Editing Peros Banhos

{{Short description|Archipelago in the Chagos Archipelago}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Location map
 |Indian Ocean
 |label=Peros Banhos
 |lon_dir=E
 |lat_dir=S
 |lat_deg=5|lat_min=20
 |lon_deg=71|lon_min=51
 |position=right
 |width=300
 |float=right
 |mark=Cercle rouge 100%.svg
 |marksize=20
 |caption=Location of Peros Banhos Atoll in the Indian Ocean
}}
'''Peros Banhos''', '''Pedro dos Banhos'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3665435 |title=Particular plans of islands, rocks, and shoals in the Indian Ocean |publisher=Catalogue.nla.gov.au |access-date=2014-02-20}}</ref> or '''Baixos de Pêro dos Banhos'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nautarch.tamu.edu/NAPwiki/index.php/Portuguese_Indiamen_Shipwrecks |title=Portuguese Indiamen Shipwrecks |publisher=Nautarch.tamu.edu |date=2010-12-09 |access-date=2014-02-20}}</ref> in old maps, is a formerly inhabited [[atoll]] in the [[Chagos Archipelago]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-02-14|title=Mauritius formally challenges Britain's ownership of Chagos Islands|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/14/mauritius-formally-challenges-britains-ownership-of-chagos-islands|access-date=2022-02-14|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

'''Île Yeye''', located at the northeastern corner of the atoll, is the island of the [[Chagos Archipelago]] that is closest to the [[Maldives]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Xavier Romero-Frias|author-link=Xavier Romero-Frias|title=The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom|publisher=Barcelona|year=1999|isbn=84-7254-801-5}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Biot-map.png|thumb|right|200px|Location map of Chagos Archipelago, with Peros Banhos]]
The atoll has a total area of {{convert|503|km2|0|abbr=on}}, but a land area of only {{convert|9.6|km2|1|abbr=on}}, made up by some 32 islets. {{convert|490|km2|0|abbr=on}}, most of the remaining surface is occupied by the lagoon, which is connected to the open sea and the [[coral reef|reef flat]].

Peros Banhos is a medium-sized coralline atoll circled by a regular [[coral reef]], similar to those in the neighboring [[Maldives]]. The diameter of the lagoon, known as ''Baie de Peros Banhos'' in French, is just above 20&nbsp;km. The circling reef is sunken on its southeastern rim. All islands are flat and sandy and the largest ones are covered with [[coconut]] trees.

The largest and most important island in the group is [[Île du Coin]]. It was home to the Perch Settlement from where the coconut plantations of the atoll were run. This island was the main port of the atoll and had a jetty to load and unload merchandise.

Île du Coin was the only island that was settled permanently in Peros Banhos. Other important islands in the atoll that had buildings on them and were also occasionally inhabited were [[Grande Soeur, Peros Banhos|Grande Soeur]], [[Île Diamant]], [[Île Manoël]] and [[Île Pierre]]. All these islands were part of the former coconut plantation run from Île du Coin.

[[Île Yeye]], at the northeastern corner of the atoll, is the island of the Chagos that is closest to the [[Maldives]]. The distance between [[Île Yeye]] and Gan Island ([[Addu Atoll]]) is {{convert|523|km}}.

There have been some changes in the geography of this atoll since the first maps were published in the mid-19th century. Île St. Brandon, which was covered with coconut trees when the first survey of this atoll was done, is now just a sandbank. On the other hand, in the western rim of Peros Banhos, the island north of Île Verte was only a small sandbank at the time of Commander [[Robert Moresby]]'s Survey in 1837, but now it is a medium-sized island covered with vegetation.

