ÃŽle de la Possession

The Ile de la Possession ( originally Ile de la Prise de Possession ) is the largest island in the Crozet Islands in the southern Indian Ocean. She belongs to the French overseas territory " Terres et australes antarctiques françaises ".

Geography

The Ile de la Possession is located about 15 km west of the neighboring Ile de l' Est and is separated from it by the Canal des Orques. The island is located in the east-west direction about 19 km long in north-south direction up to 14 km wide, and in this case has an area of ​​approximately 150 km ². They reached the Pic du Mascarin (also known as Pic du Mescado called ), a stratovolcano, a height of 934 m above sea level and thus represents the second-highest island of the archipelago

History

The island was discovered on January 24, 1772 by Marc -Joseph Marion du Fresne, who landed on the same day on the island and took possession for France. The Ile de la Possession was visited mainly by seal hunters, and later by whalers in the early 19th century. From 1963-64, the research station Alfred Faure was built on the Baie du Marin on the east coast of the island, which is now occupied permanently by about 15 people in winter and up to 60 people in the summer.