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The island is surrounded by coral beaches and a fringing reef and encloses a mangrove lagoon of around 9 km2. Its vegetation also consists of dry forest, scrub, euphorbia and the remains of a sisal plantation. Europa Island is a nature reserve and host to migratory seabirds. It is one of the world's largest nesting sites for green turtles (Chelonia mydas). It is also home to goats introduced by settlers in the late 18th century. The island takes its name from the British ship Europa, which visited it in 1774. It has been a possession of France since 1897, but is also claimed by Madagascar. Ruins and graves on Europa island attest to several attempts at settlement from the 1860s to the 1920s. Its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), contiguous with that of Bassas da India, is 127,300 km2. The island, garrisoned by a detachment from Réunion, has a meteorological station and is visited by scientists. Europa, though uninhabited, is formally part of the "Îles Eparses" district ("Scattered Islands") of the TAAF ("Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises") administrative region, which comprises islands such as Kerguelen and the French Antarctic possessions. File:Europa Island.jpg|Satellite photo of Europa Island (north up) File:EuropaIsland Map-en.png|Map of Europa Island File:vue aerienne europa.jpg|Aerial view of the island Category:Europa Island Category:Mozambique Channel Category:Indian Ocean atolls Category:Islands of France Category:Islands of Madagascar Category:Disputed islands Category:Territorial disputes of France Category:Territorial disputes of Madagascar Category:French Southern and Antarctic Lands ar:جزيرة يوروبا ast:Europa (Francia) be:Востраў Еўропа be-x-old:Эўропа (выспа) br:Enez Europa ca:Illa Europa cs:Ostrov Europa de:Europa (Insel) et:Europa saar el:Ευρώπα Νήσος es:Isla Europa eo:Eŭropinsulo fa:جزیره اروپا fr:Île Europa ga:Oileán Europa gl:Illa Europa hr:Europa (otok) id:Pulau Europa it:Europa (isola) lt:Europa (sala) lij:Isoa d'Euròpa hu:Európa-sziget nl:Europa (eiland) ja:ユローパ島 no:Europaøya pl:Europa (wyspa) pt:Ilha Europa ro:Insula Europa ru:Европа (остров) sk:Europa (ostrov) sh:Otok Europa fi:Europa (saari) sv:Europa (ö) uk:Європа (острів) zh:欧罗巴岛 |
