It is located about 5 km north-west of the island of Saint Barthelemy.

It is situated within Réserve naturelle nationale de Saint-Barthélemy.

[2] Fourchue Island is known as the retreat of Balthazar Biguard, an immigrant from Marseille fleeing the French Revolution, Saint-Barthélemy being at that time Swedish territory.

He ended up acquiring Swedish citizenship, living apart from the rest of the world until he died in 1827 at the age of 85.

[3] Petite Islette, a 1.3 ha, 33 m high, islet at the western end of Fourchue, has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of brown boobies.