Amsterdam Island

Amsterdam Island

The Saint-Paul and Amsterdam Islands, formerly the Saint-Paul and New Amsterdam Islands, form a district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, comprising the islands of Saint-Paul and Amsterdam, 91 km apart. This district is located in the southern Indian Ocean at the southwestern end of the Australian Plate, about 1,325 km north-northeast of the Kerguelen Islands. The population is about twenty-five in winter and fifty in summer. The two islands are very different in size, with Amsterdam Island covering 58 km2 and Saint-Paul Island just 8 km2. Amsterdam Island is a rather massive volcanic island. It is 10 km long (north-south axis) and 7 km wide (east-west axis). The western part is bordered by high cliffs, 400 to 700 meters high, while the eastern part slopes more gently down to the sea. Mont de la Dives, the highest point of the island, rises to 881 meters. The rocky, indented coastline offers no easy access by sea, except to the north, where the base is located. The island hosts the endemic Amsterdam Albatross, breeding only on the Plateau des Tourbières. The Brown Skua, the Antarctic Tern and the Western Rockhopper Penguin are other rare species. The Plateau des Tourbières and the Falaises d'Entrcasteaux have both been designated Important Bird Areas by BirdLife International, the last for its large breeding colony of Indian Yellow-Nosed Albatross. Subantarctic Fur Seals and Southern Elephant Seals breed on the island, but there are no native land mammals.