Inhaca
| Inhaca | ||
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| Waters | Indic | |
| Geographical location | 26 ° 1 ′ S , 32 ° 57 ′ E | |
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| length | 12 km | |
| width | 7 km | |
| surface | 42 km² | |
| Highest elevation | Monte Inhaca 104 m |
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| Residents | 6095 (2017) 145 inhabitants / km² |
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| main place | Inhaca | |
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The island of Inhaca ( Portuguese Ilha da Inhaca ) is a subtropical island of Mozambique off the East African coast.
The 42 km² island is inhabited by about 6000 people and is located about 35 kilometers from the Mozambican capital Maputo and delimits it from the Indian Ocean in the southeast of the Maputo Bay ( Baía de Maputo , historically also Baia de Lagoa , Delagoa Bay ). The island's irregular coastline approaches the mainland at Ponta Torres up to 500 m. At this point, a tidal current separates the mainland Machangulo peninsula and the island tongue of Ponta Torres. Administratively, Inhaca is a municipality in the Mozambican capital Maputo, while the Machangulo Peninsula is part of the Matutuíne district of Maputo Province .
The economy is dominated by fishing, tourism, including day tourism, is important. The Universidade Eduardo Mondlane maintains a marine biological station on the island. The island can be reached by ferry from Maputo in around three hours. The island also has a small airport that can cut travel time to around 15 minutes.
geography
The extension of the island reaches about 12 km (N – S) and 7 km (E – W). The highest point is the 104 meter high Monte Inhaca on the northeastern bank. The southwestern peninsula ends at the Ponta Punduine, while Ponta Torres in the southeast is near the mainland. Two flat moors lie inland in the north and in the south of Nhaquene. In addition to the village of Inhaca on the western bank, there are other smaller villages Inguane, Nhaquene, Ridjeni and Tobia.
history
The island was named after the Ronga king Inhaca (Nhaca), who lived in the 15th century. Although it was part of the Portuguese colony of Mozambique until 1975, the island of Inhaca was due to its proximity to the port of Maputo by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1823 until the treaty brokered by the French President Patrice de Mac-Mahon of July 24, 1875 occupied. According to Portuguese literature of the 1950s, the British sea troops are said to have used the island among others around Africa as a base for their patrols and also to control the slave trade in the region.
Flora and fauna
The central area consists of arable land, while grasslands predominate in the north, flanked by lichen- covered dune forests along the eastern and western banks. When the tide is low, the Wadden Sea surrounds the western and southern banks. Three intact coral reefs , all of which are protected marine reserves, flank the island's western perimeter. Mangroves cover large parts of the northern shores and the southern Saco Bay.
The approximately 160 hard coral species include branch-shaped and plate-shaped types. Of fish come moray eels , barracudas , the stubborn Trevally ( Caranx ignobilis ) intend to continue groupers , scorpion fish , butterfly fish , puffer fish , parrot fish and sea horses . Whale sharks and manta rays visit the island in summer, and humpback whales pass the island's shores during their migrations. Several populations of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin ( Sousa chinensis ) and the bottlenose dolphin live in the waters surrounding the island. The bottlenose dolphin lives here seasonally more during the southern winter, while the humpback dolphins are native here, they live in shallow coastal waters of the western and southern coasts and form larger groups (11-14 individuals) than in southern Africa. Bottlenose dolphins are common in the waters of the northwest coast, the size of their groups varies from solitary animals and pairs to hundreds of individuals. Two species of sea turtles (including leatherback turtles) visit the east coast to lay eggs in the summer.
Inhaca is home to over 300 species of birds, both native and migratory . Species whose preservation is endangered, are the Pink-backed Pelican , the Lesser Crested Tern , the Crab Plover , the Sand Plover , the Lesser Sand Plover , the Terek Sandpiper , the Southern band-toed eagle , the mangrove kingfisher , the Graurücken- swallow and the spotted Scaly Thrush . The southern Nhaquene River and Saco Bay are strongholds for shale hawks , while Terne rest in the northern Portuguese island. Endemic bird species are Rudd's Apalis, Neergaard's Nectar Bird and Pink-necked Twinspots. Bright crows have been observed here since the 1970s.
The subtropical evergreen forest on the island is the habitat of the following species: inerme Sideroxylon , dimidiata Apodytes , Euclea schimperi , Manilkara discolor , Dovyalis rhamnoides , Dovyalis tristis , natalensis Diospyros , Clausena anisata , Cassine papillosa , Olea africana , Ficus Burtt-davyi , Ficus sansibarica , Ficus capensis , Commiphora neglecta , Commiphora schlechteri , Allophylus melanocarpus , Erythroxylon emarginatum , Vepris undulata , Deinbollia oblongifolia , Scolopia ecklonii , the portia tree and Galpinia transvaalica .
Settlements
- Inhaca
- Inguane
- Nhaquene
- Ridjeni
- Tobia
photos
Blackboard with map
Lucas restaurant
school
bridge
Monte Inhaca
Exhibition of the marine biological station
Sons and daughters of the island
- Mário Coluna (1935-2014), football player
- Simão Mate Junior (* 1988), football player
Mario Coluna (1969)
Simão Mate Junior in the jersey of Panathinaikos Athens (2011)
.jpg)
literature
- William Macnae, Margaret Kalk, J. de Koning: A natural history of Inhaca Island, Mozambique. 1995
- Birds of Inhaca Island, Mozambique. de Boer, WF & Bento, CM, 1999, p. 76.
Web links
- Destination Mozambique Mozambique Travel Guide to Inhaca , Siyabona Africa Travel (Pty) Ltd (as of October 20, 2012).
- Humberto Lopes: Reportagem de viagens a Inhaca , Alma de Viajante - jornalismo de viagens, 2012.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Website of the municipality of Machangulo - Investment in the Community and Nature Conservation , Machangulo SA
- ↑ José be Almada: Para a História da Aliança Luso Britânica. Imprensa Nacional de Lisboa, Lisbon 1955, pp. 60-61