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Île St Paul (St Paul Island)
last update: Feb 05, 2008 04:31 PM
France
On 19 April 1618, Haevik Klaaszoon van Hillegom became the first person to discover the island. The Dutch made the first landing in 1696. In 1955, Île St Paul was formally incorporated with Île Amsterdam, Îles Kerguelen, Îles Crozet and Terre Adélie in Antarctica as the Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises. The island is an unglaciated volcanic cone, and is 7 sq km in size - its highest point being at 264 m (Crête de la Novara). The long-crested rockhopper penguin can be seen on Île St Paul. Rats used to eat the eggs of the birds, so an eradication program (completed in 1997) was started.
