Theme Week Tunisia – Galite Islands

Tuesday, 22 August 2017 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, Union for the Mediterranean
Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Hassene nostra/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Hassene nostra/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Galite Islands are a rocky group of islands of volcanic origin that belong to Bizerte Governorate, northern Tunisia. They are located 38 kilometres (24 miles) northwest of Cape Serrat, the closest point of the Tunisian mainland coast, from which they are separated by the Galite Channel, and almost 80 km (50 mi) north-by-northeast of the city of Tabarka, and 150 km (93 mi) south of Cape Spartivento in the south of Sardinia. The islands of the group sit atop Banc de Galite. Tunisian independence leader Habib Bourguiba was exiled to La Galite by the French colonial authorities from May 21, 1952 through May 20, 1954.

The centrally situated main island La Galite is 5.4 km (3.4 mi) long east-west, and up to 2.9 km (1.8 mi) wide in the east. The area of the group is 9 square kilometres (3 sq mi), most of which La Galite accounts for. The main island has 200m high cliffs and is accessible only in the south on the bay Escueil de Pasque. A few fishermen’s families live on the island. The highest peak at 391m is Bout de Somme (Grand Sommet), which is topped by a yellow lookout tower. Piton de l’Es’, a prominent cone-shaped peak close to the most southeasterly point of the island, is 360m high.

© Hassene nostra/cc-by-sa-4.0 © Anis Zarrouk/cc-by-sa-4.0 © IssamBarhoumi/cc-by-sa-4.0 © IssamBarhoumi/cc-by-sa-4.0 The house where President Bourguiba was exiled © IssamBarhoumi/cc-by-sa-4.0
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The house where President Bourguiba was exiled © IssamBarhoumi/cc-by-sa-4.0
Besides the main island La Galite, there are two groups of islets or rocks, which are all inaccessible. The Galitons de l’Ouest, or West Galitons, are 3 km (2 mi) southwest of the main island. They consist of the second largest and third largest islands of the Galite Islands, 158m high Le Galiton (area 0.4 km2) and 137m high La Fauchelle, immediately southeast of Le Galiton. On the peak of Le Galiton is a lighthouse, 14m high. In 1980, the Ministry of Agriculture declared Le Galiton a natural reserve, to protect the Mediterranean monk seals.

The smaller Galitons de l’Est, or East Galitons, also called Les Chiens or The Dogs, are at a distance between 1 and 2 km (1 mi) northeast of the main island. This group consists of three rocks, which are, from north to south, Gallo, Pollastro and Gallina (meaning “rooster”, “chicken” and “hen” in Italian). Gallo is the largest of the three and is 119 m high. About 25 km (16 mi) to the southwest are the Sorelle Rocks, or Écueil des Sorelles, which consist of two shallow rocky patches. A lighted buoy, fitted with a racon, is moored to the western patch, and another buoy to the eastern patch. A two meters high concrete block stands on the western patch. 13 km (8 mi) to the north of the group is the submerged Banc des Mazzarilles, with depths between 21 and 49 meters.

Here you can find the complete Overview of all Theme Weeks.

Read more on discovertunisia.com – Galite Islands and Wikipedia Galite Islands. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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