evidence: Europa Island, Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, France Europa Island is a 28-square-kilometer low-lying tropical island in the Mozambique Channel, roughly halfway between southern Madagascar and southern Mozambique. The island had never been inhabited until the French family Rosier arrived there in 1820. In 1897, France officially took possession of the island. The island, which is guarded by a Réunion detachment, has a meteorological station and is visited by scientists. Despite being deserted, it is part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands administrative region’s "Scattered Islands."