==History==
[[File:Retrato de Afonso de Albuquerque (após 1545) - Autor desconhecido.png|200px|thumb|[[Afonso de Albuquerque]], the [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] navigator who [[Age of Discovery|discovered]] Peros Banhos]]

Peros Banhos was discovered in 1513 by [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] navigator [[Afonso de Albuquerque]]. The name of this atoll derives from "Pêro dos Banhos", the name of another Portuguese navigator{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}} who died there after his ship ran aground on this atoll.{{when|date=November 2011}}

The earliest and most interesting description of Peros Banhos was written by Manoel Rangel in ''«A Tragédia dos Baixos de Pero dos Banhos»''. He was a castaway from the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] ship ''Conceição'' under captain Francisco Nobre that ran aground and was smashed on the Peros Banhos reefs in 1556.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pedroalmeidavieira.com/?p/785/3087/3602/H/3602/3601/ |title=António Sérgio, ''História Trágico-Marítima'', Livraria Sá da Costa, 1934 |publisher=Pedroalmeidavieira.com |access-date=2014-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093707/http://www.pedroalmeidavieira.com/?p%2F785%2F3087%2F3602%2FH%2F3602%2F3601%2F |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
165 survivors were left on a flat sandy island of Peros Banhos before [[coconut tree]]s were there; among them were two women and five Catholic priests. Rangel mentions that there were weeds and grasses and that about ten thousand birds lived on that Island. While the birds lasted the castaways survived, but they began to die in great numbers after having eaten most of the bird population.

According to Manoel Rangel there was drinking water to be found by digging shallow wells in the sand. Also many turtles came to lay [[egg (biology)|eggs]] on the beach of that island.<ref>Bernardo Gomes de Brito. ''Historia Tragico Maritima. Em que se escrevem chronologicamente os Naufragios que tiverao as Naos de Portugal, depois que se poz em exercicio a Navegaçao da India.'' Lisboa 1735
</ref>

Since 1756 Île du Coin was home to a population of up to 500 people. Most of the inhabitants, the [[Ilois]], were workers in the coconut plantations and in the oil-producing industry. The Ilois were Christian and there were churches and primary schools in Peros Banhos before the local population was moved away. Their language was a [[Creole language|Creole]] version of French, known as [[Chagossian Creole]]. 

There is a small bushy island called Île Diable on the NW of the atoll.

[[Moresby Island (Peros Banhos)|Moresby Island]], at the northern end of Peros Banhos Atoll was named after [[Robert Moresby]], a British hydrographer who made the first accurate survey of the [[Chagos Archipelago]] in 1837. After Moresby's survey, the first detailed map of Peros Banhos Atoll was published by the Hydrographic Service of the [[Royal Navy|Indian Navy]].

In 1970, the [[Depopulation of Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago|entire population of Peros Banhos Atoll was expelled by the British Government]] and sent to live in [[Mauritius]]. More recently, the islands have been investigated as a possible location for resettlement, although access is currently prohibited.

In February 2022, exiled islanders made their first unsupervised visit to the island, following [[British Indian Ocean Territory#International rulings|international court rulings]] and a majority vote in the [[UN General Assembly]]. Prime Minister of Mauritius, [[Pravind Jugnauth]], said this was not to embarrass the UK, but "merely an exercise of our sovereignty over part of our territory and that is in accordance with international law."<ref name=observer-20220213>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/12/exiled-chagos-islanders-return-uk-disputed-archipelago-mauritius |title=Exiled Chagos Islanders bask in return 'as pilgrims to abandoned place' |last1=Bowcott |first1=Owen |last2=Rinvolucri |first2=Bruno |newspaper=The Observer |date=13 February 2022 |access-date=13 February 2022}}</ref>

