Crozet Islands

archipelago, Indian Ocean

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BY The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica | View Edit History

Crozet Islands, archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean, 1,500

miles (2,400 km) off the coast of Antarctica, administratively a part
of the French Southern and Antarctic Territories (q.v.). It consists of
several small uninhabited islands of volcanic origin. Discovered by
Captain Nicolas-Thomas Marion-Dufresne in 1772, the islands cover
an area of 195 square miles (505 square km). Rising to 6,560 feet
(2,000 m) on the Île de la Possession, they are rugged, with steep
cliffs, and have been the scene of many shipwrecks. They have been
designated a national conservation area.