The
Great Chagos Bank, in the
Chagos ArchipelagoThe Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual tropical islands roughly in the centre of the Indian Ocean....
, about South of the
MaldivesThe Maldives , or Maldive Islands, officially Republic of Maldives, is an island country in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls stretching along north-south direction off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and Chagos Archipelago...
, is the largest
atollAn atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu
OED. Its first recorded use in English was in 1625 as atollon...
structure in the world, with a total area of . There are seven or eight individual islands on the rim of the atoll, one in the North (Nelson's Island) and the others on the Eastern rim. The total land area of the islands is about . The Atoll is administered by the UK.
The individual islands, starting in the South clockwise, are:
- Danger Island
Danger Island is the westernmost and the southernmost island of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure, located in the Chagos Archipelago.This is a long and flat island, covered with tall coconut trees...
(slightly more than long from North to South, by wide, land area , vegetated with palmArecaceae or Palmae , the palm family, is a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales...
trees up to high, Strict Nature Reserve since 1998)
- Eagle Islands
Eagle Islands is a group of two islands in the Chagos Archipelago. They are located on the central-western rim of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure...
- Île Aigle (Eagle Island, vegetated with high coconut trees, land area
- Sea Cow Island (Île Vache Marines), vegetated with trees, land area , Strict Nature Reserve since 1998)
- Three Brothers
Three Brothers is a group of three islands 20 km East of Eagle Islands along the central western rim of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure, located in the Chagos Archipelago. There is also a tiny unexplored islet...
(Trois Fréres) and Resurgent Islands (vegetated with high coconut trees, land area , Strict Nature Reserve since 1998)
- Île du Sud (South Island, largest of the group),
- Île du Milieu (Middle Island),
- unnamed rocky islet
- Île du Nord (North Island),
- Nelsons Island
Nelson Island is the northernmost and the easternmost island of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure, located in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The nearest neighbour is Île Boddam in the Salomon Islands....
( long from East to West, up to wide, land area , with high, bushy vegetation, Strict Nature Reserve since 1998)
The Great Chagos bank was surveyed for the first time by Commander
Robert MoresbyRobert Moresby was a distinguished captain of the British Royal Navy. He was also an excellent hydrographer, maritime surveyor and draughtsman....
of the
Indian NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
in 1837.
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The
Great Chagos Bank, in the
Chagos ArchipelagoThe Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual tropical islands roughly in the centre of the Indian Ocean....
, about South of the
MaldivesThe Maldives , or Maldive Islands, officially Republic of Maldives, is an island country in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls stretching along north-south direction off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and Chagos Archipelago...
, is the largest
atollAn atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu
OED. Its first recorded use in English was in 1625 as atollon...
structure in the world, with a total area of . There are seven or eight individual islands on the rim of the atoll, one in the North (Nelson's Island) and the others on the Eastern rim. The total land area of the islands is about . The Atoll is administered by the UK.
The individual islands, starting in the South clockwise, are:
- Danger Island
Danger Island is the westernmost and the southernmost island of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure, located in the Chagos Archipelago.This is a long and flat island, covered with tall coconut trees...
(slightly more than long from North to South, by wide, land area , vegetated with palmArecaceae or Palmae , the palm family, is a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales...
trees up to high, Strict Nature Reserve since 1998)
- Eagle Islands
Eagle Islands is a group of two islands in the Chagos Archipelago. They are located on the central-western rim of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure...
- Île Aigle (Eagle Island, vegetated with high coconut trees, land area
- Sea Cow Island (Île Vache Marines), vegetated with trees, land area , Strict Nature Reserve since 1998)
- Three Brothers
Three Brothers is a group of three islands 20 km East of Eagle Islands along the central western rim of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure, located in the Chagos Archipelago. There is also a tiny unexplored islet...
(Trois Fréres) and Resurgent Islands (vegetated with high coconut trees, land area , Strict Nature Reserve since 1998)
- Île du Sud (South Island, largest of the group),
- Île du Milieu (Middle Island),
- unnamed rocky islet
- Île du Nord (North Island),
- Nelsons Island
Nelson Island is the northernmost and the easternmost island of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure, located in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The nearest neighbour is Île Boddam in the Salomon Islands....
( long from East to West, up to wide, land area , with high, bushy vegetation, Strict Nature Reserve since 1998)
Cartography of the Submerged Reefs
The Great Chagos bank was surveyed for the first time by Commander
Robert MoresbyRobert Moresby was a distinguished captain of the British Royal Navy. He was also an excellent hydrographer, maritime surveyor and draughtsman....
of the
Indian NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
in 1837. Although the charts of "normal" atolls like
Peros BanhosPeros Banhos is a formerly inhabited atoll in the Chagos Archipelago of the British Indian Ocean Territory.-Geography:The atoll has a total area of 503 km², but a land area of only 13 km², made up by some 32 islets...
and
Diego GarciaDiego García is an island considered the largest atoll, in terms of land area, of the Chagos Archipelago, and is part of the British Indian Ocean Territories. The island is located in the Indian Ocean, about 1,600 km south of the southern coast of India...
were relatively accurate, the cartography of the vast sunken reefs forming the Great Chagos Bank proved quite a challenge. The real shape of these sunken reefs was known only when satellite imagery became available in the latter part of the 20th century.
Moresby's original hydrographic drawings were somewhat at variance with the true shape of the submerged reef, especially in areas where there were no emerging islands close by, like in the South east of the bank. The outlines of the first hydrographic surveys are still marked in present-day navigational maps of the Chagos with a dotted line and the legend "existence doubtful".