Egmont Islands

The Egmont Islands or Six Iles are one of the few emerged coral atolls that make up the Chagos Archipelago.

This small atoll lies less than 10 km south of the submerged coral reef of the southern rim of the Great Chagos Bank. The nearest island is Danger Island on the Great Chagos Bank, less than 30 km due north.

Its total size is 29 km²[1], including the lagoon and the fringing coral reef. The land area totals about 4 km². The largest island is "Île Sud-Est" (Eastern Egmont), where the settlement was located, with an area of 1.5 km². While "Île Lubine" is similar in size, the other islets are smaller. All islands are covered with coconut trees.

Map of Egmont Islands or Six Iles

Ile Sudest, the largest island, was first settled in the last half of the 1700s, at the time when the other atolls of the Chagos were settled by the French.

Commander Robert Moresby made a survey of this atoll and charted it in 1838. At that time there was a coconut plantation on this atoll. A causeway had been built linking the islands and some land reclamation was done. Eventually some of the islands merged with each other.

The Egmont Islands were no longer inhabited in the second half of the twentieth century, at the time that the Chagossians or Ilois were evicted from the Chagos.

There are two passages into the lagoon along the Northern Rim, Fausse Passe in the northeast and a wider passage in the northwest. The Egmont Islands are one of the favorite anchoring spots for itinerant yachtsmen passing through the Chagos.

The individual islands are all on the southern rim of the coral reef. They are, from southeast to northwest:

1. Île Sud-Est
2. Île Takamaka
3. Île Carre Pate
4. Île Lubine
5. Île Cipaye
6. Île aux Rats

West of Ile aux Rats there was a small islet known as Ilot aux Rats which has now merged with Ile aux Rats. Ile Cipaye is also spelled 'Sipaille' and 'Cipaille'. Isle Carre Pate is also spelled 'Carpathe'. On some maritime charts Ile Takamaka is spelled as 'Tattamucca'.

References

• The Indian Ocean Pilot
• British Hydrographic Services. Admiralty Charts. Maps in the Chagos Archipelago.
• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/io.html