Inhaca Island
| Native name: Ilha da Inhaca | |
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Maputo Bay from space in January 1990. Inhaca Island and Machangulo Peninsula are clearly visible at the bottom left edge of the bay
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| Geography | |
| Location | Indian Ocean |
| Adjacent bodies of water | Maputo Bay |
| Area | 52 km2 (20 sq mi) |
| Length | 12 km (7.5 mi) |
| Width | 7 km (4.3 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 104 m (341 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Inhaca |
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Mozambique
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| Municipality | Maputo |
Inhaca Island (Ilha da Inhaca in Portuguese) is a subtropical island of Mozambique off the East African coast.
The 52 km2 (20 sq mi) island separates Maputo Bay (Baía de Maputo) to the west from the Indian Ocean off its eastern shores. The island's irregular coastline approaches mainland Machangulo Peninsula at Ponta Torres where a 500-metre-wide (1,600 ft) tidal race separates the two headlands. In administrative terms Inhaca is a municipal district of the municipality of Maputo, while the Machangulo peninsula is included under the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area and is part of the district of Matutuíne, Maputo Province.
The island's dimensions are approximately 12 km (n-s) by 7 km (e-w). The highest point above sea level is the 104-metre (341 ft) Mount Inhaca on the north-eastern shoreline. The south-western peninsula is known as Ponta Punduine while Ponta Torres to the south-east approaches the mainland. Two inland swamps occur at the northerly airstrip and southern Nhaquene respectively. Besides Inhaca settlement on the western shore there are five smaller villages including Inguane, Nhaquene, Ridjeni and Tobia.
Despite being a part of the Portuguese Colony of Mozambique until 1975, the island of Inhaca, so close to the harbour of Maputo, was occupied by the British from 1823 until the Mac Mahon Treaty of 24 July 1875. The British used the island (amongst many others all around Africa) to patrol and control the slave traffic in the region.
The island is regular destination for ecotourists and ecological researchers. The central land area consists of cultivated fields, while grassy plains are found to the north, flanked by protected usnea-covered dune forests along the eastern and western shores. Extensive exposed mudflats fringe the western and southern shores at low tide. Mangroves cover large sections of the northern shores and southern Saco Bay.
The sub-tropical evergreen forest on the island includes the following tree species: Sideroxylon inerme, Apodytes dimidiata, Euclea schimperi, Manilkara discolor, Dovyalis rhamnoides, Dovyalis tristis, Diospyros natalensis, Clausena anisata, Cassine papillosa, Olea africana, Ficus burtt-davyi, Ficus sansibarica, Ficus capensis, Commiphora neglecta, Commiphora schlechteri, Allophylus melanocarpus, Erythroxylon emarginatum, Vepris undulata, Deinbollia oblongifolia, Scolopia ecklonii, Thespesia populnea and Galpinia transvaalica.
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