==Nature Reserve==
[[File:Peros Banhos Strict Nature Reserve, BIOT.svg|180px|thumb|left|Peros Banhos Atoll Strict Nature Reserve]]
The part of the atoll east of a line drawn between the easternmost point of land on Moresby Island (north) and the easternmost point of land on Fouquet Island (south) fall within the '''Peros Banhos Atoll Strict Nature Reserve'''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Conservation and Management in British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) |url=http://www.chagos-trust.org/sites/default/files/images/Conservation%20and%20Management%20Plan.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102064723/http://www.chagos-trust.org/sites/default/files/images/Conservation%20and%20Management%20Plan.pdf |archive-date=2 November 2012 }}</ref> Entry into this and into the other Strict [[Nature Reserve]]s, and within {{convert|200|m}} of the islands therein is prohibited and activities are clearly proscribed by the [[British Indian Ocean Territory]]. It has been identified as an [[Important Bird Area]] by [[BirdLife International]] because of its significance as a breeding site for [[Sooty tern|sooty terns]], of which 14,000 pairs were recorded in a 2004 survey.<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |date=2012 |title=Ile Parasol, Peros Banhos |url=http://www.birdlife.org |accessdate=2012-10-23 |work=Important Bird Areas factsheet |publisher=BirdLife International}}</ref>

[[Yachtsmen]] are advised not to even anchor within the limits of the Peros Banhos Atoll Strict Nature Reserve.

==List of islands==
With some 32 islets, the Peros Banhos Atoll encompasses about half of all [[List of islands in Chagos Archipelago|islands in the Chagos Archipelago]]. The individual islands and islets are listed clockwise, starting in the south:
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Map of Peros Banhos
! Southwest rim (between southern channel and Passe de l'Île Poule)
! Northwest rim (between Passe de l'Île Poule and Moresby Channel)
! Eastern part (east of southern channel and Moresby Channel)
|-
|  style="width:25%; vertical-align:top;"|
[[File:Peros Banhos, British Indian Ocean Territory.svg|thumb|Map of Peros Banhos]]

|  style="width:25%; vertical-align:top;"|
*[[Île Fouquet]]
*[[Mapou de l'Île du Coin]]
*[[Île du Coin]]
*[[Île Anglaise]]
*[[Île Monpâtre]]
*[[Île Gabrielle]]
*[[Île Poule]]

|  style="width:25%; vertical-align:top;"|
*[[Petite Soeur, Peros Banhos|Petite Soeur]]
*[[Grande Soeur, Peros Banhos|Grande Soeur]]
*[[Île Finon]]
*[[Île Verte, Peros Banhos|Île Verte]]
*[[Île Libbon]]
*[[Île Manon]]
*[[Île Pierre]]
*[[Île Diable]]
*[[Petite Île Mapou]]
*[[Grande Île Mapou]]
*[[Île Diamant]]

|  style="width:25%; vertical-align:top;"|
*[[Île de la Passe (Peros Banhos)|Île de la Passe]]
*[[Moresby Island (Peros Banhos)|Moresby Island]]
*[[Île Saint-Brandon]]
*[[Île Parasol]]
*[[Île Longue (Peros Banhos)|Île Longue]]
*[[Grande Île Bois Mangue]]
*[[Petite Île Bois Mangue]]
*[[Île Manoël]]
*[[Île Animaux]]
*[[Île Yeye]] (0.60&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>)
*[[Petite Île Coquillage]]
*[[Grande Île Coquillage]]
*[[Coin du Mire (Peros Banhos)|Coin du Mire]]
*[[Île Vache Marine (Peros Banhos)|Île Vache Marine]]
|}

Passe de l'Île Poule is also called ''Passe Elisabeth'' on older maps.

The islands in the eastern part are part of the Peros Banhos Strict Nature Reserve, except Île De La Passe and Moresby Island.

== Notable former residents ==

* [[Louis Olivier Bancoult]]
* [[Jessy Marcelin]]
* [[Clément Siatous]]
* [[Liseby Elysé]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Literature==
* R.P. Roger Dussercle S. Sp., "Archipel de Chagos", En Mission 10 Novembre 1933 – 11 Januar 1934, Port Lois – Île Maurice: The General Printing & Stationery Cy. Ltd., T. Eclapon, Administrateur, MCMXXXIV

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.taniwani.de/R2007-01.htm Pictures of Peros Banhos]

{{Atolls of the Chagos Archipelago}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|5|20|S|71|51|E|display=title}}

[[Category:Atolls of the Chagos Archipelago]]
[[Category:Nature reserves]]