Mascarene Islands
Encyclopedia
The Mascarene Islands is a group of island
s in the Indian Ocean
east of Madagascar
comprising Mauritius
, Réunion
, Rodrigues
, Cargados Carajos
shoals, plus the former islands of the Saya de Malha
, Nazareth
and Soudan
banks. The collective title is derived from the Portuguese
navigator Pedro Mascarenhas
, who first visited them in the early sixteenth century. The islands share a common geologic origin in the volcanism of the Réunion hotspot
beneath the Mascarene Plateau
and form a distinct ecoregion
with a unique flora and fauna.
The Islands are volcanic in origin; Saya de Malha (35 mya) was the first of the Mascarene islands to rise out of the Indian Ocean due to the Réunion hotspot
, followed by Nazareth Bank (some 2,000 yrs later), Soudan Bank and Cargados Carajos. The youngest islands to form were Mauritius (7-10 mya), the oldest of the existing islands, created along with the undersea Rodrigues ridge. The islands of Rodrigues and Réunion were created in the last two million years. Réunion is the largest of the islands (2,500 km²), followed by Mauritius (1,900 km²) and Rodrigues (110 km²). Eventually Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Soudan were completely submerged, Cargados Carajos remaining as a coral atoll. The Réunion hotspot was beginning to cool and Rodrigues came out as a tiny island. Had erosion not taken place, Cargados Carajos would have been a large volcanic island, and the Mascarenes would have been an archipelago of seven or more (counting Saya De Malha, Nazareth and Soudan) large, populated islands, rather than the three (Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues) that remain today.
Réunion is home to the highest peaks in the Mascarenes, the shield volcano
es Piton des Neiges
(3,069 m) and Piton de la Fournaise
(2,525 m). Piton de la Fournaise, on the southeastern corner of Réunion, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, erupting last on January 2, 2010. Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire
(828 m) is the highest peak on Mauritius, and the gentle hills of Rodrigues rise to only 390 m.
The Mascarene Plateau
is an undersea plateau that extends approximately 2000 km, from the Seychelles
to Réunion. The plateau covers an area of over 115,000 km² of shallow water, with depths ranging from 8 to 150 meters, plunging to 4000 m to the abyssal plain
at its edges. The southern part of the plateau, including the Saya de Malha Bank
, Nazareth Bank
, Soudan Banks
and Cargados Carajos
Shoals (Saint Brandon) (then one large island), was formed by the Réunion hotspot. These were once volcanic islands, much like Mauritius and Réunion, which have now sunk or eroded to below sea level or, in the case of the Cargados Carajos, to low coral islands. The Saya de Malha Bank formed 35 million years ago, and the Nazareth Bank and the Cargados Carajos shoals after that. Limestone
banks found on the plateau are the remnants of coral reef
s, indicating that the plateau was a succession of islands. Some of the banks may have been islands as recently as 18,000 - 6,000 years ago, when sea levels were as much as 130 meters lower during the most recent ice age
.
, known as the Mascarene forests. The islands were formerly covered in tropical moist broadleaf forest
and harbored a diverse range of forest types. Near the seacoast were coastal wetland
s and swamp forests, transitioning to rain forest to windward and lowland dry forest to leeward, palm savanna
s, montane deciduous forests, and montane heathlands on the highest peaks of Réunion.
The islands are home to many endemic
plants and animals. Most of the Mascarene flora and fauna is thought to be derived originally from Madagascar
and Africa
. The islands have never been connected to the mainland, so the flora and fauna of the Mascarenes arrived from over the sea. Prehistoric islands of the Mascarene Plateau, now disappeared under the sea, may have served as 'stepping stones' which allowed species to island-hop from the Seychelles or Madagascar. The Mascarenes are home to one endemic family of flowering plant
s, Psiloxylaceae, which has only one species, Psiloxylon mauritianum
. Until Europeans first settled the islands in the sixteenth century, no peoples were known to exist in the Mascarenes, so much of the island's wildlife, which would have gone extinct much earlier had any native people lived there, were still flourishing during the early days of settling.
The islands have no native mammal
s, except for bat
s. Sixteen endemic bird species survive on the islands. Many of the Mascarene birds evolved into flightless forms; the most famous of which was the Dodo
, an extinct flightless pigeon of Mauritius. Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodrigues were also once each home to one or more species of giant tortoises, now extinct, which comprised the genus Cylindraspis
. There are thirteen living endemic reptile species, including a number of species of day gecko
es (genus
Phelsuma
).
