Tromelin Island, once called the Isle of Sand, is a low, flat island in the Indian Ocean about 500 km north of Réunion and about 450 km east of Madagascar. Tromelin is part of the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, the fifth district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, a French Overseas Territory, but Mauritius claims sovereignty over the island.

The French Southern and Antarctic Lands is an overseas territory of France. It consists of:Adélie Land, the French claim on the continent of Antarctica. Crozet Islands, a group in the southern Indian Ocean, south of Madagascar. Kerguelen Islands, a group of volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean, southeast of Africa. Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands, a group to the north of the Kerguelen Islands. Scattered Islands, a dispersed group of islands around the coast of Madagascar.