Juan de Nova
- ISS005-E-9412
- 11 August 2002
- 07:57 UTC
The low and flat, uinhabited, island of Juan de Nova lies 132 km west from Madagascar (see panoramic image) and nearly 300 km east off the African mainland at Mozambique. The other French possessions in the Mozambique Channel — Bassas da India and Île Europa — lie 577 km and 630 km to the southwest, respectively.
The anvil-shaped island of 4.4 km² sits at the southern edge of a vast shallow water ecosystem. Around the island itself is a large, crescent-shaped, emergent reef flat. The island (detail) measures 6 km in length with a maximum width of 1.7 km. Vegetation cosists of low scrub and grasses with some large patches of forest composed primarily of Casuarina and Coconut Palm.
Île Juan de Nova is a French territory, administered as a dependency of La Réunion (located some 700 km off the opposite (eastern) coast of Madagascar). Madagascar also claims the island, where it is known as Nosy Juan de Nova.
