Île Amsterdam
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| Île Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
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| Motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité | |||||
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 Orthographic projection centred over île Amsterdam
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New Amsterdam or Île Amsterdam IPA: [ˈi.lɑm.stəˈdɑm] (meaning Amsterdam island after the Dutch capital) is a French island in the Indian Ocean located at .
Île Amsterdam is part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
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[edit] Description
The island is volcanic but has been inactive since 1792. It has an area of 55 km² (21 mi²), measuring 21 km (13 mi) on its longest side, and reaches as high as 867 m (2844 ft) at the Mont de la Dives.
The island is part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises; TAAF), and together with neighboring Île Saint-Paul (85 km to the South) forms one of the five districts of the territory. Its base, Martin-de-Viviès, formerly called La Roche Gódon, is the capital of the territory.
Unlike most parts of TAAF, Île Amsterdam has a mild, oceanic climate, with a mean annual temperature of 13°C (55°F}, rainfall of 1,100 mm, persistent westerly winds and high levels of humidity.[1]
Île Amsterdam is one of only three islands which are land antipodes of the continental United States. It corresponds to an area near La Junta, Colorado. The other two antipodes are île Saint-Paul and Kerguelen Island.
[edit] Flora and fauna
The island has Phylica arborea trees, which are also found on Tristan da Cunha.
The island is home to the Amsterdam Albatross, which breeds only on the Plateau des Tourbières on Île Amsterdam. The island is also home to other rare species, such as the Great Skua, the Antarctic Tern, the Gentoo penguin, the Subantarctic Fur Seal and the Elephant seal.
The only existing herd of completely wild cattle also lives on the island.
[edit] History
This island was discovered by the Spanish explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano on March 18, 1522, along his first world circumnavigation. Elcano did not name the island, however.
Having found the island unnamed, the Dutch captain Anthonie van Diemen named it Nieuw Amsterdam (Dutch for New Amsterdam) after his ship in 1633.
French Captain François Péron, was marooned three years on this island. Péron had been on the French ship Emélie, which wrecked on New Amsterdam in 1792. He was rescued and taken to Australia in 1795. Peron's Memoires, in which he describes his survival alone on New Amsterdam, were published in a limited edition and are now an expensive collectors' item.
** The accuracy of the above paragraph is disputed: research indicates that Peron was never a ship Captain (he was a field scientist). Additionally, no record of a ship wreck involving Peron is found, nor any mention of his alleged sole-survival on tiny Ile Amsterdam island. In fact, Peron's dear friend and fellow scientist/artist Charles-Alexandre LeSueur was also a member of the same expedition, and the two men successfully returned to France in 1804, following the exploration of "New Holland" (Ile Amsterdam) and even the western Australia mainland. Finally, the "Memoire" that Peron wrote (Mémoire sur les éstablissements anglais à la Nouvelle Hollande) was (a) an account of his scientific activities during the expedition; (b) a harsh criticism for the commander of the ship, Captain Baudin; and (c) a self-congratulatory missive highlighting Peron's considerable prowess as a field scientist.
The islands of Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul were attached to Madagascar in 1924 and hence became a French colony.
The first French base in New Amsterdam was erected in 1949, and was originally called Camp Heurtin. The Global Atmosphere Watch still has a research station on Île Amsterdam.
[edit] See also
- French overseas departments and territories
- Administrative divisions of France
- Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans
[edit] Books
- PÉRON, Pierre François. Mémoires du Capitaine Péron, sur ses Voyages aux Côtes d’Afrique, en Arabie, a l’Île d’Amsterdam, aux Îles d’Anjouan et de Mayotte, aux Côtes Nord-Oeust de l’Amérique, aux Îles Sandwich, a la Chine, etc. Paris 1824
[edit] External links
- photos of Ile Amsterdam and St.Paul (French site)
- Ile Amsterdam visit (photos from a tourist's recent visit)
- http://www.discoverfrance.net/Colonies/St-Paul_Amsterdam.shtml
- French Southern and Antarctic Lands at the CIA World Factbook
- South Atlantic & Subantarctic Islands site, Amsterdam Island page
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| Overseas departments1 | French Guiana · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Réunion |
| Overseas collectivities | French Polynesia · Mayotte2 · Saint Barthélemy · Saint Martin · Saint Pierre and Miquelon · Wallis and Futuna |
| Special status | New Caledonia |
| Uninhabited lands | Clipperton Island · French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Île Amsterdam • Île Saint-Paul • Crozet Islands • Kerguelen Islands • Adélie Land • Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean: Bassas da India3 • Europa Island3 • Glorioso Islands2, 3, 4 • Juan de Nova Island3 • Tromelin Island5) |
| 1 Also known as overseas regions. 2 Claimed by Comoros. 3 Claimed by Madagascar. 4 Claimed by Seychelles. 5 Claimed by Mauritius. | |
