The atoll was discovered in 1501 by Joao da Nova, a Portuguese explorer. The atoll was under British control until 1976 when they became part of Seychelles at the time of independence. Providence got its name after an event which happened in 1763. A French frigate, ”Heureuse”, was stranded on its reef, 705 km from Victoria near the northern end of the atoll. The sailors reached Providence Island and were rescued a month later. It proved the salvation of the French sailors. Cerf got its name after one of the ships of Captain Nicolas Morphey, called Le Cerf, who sighted the island on 30 July 1756.
Geography
The islands of Providence Atoll are small, coraline and inhospitable. The atoll has length of on its north-south axis, and about width. The total area covered by the atoll is approximating. The aggregate land area, however, is only. West of the atoll, the sea-bottom plunges steeply to 180 metres only, 2.5 km beyond the fringing reef.
Providence Atoll Islands
There are two islands in the atoll:
Providence Island
Providence Island is located in the far north of the atoll, at. It is long north-south, and up to at its widest part. It has the shape of a kite. The land area is 1.72 km², with a coastline of.
Cerf Island is located in the far south of the atoll, south of Providence Island, at. The island is long, and up to at its widest part, but in some places only wide, which causes at high tide an appearance of a northern island and a southern island. Cerf's land area is, with a coastline of. The closest neighbor of the atoll is St. Pierre Island, west of Cerf Island.
Demographics
Providence Island had a small settlement in the middle of the island, at with 6 villagers, But in 2006, Cyclone Bondo destroyed most of the buildings and about 60 per cent of the coconut trees, The government plans on building an eco-tourism resort on the island in 2018, and a bidding process is already on the way. Cerf Island has never been permanently inhabited though temporary fishermens' huts were recorded in the 19th century. There are many shipwrecks including records of Maldivian mariner presence in this atoll from the 20th century, when a trading vessel from southern Maldives reached Providence Atoll after drifting in the ocean for weeks.
Providence Island has no jetty, no airstrip and no transport links. The island is rarely visited except by the occasional Island Conservation Society expedition or by an Islands Development Company boat from Mahé.
Economics
Providence Island was inhabited by workers engaged in fishing and copra production probably continuously from at least 1846 until late 2006. Following Cyclone Bondo, the island was evacuated on 26 December 2006. A subsequent attempt to construct an airstrip to service the inhabitants was abandoned and the island has remained uninhabited since then.
