, 2010 .
- ↑ bbc.co.uk:L'Oreal heiress Bettencourt sells Seychelles island