Islands of the Indian Ocean: description and photo. Journey through the islands of the Indian Ocean

Today we will consider the islands of the Indian Ocean. After all, it is the third largest reservoir in the world. In its warm waters, there are many very spectacular tropical islands that simply can not leave indifferent travelers. In addition, they are all classified as nature reserves. Most of them are mainly concentrated in the western part. Now we will take a closer look at some of them, and also on what types they are divided. They are genetically: coral, volcanic and continental.

Mainland and volcanic islands

The largest belong to the first - Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Masirai, Curia-Muria, Socotra, the Great Sunda, as well as many small islands along the shores of Western Australia, Indochina and Arabia. Most of them are a limestone plateau on ancient Precambrian granites. There are also mountainous. All the famous Seychelles have their own, special structure. Within the ocean floor are the only structures made up of granites. The islands of the Indian Ocean, having a volcanic origin, in turn are divided into islands of the open ocean and islands of the transition zone. The latter are elements of island arcs. They have a mountain relief, their peaks are crowned with cones of volcanoes. These are the Nicobar, Andaman and the Great Sunda Islands. They rely less on volcanic tuff, and more on basalt. Volcanic islands of the Indian Ocean, such as Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen, St. Paul, Amsterdam, Mascarene, Comoros, are small in size and are above-water peaks of volcanoes. Around them almost always there are coral reefs.

Coral islands

The most important feature of this part of the terrestrial reservoirs are islands consisting of corals. They are for the most part typical atolls, which are made up of a large number of fels, coral sand, gravel and gravel. A vivid example of such an atoll is Diego Garcia. But the islands of the Indian Ocean of coral origin are also more complex atolls, consisting of many small atolls, and have up to 150 km in diameter. These are huge ring-shaped structures, such islands as Cocos, Amaranth, Chagos, Maldives, Lakadiv. Many of them were formed due to the reef raising. A few examples. The island of Christmas, 365 meters above sea level, was formed at the top point of the Coconut Uplift, the island of Tromelen is five meters above the water level, and under it 4000 meters of the Mascarene Basin. What else are the coral islands of the Indian Ocean? The fact that they mainly grow coconut palms and preserved dense impenetrable thickets of mangrove forests. This is particularly characteristic, for example, for the Amaranth islands. Thanks to all its beauties and unexplored places, such places are especially attractive for travelers and tourists.

Islands of the Indian Ocean, the list of islands of the eastern region

Now we list you the islands that belong to the region of East India: Andaman, Ashmore and Cartier, Christmas, Kakadu, Cocos (Keeling), Dirk-Hartog, Garden Island, Jaffna, Kangaroo, Langkawi, King Island, Mentawai, Nias, Nicobar , Penang, Phi Phi, Phuket, Simeulue, Sri Lanka, Mannar. Let's continue the theme of which islands in the Indian Ocean, in its western part. These are: Agalega, Bank du Geiser, Bassas da India, Kargados Karajos, Chagos Archipelago, Comoros, Europe, Juan de Nova islands, Lakshadweep - archipelago, Madagascar, Mafia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mayotte, Pemba, Reunion, Rodriguez , Seychelles, Tromelen, Zanzibar. And, finally, only a few southern islands that are located south of Madagascar: Amsterdam, Crozet, Heard, MacDonald, Kerguelen, Prince Edward, St. Paul.

Madagascar - a unique island of the Indian Ocean

If we consider the largest islands of the Indian Ocean, we can not fail to pay attention to Madagascar, whose history begins when he broke away from Africa, about a couple of hundred million years. In size, it is the fourth among all the islands of the world. It contains an amazing variety of plants, animals and birds, most of which - about 80% - are unique. The huge forests here are attracting researchers and scientists around the world. With them on the biodiversity of the flora, even the tropics of South America can not compete. In these places you can find even creatures of the times of dinosaurs, for example chameleons, having forty species. Take another fifty varieties of lemurs. All together, they chose such wonderful trees as baobabs and thorny woods. Due to its amazing uniqueness, Madagascar makes us consider ourselves the eighth continent.

Seychelles

If you take the largest islands of the Indian Ocean, then Seychelles can also be referred to them, which became independent in 1976. They occupy an area of 455 square kilometers, divided into 23 districts, are from Africa at a distance of 1600 kilometers. Around them are the following islands: Reunion and Mauritius - in the south, Maldives - in the north-east and Comoros - in the south-west. Local residents here are about 80 thousand, most of them have Chinese, Indian, Arab, African and French origin. The native language is Creole, but English and French are also widely spoken. Seychelles consist of 115 islands of the archipelago, of which 33 are inhabited. The climate here is marine subtropical, the average annual temperature is 29 degrees, in March and November there is a lot of rain. Most tourists come here for beach holidays, diving and sightseeing.

Mauritius - a paradise for relaxation

If you consider one particular island in the Indian Ocean, the most suitable for a comfortable stay, then you need to pay attention to Mauritius. The country of the same name is one of the richest in Africa, characterized by colonial French mansions, bright Indian temples, croissants for breakfast and curry for dinner. Here various religions and peoples coexist, a successful multicultural society is created. The size of the island is small, it can be traveled in one day, this is a resort of the highest class, where a magnificent service is combined with enormous popularity. In the presence of the whole wide range of beach holidays, you can even engage in fishing for large fish.