All Topics  
Outer Islands (Seychelles)

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Outer Islands (Seychelles)
 
 
  Topics Outer Islands (Seychelles) Topic Home

The Outer Islands or Coralline Seychelles is a collective term for those island
Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s of the Seychelles
Seychelles

Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an archipelago Country of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
 that are not on the shallow Seychelles Bank (Seychelles Plateau) which defines the location of the Inner Islands. They are located at distances of 230 to 1150 km from the main Seychelles island of Mahé
Mahé, Seychelles

Mah? is the largest island of the Seychelles, lying in the north east of the nation. The population of Mah? is 80,000. It contains the capital city of Victoria, Seychelles and accommodates 90% of the country's total population....
, and are all of coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
 formation. The local name for the islands is Zil Elwannyen Sesel. The islands are outside the administrative and electoral Districts of Seychelles
Districts of Seychelles

Seychelles is divided into 25 districts. All are located on the Inner Islands; the Outer Islands are not part of any district. Eight of the districts make up the Capital , Greater Victoria, Seychelles, 14 are located in the rural part of the main island Mah?, Seychelles, two on Praslin, and one on La Digue ....
.

The coral islands are flat with elevated coral reefs at different stages of formation.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Outer Islands (Seychelles)'
Start a new discussion about 'Outer Islands (Seychelles)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Outer Islands or Coralline Seychelles is a collective term for those island
Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s of the Seychelles
Seychelles

Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an archipelago Country of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
 that are not on the shallow Seychelles Bank (Seychelles Plateau) which defines the location of the Inner Islands. They are located at distances of 230 to 1150 km from the main Seychelles island of Mahé
Mahé, Seychelles

Mah? is the largest island of the Seychelles, lying in the north east of the nation. The population of Mah? is 80,000. It contains the capital city of Victoria, Seychelles and accommodates 90% of the country's total population....
, and are all of coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
 formation. The local name for the islands is Zil Elwannyen Sesel. The islands are outside the administrative and electoral Districts of Seychelles
Districts of Seychelles

Seychelles is divided into 25 districts. All are located on the Inner Islands; the Outer Islands are not part of any district. Eight of the districts make up the Capital , Greater Victoria, Seychelles, 14 are located in the rural part of the main island Mah?, Seychelles, two on Praslin, and one on La Digue ....
.

The coral islands are flat with elevated coral reefs at different stages of formation. They are generally low-lying, and often form atoll
Atoll

An atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely....
s around a central lagoon. The soils of the corraline Seychelles are generally sandy and infertile, and hold little fresh water. The lack of natural fresh water sources and infertile soils of these islands can sustain human life only with difficulty.

The Granitic Seychelles
Granitic Seychelles

The Granitic Seychelles are the islands in the Seychelles which lie in central position on the Seychelles Bank and are composed of granite rock....
, by contrast, are composed of granite, and are ancient fragments of continental crust
Continental crust

The continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks which form the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as Continental shelf....
. They are generally more mountainous and humid.

The Outer Islands are comprised of five groups:
  1. Southern Coral Group
    Southern Coral Group

    Southern Coral Group is a collective term for two islands of Outer Islands of the Seychelles, lying in the south of the island nation, between 135 and 300 kilometers south of the capital, Victoria, Seychelles, on Mah?, Seychelles Island....
     (Île Platte
    Île Platte

    ?le Platte, or Platte Island is 135 km south of Mah?, Seychelles, the main island of the Seychelles. At , it is clearly south of the Seychelles Bank and belongs to the Outer Islands ....
     and Coëtivy Island
    Coëtivy Island

    Co?tivy Island is a small coral island in the Seychelles 290 km south of Mah?, Seychelles, at . Along with ?le Platte, the nearest neighbor 171 km northwest, it comprises the Southern Coral Group and therefore belongs to the Outer Islands ....
    ), land area 10 km²
  2. Amirante Islands
    Amirante Islands

    The Amirante Islands , a group of coral islands and atolls, belong to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles. They stretch about 155 km from the African Banks in the north to ?le Desn?ufs in the south, all on the shallow Amirantes Bank , except the main island ?le Desroches in the east, and submerged Lady Denison-Pender Shoal at the no...
     (3 atoll
    Atoll

    An atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely....
    s, 5 single sand cays, 3 uplifted sand cays), land area 10 km²
  3. Alphonse Group
    Alphonse Group

    The Alphonse Group belong to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, lying in the southwest of the island nation, 403 kilometres southwest the capital, Victoria, Seychelles, on Mah?, Seychelles Island....
     (Alphonse Atoll
    Alphonse Atoll

    Alphonse Atoll is one of two atolls of the Alphonse Group, and located 87 km south of the Amirante Islands, and just three kilometers north of St....
     and St. François Atoll
    St. François Atoll

    St. Fran?ois Atoll is one of two atolls of the Alphonse Group of the Seychelles, just three kilometers south of Alphonse Atoll, the second atoll of Alphonse Group....
     (Bijoutier-St. François)), land area 2 km²
  4. Aldabra Group
    Aldabra Group

    The Aldabra Group are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, lying in the southwest of the island nation, 1000 kilometres from the capital, Victoria, Seychelles, on Mah?, Seychelles Island....
     (Aldabra Atoll, Assumption Island
    Assumption Island

    Assumption Island is a small island located at in the Indian Ocean north of Madagascar and is part of the country of the Seychelles. It is located about 30 km southeast of the Aldabra Atoll and is part of the Aldabra Group....
    , Cosmoledo Atoll
    Cosmoledo

    Cosmoledo is an atoll of the Aldabra Group and belongs to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles. The atoll is 14.5 km long east-west, and 11.5 km north-south....
    , Astove Island
    Astove Island

    Astove Island is part of the Aldabra Group of the Seychelles. It is 38 km SSE of Cosmoledo Atoll, located at . It is a raised coral island of most peculiar form: a single stretch of land, more than 1 km at the widest, almost entirely encloses a shallow lagoon....
    ), land area 176 km²
  5. Farquhar Group
    Farquhar Group

    The Farquhar Group belong to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, lying in the southwest of the island nation, more than 700 kilometres southwest the capital, Victoria, Seychelles, on Mah?, Seychelles Island....
     (Farquhar Atoll
    Farquhar Atoll

    The Farquhar Atoll is part of the Farquhar Group of islands in the Seychelles that are part of the Outer Islands . From 1965 to the independence of the Seychelles in 1976, they were a part of the British Indian Ocean Territory....
    , Providence Atoll
    Providence Atoll

    The Providence Atoll is part of the Seychelles, in the Farquhar Group. The islands in the group are small, coraline and inhospitable. The atoll has a more than 30 km long north-south axis, and is up to 10 km wide....
     (Providence-Cerf), St. Pierre Island
    St. Pierre Island

    St Pierre Island is a raised reef island west of Providence Atoll and part of Farquhar Group, which belongs to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles....
    ), land area 11 km²


The Outer Islands comprise 211.3 km² (46% of the total land area of the Seychelles), but less than 2% of the population of the Seychelles. Eleven islands are inhabited, with the largest settlement on Coëtivy Island.