Much of the Mascarenes' native flora and fauna has become endangered or extinct since the human settlement of the islands in the 17th century. Settlers cleared most of the forests for agriculture and grazing, and introduced many exotic species, including pig
s, rat
s, cat
s, monkey
s, and mongoose
s. As well as the tortoises and the Dodo, thirteen additional species of birds became extinct, including the Rodrigues Solitaire
, a flightless pigeon related to the Dodo, and the Réunion Flightless Ibis.
The Tambalacoque
(Sideroxylon grandiflorum), often called the dodo tree, is also threatened with extinction, although this is principally as a result of unripened seed destruction by the introduced crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis) rather than any connection to a reliance on the dodo to assist with seed germination after the seeds passed through the extinct bird's digestive tract.
Around 1507, the explorer Mascarenhas discovered the island group which bears his name. The area remained under nominal Portuguese rule until Étienne de Flacourt
arrived with a French naval squadron and took possession in 1649. From 4 June 1735 to 23 March 1746, a single French Mascarene Islands chartered colony under one gouverneur général (governor general) contained Île de France
(Mauritius), Île Bourbon (Réunion) and Séchelles (Seychelles). On 14 July 1767 this became a French crown colony, still under one governor general. From 3 February 1803 till 2 September 1810 the French colony of Indes-Orientales, under a capitaine général (captain-general), included Réunion and (nominally) the Seychelles.
was formed 8-10 million years ago, and is geographically one of the oldest remaining islands in the group. It was discovered in the 10th century by the Arabs and was first named Dina Harobi, but the first permanent settlement was by the Dutch in 1638. It was seized by France in 1715, who remained in control of it until the British took over in 1810. Mauritius gained independence in 1968.
was formed at around the same time as Mauritius. It was first discovered by the Arabs but named after Portuguese navigator Diogo Rodrigues. It was under Dutch control in 1601 and settled by the French in 1691. Britain took possession of Rodrigues in 1809. When Mauritius gained independence in 1968, Rodrigues was forcefully joined to it. Rodrigues remains an autonomous region of Mauritius.
was discovered first by the Arabs then by the Portuguese, who named it Santa Apolónia. It was then occupied by the French as part of Mauritius. It was first inhabited by French mutineers who arrived on the island between 1646 and 1669. It was given its current name in 1793. From 1810 to 1815 it was held by the British, before being returned to France. Réunion became an overseas department of France in 1946.
is the remnant of one or more large volcanic islands which sank with the rising tides. Today it is administered by Mauritius.
is a large, submerged bank. Historically it was a group of volcanic islands, and was joined to the Great Chagos Bank
until continental drift pushed them apart.
is located just north of Cargados Carajos, and historically they were a single geological feature. Today it is a large, shallow fishing bank.
is located on the northernmost point of the Mascarene Plateau
.
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
east of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
comprising Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
, Rodrigues
Rodrigues (island)
Rodrigues , sometimes spelled Rodriguez but named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius...
, Cargados Carajos
Cargados Carajos
Cargados Carajos Shoals are a group of about 16 small islands and islets on an extended reef in the Indian Ocean northeast of Mauritius. The islands have a total land area of 1.3 km². The reef measures more than 50 km from north to south, and is 5 km wide, cut by three passes. The...
shoals, plus the former islands of the Saya de Malha
Saya de Malha Bank
The Saya de Malha Bank is the largest submerged bank in the World, part of the vast undersea Mascarene Plateau...
, Nazareth
Nazareth Bank
Nazareth Bank is a large submerged bank in the Indian Ocean. It lies about 1040 km east of northern Madagascar and 280 km south of Saya de Malha Bank. The closest land is Cargados Carajos shoals, a small and remote dependency of Mauritius located 140 km to the southwest. The Nazareth...
and Soudan
Soudan Banks
The Soudan Banks are a group of underwater high points and reefs off the coast of Africa, known for their good fishing and administered by Mauritius. The five banks lie on the Mascarene plateau. North Soudan contains large salmon stocks. South Soudan is the largest of the banks, with many reefs...
banks. The collective title is derived from the Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
navigator Pedro Mascarenhas
Pedro Mascarenhas
Pedro Mascarenhas was a Portuguese explorer and colonial administrator. He was the first European to discover the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in 1512...
