Nosy Be ˌnusʲ ˈbe (also Nossi-bé and Nosse Be) is an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort. It has an area of 320.02 square kilometers (123.56 sq mi).

Nosy Be means "big island" in the Malagasy language. The island was called Assada during the early colonial era of the seventeenth century. Nosy Be has been given several nicknames over the centuries, including "Nosy Manitra" (the scented island).

History

The first of Nosy Be were small bands of Antankarana and Zafinofotsy, before the arrival the Sakalava represent the most numerous ethnic group on the island. These people were joined later by some Comorians, Indians or Antandroy.

Nosy Be made a first major appearance in Madagascar's history when King Radama I announced that he intended to conquer the whole west of the red island up to the sea. That plan was eventually achieved when the Sakalava Kingdom of Boina came into his possession in 1837 when Queen Tsiomeko of Boina's army was defeated. The French colonized the island from 1840, they founded an outpost baptized

Hell-Ville

(from French Admiral de Hell). In 1849, slavery was abolished by the French, though the slaves were owned by Malagasies. It caused a Malagasy revolt against the French.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Nosey Be became a supply station for Russia's Second Pacific Squadron. The main fleet lead by Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky reached Nosy Be on January 9, 1905, where it met a smaller detachment lead by Admiral Dmitry von Fölkersam that had arrived already on December 28, 2014. The fleet stayed for two months for refurbishing and coaling leaving on March 17 to meet its fate ten weeks later at the Battle of Tsushima.

Geography

Nosy Be is located about eight kilometers (5.0 miles) (5 miles) from the coast of Madagascar in the Mozambique Channel; several smaller islands are located nearby, including Nosy Komba, Nosy Mitsio, Nosy Sakatia, and Nosy Tanikely. The island's main town is

Andoany

.

The volcanic island has an area of about 312 square kilometers (120 sq mi), and reaches its highest peak at Mont Lokobe at 450 meters (1,480 ft); the volcano is of Holocene origin but has not erupted in recorded history. There are eleven volcanic crater lakes on the island.

The island is known for having one of the world's smallest frogs (Stumpffia pygmaea) and chameleon (Brookesia minima). The

Lokobe Reserve

is one of Madagascar's five Strict Nature Reserves (Réserves Naturelles Intégrales). Nosy Be is also home to a specific color of a panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis).

Omura's whale

Recent studies indicate that adjacent waters around the channel between Nosy Be and Madagascar host a habitat for a notable number of Omura's whale, and this has allowed researchers to conduct field studies targeting this rare, one of the least known species, for the first time.

Climate

Nosy Be has a tropical climate. It is most humid in summer (December, January, February). The Tsaratanana massif partially protects the island from the strong north-east winds affecting the region in August or during tropical depressions.