Clipperton Island - Travel Rooms and Hotels

Clipperton Island

Motto
"Liberté, égalité, fraternité"
Anthem
La Marseillaise


Capital none
Official languages French
Government French territory
- president of France Nicolas Sarkozy
French overseas territory
Area
- Total 9 km²
3 sq mi
Population
- 2007 estimate 0 (n/a)
- n/a census n/a
- Density 0/km² (n/a)
0/sq mi
Currency euro (EUR)

Clipperton Island (French: Île de Clipperton and as the real French name Île de la Passion) is a nine-square-kilometre coral atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, southwest of Mexico and west of Costa Rica, at 10°18′N 109°13′W / 10.3, -109.217Coordinates: 10°18′N 109°13′W / 10.3, -109.217. It has no permanent inhabitants.

It is an overseas possession of France administered by the Minister of Overseas France.

Natural conditions
Although 115 species of fish have been identified in the territorial waters of Clipperton, the only economic activity is tuna fishing. It has no other natural resources.

It lies about 945 km (600 mi) from Socorro island in the Revillagigedo archipelago, Mexico, the nearest land. The ring-shaped island has completely enclosed its lagoon for approximately a century and is 12 km in circumference. The lagoon has some deep basins (-43m, - 22m) and one deep spot ("Trou-Sans-Fond", meaning bottomless hole) with acidic water (sulphuric acid) at the bottom and is stagnant. The lagoon is devoid of fish. Clipperton Rock, at 29 m, is the highest point. It is a volcanic outcrop located in the southeast.

The island has a tropical oceanic climate, with average temperatures of 20–32°C (68–90°F). The rainy season occurs May–October, and the island is subject to tropical storms. Surrounding ocean waters are warm, pushed by equatorial and counter-equatorial currents.