, who first visited them in the early sixteenth century. The islands share a common geologic origin in the volcanism of the Réunion hotspot
Réunion hotspot
The Réunion hotspot is a volcanic hotspot which currently lies under the Island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The Chagos-Laccadive Ridge and the southern part of the Mascarene Plateau are volcanic traces of the Réunion hotspot....
beneath the Mascarene Plateau
Mascarene Plateau
The Mascarene Plateau is an submarine plateau in the Indian Ocean, north and east of Madagascar. The plateau extends approximately 2000 km, from the Seychelles in the north to Réunion in the south. The plateau covers an area of over 115,000 km² of shallow water, with depths ranging from...
and form a distinct ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
with a unique flora and fauna.
Geology
Réunion hotspot
The Réunion hotspot is a volcanic hotspot which currently lies under the Island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The Chagos-Laccadive Ridge and the southern part of the Mascarene Plateau are volcanic traces of the Réunion hotspot....
, followed by Nazareth Bank (some 2,000 yrs later), Soudan Bank and Cargados Carajos. The youngest islands to form were Mauritius (7-10 mya), the oldest of the existing islands, created along with the undersea Rodrigues ridge. The islands of Rodrigues and Réunion were created in the last two million years. Réunion is the largest of the islands (2,500 km²), followed by Mauritius (1,900 km²) and Rodrigues (110 km²). Eventually Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Soudan were completely submerged, Cargados Carajos remaining as a coral atoll. The Réunion hotspot was beginning to cool and Rodrigues came out as a tiny island. Had erosion not taken place, Cargados Carajos would have been a large volcanic island, and the Mascarenes would have been an archipelago of seven or more (counting Saya De Malha, Nazareth and Soudan) large, populated islands, rather than the three (Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues) that remain today.
Réunion is home to the highest peaks in the Mascarenes, the shield volcano
Shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. They are named for their large size and low profile, resembling a warrior's shield. This is caused by the highly fluid lava they erupt, which travels farther than lava erupted from more explosive volcanoes...
es Piton des Neiges
Piton des Neiges
The Piton des Neiges is a massive 3,069 m shield volcano on Réunion, one of the French volcanic islands in the Mascarene Archipelago in the southwestern Indian Ocean. It is located about east of Madagascar. Piton des Neiges is the highest point on Réunion and is considered to be the highest...
(3,069 m) and Piton de la Fournaise
Piton de la Fournaise
Piton de la Fournaise : "Peak of the Furnace" is a shield volcano on the eastern side of Réunion island in the Indian Ocean. It is currently one of the most active volcanoes in the world, along with Kīlauea in the Hawaiian Islands , Stromboli, Etna and Mount Erebus in Antarctica...
(2,525 m). Piton de la Fournaise, on the southeastern corner of Réunion, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, erupting last on January 2, 2010. Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire
Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire
Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire is the highest mountain on the island of Mauritius,in the Indian Ocean. Located in the Black River district and rising to a height of 828 m above sea level, it forms part of the Black River mountain range.There are two other main mountain ranges in Mauritius:...
(828 m) is the highest peak on Mauritius, and the gentle hills of Rodrigues rise to only 390 m.
The Mascarene Plateau
Mascarene Plateau
The Mascarene Plateau is an submarine plateau in the Indian Ocean, north and east of Madagascar. The plateau extends approximately 2000 km, from the Seychelles in the north to Réunion in the south. The plateau covers an area of over 115,000 km² of shallow water, with depths ranging from...
is an undersea plateau that extends approximately 2000 km, from the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
to Réunion. The plateau covers an area of over 115,000 km² of shallow water, with depths ranging from 8 to 150 meters, plunging to 4000 m to the abyssal plain
Abyssal plain
An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3000 and 6000 metres. Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth’s surface. They are among the flattest, smoothest...
at its edges. The southern part of the plateau, including the Saya de Malha Bank
Saya de Malha Bank
The Saya de Malha Bank is the largest submerged bank in the World, part of the vast undersea Mascarene Plateau...
, Nazareth Bank
Nazareth Bank
Nazareth Bank is a large submerged bank in the Indian Ocean. It lies about 1040 km east of northern Madagascar and 280 km south of Saya de Malha Bank. The closest land is Cargados Carajos shoals, a small and remote dependency of Mauritius located 140 km to the southwest. The Nazareth...
