Europa is in diameter, with a maximum altitude of , and has of
coastline. It is surrounded by coral beaches and a
fringing reef and encloses a
mangrove lagoon of around and open to the sea on one side. There are no ports or harbours but anchorage is possible offshore. Its
exclusive economic zone, contiguous with that of
Bassas da India, is . The
airstrip is long.
Ecology {{Designation list The island is a
nature reserve. Its vegetation consists of dry forest, scrub,
Euphorbia, the
mangrove swamp, and the remains of a
sisal plantation. It is one of the world's largest nesting sites for
green sea turtles. It is also home to
goats introduced by settlers in the late 18th century. The island has been identified as an
Important Bird Area by
BirdLife International because it supports a large and diverse population of breeding
seabirds and other
waterbirds. It is the only known breeding site outside
Aldabra and Madagascar for
Malagasy pond herons. Seabirds include the second largest colony in the western Indian Ocean of
great frigatebirds (with up to 1100 pairs),
tropical shearwaters (up to 100 pairs, probably of the subspecies
Puffinus bailloni bailloni previously considered endemic to the
Mascarene Islands),
dimorphic egrets and
Caspian terns. Europa is home to an endemic subspecies of
white-tailed tropicbird (
Phaethon lepturus europae), three kinds of landbird (including an endemic subspecies of the
Malagasy white-eye) and its own species of
hissing cockroach.
Climate Europa Island's climate is affected by the
Agulhas Current with water temperatures usually above , southeast trade winds during the (austral) winter and occasional cyclones. The climate can be described as a
semi-arid and
tropical combination with wet summers and dry winters. {{Weather box == History ==