Marie Louise Island

The island of Marie Louise is located in the Indian Ocean and is part of the archipelago of the Amiranten - and thus to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles. It is 1,250 m long, 600 m wide, covering an area of ​​52 hectares (0.52 km ²), is 280 km from the main island of Mahé and 13 km from the nearest island Desnoeufs away. It was named in 1771 by the Chevalier du Roslan after his ship Marie Louise.

Since the end of the 19th century, the island has been leased and inhabited without interruption. In 1905 the population was 86 persons, and the island exported this year 3,500 tons of guano. By the year 1963, when it was producing 3,000 tons of fertilizer, this was the mainstay of the island economy, which also still lived from copra and dried fish.

In the 1980s an attempt was made for tourism to develop the island and build some bungalows, but failed because of the limitations of aviation: the numerous birds on the island made ​​a landing for aircraft too risky. The landing on the 3 m high island by boat is difficult, because the coast falls steeply and is littered with boulders.

After guano and copra lost its economic importance, Marie Louise was almost a ghost island on which today only a few people live.