, Soudan Banks
Soudan Banks
The Soudan Banks are a group of underwater high points and reefs off the coast of Africa, known for their good fishing and administered by Mauritius. The five banks lie on the Mascarene plateau. North Soudan contains large salmon stocks. South Soudan is the largest of the banks, with many reefs...
and Cargados Carajos
Cargados Carajos
Cargados Carajos Shoals are a group of about 16 small islands and islets on an extended reef in the Indian Ocean northeast of Mauritius. The islands have a total land area of 1.3 km². The reef measures more than 50 km from north to south, and is 5 km wide, cut by three passes. The...
Shoals (Saint Brandon) (then one large island), was formed by the Réunion hotspot. These were once volcanic islands, much like Mauritius and Réunion, which have now sunk or eroded to below sea level or, in the case of the Cargados Carajos, to low coral islands. The Saya de Malha Bank formed 35 million years ago, and the Nazareth Bank and the Cargados Carajos shoals after that. Limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
banks found on the plateau are the remnants of coral reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
s, indicating that the plateau was a succession of islands. Some of the banks may have been islands as recently as 18,000 - 6,000 years ago, when sea levels were as much as 130 meters lower during the most recent ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
.
Mascarene forests
The Mascarene islands form a distinct ecoregionEcoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
, known as the Mascarene forests. The islands were formerly covered in tropical moist broadleaf forest
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome....
and harbored a diverse range of forest types. Near the seacoast were coastal wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s and swamp forests, transitioning to rain forest to windward and lowland dry forest to leeward, palm savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
s, montane deciduous forests, and montane heathlands on the highest peaks of Réunion.
The islands are home to many endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
plants and animals. Most of the Mascarene flora and fauna is thought to be derived originally from Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. The islands have never been connected to the mainland, so the flora and fauna of the Mascarenes arrived from over the sea. Prehistoric islands of the Mascarene Plateau, now disappeared under the sea, may have served as 'stepping stones' which allowed species to island-hop from the Seychelles or Madagascar. The Mascarenes are home to one endemic family of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s, Psiloxylaceae, which has only one species, Psiloxylon mauritianum
Psiloxylon
Psiloxylon mauritianum is species of flowering plant, the sole species of family Psiloxylaceae. It is endemic to the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean.It is a white-barked evergreen tree, bearing essential oils....
. Until Europeans first settled the islands in the sixteenth century, no peoples were known to exist in the Mascarenes, so much of the island's wildlife, which would have gone extinct much earlier had any native people lived there, were still flourishing during the early days of settling.
The islands have no native mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s, except for bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s. Sixteen endemic bird species survive on the islands. Many of the Mascarene birds evolved into flightless forms; the most famous of which was the Dodo
Dodo
The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
, an extinct flightless pigeon of Mauritius. Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodrigues were also once each home to one or more species of giant tortoises, now extinct, which comprised the genus Cylindraspis
Cylindraspis
Cylindraspis is a genus of recently extinct giant tortoises. All of its species lived in the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean and all are now extinct due to hunting and introduction of non-native predators. These giant tortoises were very large and slow, thus making them easy game. The...
. There are thirteen living endemic reptile species, including a number of species of day gecko
Gecko
Geckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 cm to 60 cm....
es (genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Phelsuma
Phelsuma
The genus Phelsuma consists of several lizards in the gecko family, commonly referred to as Day Geckos.-Description:In contrast to most other gecko species, day geckos are active mainly during the day. Other diurnal geckos are members of the genus Lygodactylus and the genus Gonatodes...
).
Much of the Mascarenes' native flora and fauna has become endangered or extinct since the human settlement of the islands in the 17th century. Settlers cleared most of the forests for agriculture and grazing, and introduced many exotic species, including pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
s, rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s, cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s, monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
s, and mongoose
Mongoose
Mongoose are a family of 33 living species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also referred to as "mongooses" or "mongoose-like"...
s. As well as the tortoises and the Dodo, thirteen additional species of birds became extinct, including the Rodrigues Solitaire
Rodrigues Solitaire
The Rodrigues Solitaire was a flightless member of the pigeon order endemic to Rodrigues, Mauritius. It was a close relative of the Dodo.-Discovery:...
, a flightless pigeon related to the Dodo, and the Réunion Flightless Ibis.
The Tambalacoque
Tambalacoque
Tambalacoque , also called the Dodo Tree, is a long-lived tree in the family Sapotaceae, endemic to Mauritius. The Dodo Tree is valued for its timber....
