Goa Island (), locally known as ''Watólofu'', also known as Saint George Island (), is a small archetypal desert island, with a flat rocky brown

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

outcrop with dense borderline vegetation, white sand beach and a lighthouse. It is surrounded by crystal clear water, home to a variety of tropical fishes. The island is

uninhabited The list of uninhabited regions includes a number of places around the globe. The list changes year over year as human beings migrate into formerly uninhabited regions, or migrate out of formerly inhabited regions. Definitions The exact def ...

and located within

Nampula Province Nampula is a Provinces of Mozambique, province of northern Mozambique. It has an area of and a population of 5,758,920, making it the most populous province in Mozambique (2017 census). Nampula is the capital of the province. History Under Port ...

in Mozambique. It is situated in the Indian Ocean near

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (, , ) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long and across at its narrowest point, and reaches a depth of about off the coa ...

about east of

Mozambique Island The Island of Mozambique () lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa. With its rich history and sandy ...

and is part of an archipelago with Island of Sena () and Island of Mozambique.

Etymology

The origin of the name "''Ilha de Goa''" is derived from its location within the sea route of

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, India. It was a base of the

Portuguese Mozambican Portuguese Mozambicans () are Mozambican-born descendants of Portuguese settlers. History Portuguese explorers turned to present-day Mozambique and two other PALOP nations (Angola and Guinea-Bissau) to bring black slaves to Portugal before br ...

government between 1509 and 1662.

Landmark

The island has a

solar powered Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is an essentia ...

lighthouse located at the entrance of the Mossuril Bay, it is used as a guide for the offshore vessels en route to Island of Mozambique and is still in service, run by the lighthouse keeper and his family that lived in Goa, India for more than two decades. It is one of the oldest and popular lighthouses in Mozambique, built during the Portuguese Mozambique era in 1876 and is an oldest example of the robust square tower design of lighthouses in

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

and the coast of

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...

(now Tanzania). During the 20th-century in 1923 the station was upgraded with new lanterns and lenses with the tower being raised from its original height of to . It is accessible by the public, one can witness the panoramic view from the top of the lighthouse which is next to the island's beach.

Shipwreck

On 7 July 2011, the Goa and Sena islands were closed for tourism as a result of a

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

which resulted in 8 fatalities, six students and two missionary

Sisters of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition alone, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (whose sisters are also of ...

from Spain. The islands that were used for hosting parties, excursions and tours were halted operations and were used as a subject of study to determine the safety of receiving future tourists, announced Alfredo Matata, the president of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of Mozambique Island. The case study was examined by a team of technicians from ''Instituto Nacional do Mar'' (INAMAR). A mass was celebrated in the Archdiocese of Nampula for the victims along with local awareness campaigns that were carried out to explain the islanders and tourists to immediately stop visiting these two islets.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Goa Island in Mozambique
Islands of Mozambique