The Farquhar Group belong to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, lying in the southwest of the island nation, more than southwest of the capital, Victoria, on Mahé Island.
Area
The total land area of all islands in the group is less than , but the total area of the atolls measures about .
The group consists of two and one separate island. In addition, there are a couple of submerged in the area:
-
Farquhar Atoll (with two larger and about eight smaller islets)
-
Providence Atoll (with 2 islets, Providence Island and Cerf Island)
-
St. Pierre Island
-
Wizard Reef
-
Umzinto Bank (submerged)
-
Bulldog Bank (submerged)
-
McLeod Bank (submerged)
Population
There is one settlement, located on Île du Nord (North Island) of
Farquhar Atoll. There is an abandoned village on Providence Island of
Providence Atoll.
There are records of
Maldives mariner presence in the group from the 20th century, when a trading vessel from southern Maldives lost its course and reached Providence Atoll.
[Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona 1999, ]
Biology
The
Oonopidae Monotypy spider species
Farqua quadrimaculata is the only known spider that is
endemism to the Farquhar Islands.
[Saaristo 2001]
-
(2001). Dwarf hunting spiders or Oonopidae (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Seychelles. Insect Syst. Evol. 32: 307–358.