(Sideroxylon grandiflorum), often called the dodo tree, is also threatened with extinction, although this is principally as a result of unripened seed destruction by the introduced crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis) rather than any connection to a reliance on the dodo to assist with seed germination after the seeds passed through the extinct bird's digestive tract.
Historical colonies
The early colonial history of the islands, like that of the Caribbean, is a confusing story of takeovers between the rival Portuguese, Dutch, French and British colonizers, usually separate or in varying combinations, sometimes even with distant other colonies, e.g. in the East Indies.Around 1507, the explorer Mascarenhas discovered the island group which bears his name. The area remained under nominal Portuguese rule until Étienne de Flacourt
Étienne de Flacourt
Étienne de Flacourt was a French governor of Madagascar, born at Orléans in 1607. He was named governor of Madagascar by the French East India Company in 1648....
arrived with a French naval squadron and took possession in 1649. From 4 June 1735 to 23 March 1746, a single French Mascarene Islands chartered colony under one gouverneur général (governor general) contained Île de France
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
(Mauritius), Île Bourbon (Réunion) and Séchelles (Seychelles). On 14 July 1767 this became a French crown colony, still under one governor general. From 3 February 1803 till 2 September 1810 the French colony of Indes-Orientales, under a capitaine général (captain-general), included Réunion and (nominally) the Seychelles.
Mauritius
MauritiusMauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
was formed 8-10 million years ago, and is geographically one of the oldest remaining islands in the group. It was discovered in the 10th century by the Arabs and was first named Dina Harobi, but the first permanent settlement was by the Dutch in 1638. It was seized by France in 1715, who remained in control of it until the British took over in 1810. Mauritius gained independence in 1968.
Rodrigues
RodriguesRodrigues (island)
Rodrigues , sometimes spelled Rodriguez but named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius...
was formed at around the same time as Mauritius. It was first discovered by the Arabs but named after Portuguese navigator Diogo Rodrigues. It was under Dutch control in 1601 and settled by the French in 1691. Britain took possession of Rodrigues in 1809. When Mauritius gained independence in 1968, Rodrigues was forcefully joined to it. Rodrigues remains an autonomous region of Mauritius.
Réunion
RéunionRéunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
was discovered first by the Arabs then by the Portuguese, who named it Santa Apolónia. It was then occupied by the French as part of Mauritius. It was first inhabited by French mutineers who arrived on the island between 1646 and 1669. It was given its current name in 1793. From 1810 to 1815 it was held by the British, before being returned to France. Réunion became an overseas department of France in 1946.
Cargados Carajos
Cargados CarajosCargados Carajos
Cargados Carajos Shoals are a group of about 16 small islands and islets on an extended reef in the Indian Ocean northeast of Mauritius. The islands have a total land area of 1.3 km². The reef measures more than 50 km from north to south, and is 5 km wide, cut by three passes. The...
is the remnant of one or more large volcanic islands which sank with the rising tides. Today it is administered by Mauritius.
Saya de Malha
Saya de Malha BankSaya de Malha Bank
The Saya de Malha Bank is the largest submerged bank in the World, part of the vast undersea Mascarene Plateau...
is a large, submerged bank. Historically it was a group of volcanic islands, and was joined to the Great Chagos Bank
Great Chagos Bank
The Great Chagos Bank, in the Chagos Archipelago, about South of the Maldives, is the largest atoll structure in the world, with a total area of . The Atoll is administered by the UK through the BIOT.-Islands:...
until continental drift pushed them apart.
Nazareth Bank
Nazareth BankNazareth Bank
Nazareth Bank is a large submerged bank in the Indian Ocean. It lies about 1040 km east of northern Madagascar and 280 km south of Saya de Malha Bank. The closest land is Cargados Carajos shoals, a small and remote dependency of Mauritius located 140 km to the southwest. The Nazareth...
is located just north of Cargados Carajos, and historically they were a single geological feature. Today it is a large, shallow fishing bank.
Hawkins Bank
Hawkins BankHawkins Bank
Hawkins Bank is a large, submerged bank off the Mascarene Plateau. It is considered a dependency of Mauritius The bank is abundant with fish and Mauritian vessels often fish in the waters in and around the bank....
is located on the northernmost point of the Mascarene Plateau
Mascarene Plateau
The Mascarene Plateau is an submarine plateau in the Indian Ocean, north and east of Madagascar. The plateau extends approximately 2000 km, from the Seychelles in the north to Réunion in the south. The plateau covers an area of over 115,000 km² of shallow water, with depths ranging from...
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