Île Amsterdam is a sub-Antarctic island discovered by Juan Sebastián de Elcano on March 18, 1522. Sebastián did not name the island, however. Having found the island unnamed, Dutch captain Anthonie van Diemen named it after his ship in 1633. The island is volcanic, but is currently inactive. It has an area of 55 km² (21 mi²), measuring 21 km (13 mi) on its longest side, and reaches as high as 867 m (2844 ft) at the Mont de la Dives. The island is one of few sub-Antarctic islands to have any sort of tree covering. The island is part of the French Southern Territories, and together with neighboring Île Saint-Paul (85 km to the South) forms one of the four districts of the territory. Its base Martin de Vivies is the capital of the territory. Greek ἀνταρκτικός, opposite the arctic) is a continent surrounding the Earths South Pole. ... March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... Events January 9 - Adrian Dedens becomes Pope Adrian VI. February 26 - Execution by hanging of Cuauhtémoc, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan under orders of conquistador Hernán Cortés. ... Anthony van Diemen (1593–1645), or Antonius, Dutch colonial governor, was born in Culemborg in the Netherlands, the son of Bartholomeus van Diemen and Elisabeth Hoevenaar. ... Events February 13 - Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. ... A small island in the Adriatic sea An island is any piece of land smaller than a continent and larger than a rock, that is completely surrounded by water. ... The French Southern Territories (long name: Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, French: Territoire des Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises or TAAF) are antarctic, volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean, south of Africa and about equidistant between Africa, Antarctica, and Australia. ...

External links

• Ile Amsterdam visit (http://www.farvoyager.com/siov/amst1.html) - Photos from a tourist's recent visit