Cocos (Keeling) Islands

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (

The islands were discovered in 1609 by the British sea captain William Keeling, but no settlement occurred until the early 19th century. One of the first settlers was John Clunies-Ross, a Scottish merchant; much of the island's current population is descended from the Malay workers he brought in to work his copra plantation. The Clunies-Ross family ruled the islands as a private fiefdom for almost 150 years, with the head of the family usually recognised as resident magistrate. The British annexed the islands in 1857, and for the next century they were administered from either Ceylon or Singapore. The territory was transferred to Australia in 1955, although until 1979 virtually all of the territory's real estate still belonged to the Clunies-Ross family.

Name

The islands have been called the Cocos Islands (from 1622), the Keeling Islands (from 1703), the Cocos–Keeling Islands (since James Horsburgh in 1805) and the Keeling–Cocos Islands (19th century).^[8] Cocos refers to the abundant coconut trees, while Keeling refers to William Keeling, who discovered the islands in 1609.^[8]

Cocos Islands Act 1955
Act of Parliament
3 & 4 Eliz. 2. c. 5
Dates
Royal assent	29 March 1955

John Clunies-Ross,^[9] who sailed there in the Borneo in 1825, called the group the Borneo Coral Isles, restricting Keeling to North Keeling, and calling South Keeling "the Cocos properly so called".^[10][11] The form Cocos (Keeling) Islands, attested from 1916,^[12] was made official by the Cocos Islands Act 1955.^[8]

The territory's Malay name is Pulu Kokos (Keeling). Sign boards on the island also feature Malay translations.^[13][14]

Geography

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands consist of two flat, low-lying coral atolls with an area of 14.2 square kilometres (5.5 sq mi), 26 kilometres (16 mi) of coastline, a highest elevation of 5 metres (16 ft) and thickly covered with coconut palms and other vegetation. The climate is pleasant, moderated by the southeast trade winds for about nine months of the year and with moderate rainfall. Tropical cyclones may occur in the early months of the year.

South Keeling Islands is an atoll consisting of 24 individual islets forming an incomplete atoll ring, with a total land area of 13.1 square kilometres (5.1 sq mi). Only Home Island and West Island are populated. The Cocos Malays maintain weekend shacks, referred to as pondoks, on most of the larger islands.

There are no rivers or lakes on either atoll. Fresh water resources are limited to water lenses on the larger islands, underground accumulations of rainwater lying above the seawater. These lenses are accessed through shallow bores or wells.

Flora and fauna

Climate

Cocos (Keeling) Islands experience a tropical rainforest climate (Af) according to the Köppen climate classification; the archipelago lies approximately midway between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn. The archipelago has two distinct seasons, the wet season and the dry season. The wettest month is April with precipitation totaling 262.6 millimetres (10.34 in), and the driest month is October with precipitation totaling 88.2 millimetres (3.47 in). Due to the strong maritime control, temperatures vary little although its location is some distance from the Equator. The hottest month is March with an average high temperature of 30.0 °C (86.0 °F), while the coolest month is September with an average low temperature of 24.2 °C (75.6 °F).

Demographics

According to the 2021 Australian Census, the current population of the Cocos Islands is 593 people.^[2] The gender distribution stands at an approximate 51% male and 49% female.^[2] The median age of the population is 40 years, slightly older than the median Australian population age of 38 years.^[16] As of 2021, there are no people living on the Cocos Islands who identify as Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander).^[2]

The majority religion of the Cocos Islands is Islam, with 65.6% of the total population identifying as Muslim, followed by Unspecified (15.3%), Non-religious (14.0%), Catholic (2.0%), Anglican (1.5%). The remaining 1.6% of Cocos Islanders identify as secular or hold various other beliefs (including atheism, agnosticism and unspecified spiritual beliefs).^[2]

73.5% of the population were born in Australia - either on the mainland, on the Cocos Islands, or in another Australian territory. The remaining 26.5% born outside of Australia come from various countries, including Malaysia (4.0%), England (1.3%), New Zealand (1.2%), Singapore (0.5%) and Argentina (0.5%), among others.^[2] 61.2% of the population speak Malay rather than English at home, while 19.1% use English as their primary language and 3.5% speak another language (including Spanish and various Austronesian and African languages).^[2]

Kaum Ibu (Women's Group) is a women's rights organisation that represents the view of women at a local and national level.^[17]

History

Discovery and early history

The archipelago was discovered in 1609 by Captain William Keeling of the East India Company, on a return voyage from the East Indies. North Keeling was sketched by Ekeberg, a Swedish captain, in 1749, showing the presence of coconut palms. It also appears on a 1789 chart produced by British hydrographer Alexander Dalrymple.^[19]

In 1825, Scottish merchant seaman Captain

Clunies-Ross returned two years later with his wife, children and mother-in-law, and found Hare already established on the island and living with the private harem. A feud grew between the two.[21] Clunies-Ross's eight sailors "began at once the invasion of the new kingdom to take possession of it, women and all".^[21]

After some time, Hare's women began deserting him, and instead finding themselves partners amongst Clunies-Ross's sailors.

Clunies-Ross's workers were paid in a currency called the Cocos rupee, a currency John Clunies-Ross minted himself that could only be redeemed at the company store.[24]

On 1 April 1836, HMS Beagle under Captain Robert FitzRoy arrived to take soundings to establish the profile of the atoll as part of the survey expedition of the Beagle. To the naturalist Charles Darwin, aboard the ship, the results supported a theory he had developed of how atolls formed, which he later published as The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs. He studied the natural history of the islands and collected specimens.^[25] Darwin's assistant Syms Covington noted that "an Englishman [he was in fact Scottish] and HIS family, with about sixty or seventy mulattos from the Cape of Good Hope, live on one of the islands. Captain Ross, the governor, is now absent at the Cape."

Annexation by the British Empire

The islands were annexed by the British Empire in 1857.

On the morning of 9 November 1914, the islands became the site of the Battle of Cocos, one of the first naval battles of World War I. A landing party from the German cruiser SMS Emden captured and disabled the wireless and cable communications station on Direction Island, but not before the station was able to transmit a distress call. An Allied troop convoy was passing nearby, and the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney was detached from the convoy escort to investigate.

Sydney spotted the island and Emden at 09:15, with both ships preparing for combat. At 11:20, the heavily damaged Emden beached herself on

Casualties totaled 134 personnel aboard Emden killed, and 69 wounded, compared to four killed and 16 wounded aboard Sydney. The German survivors were taken aboard the Australian cruiser, which caught up to the troop convoy in Colombo on 15 November, then transported to Malta and handed over the prisoners to the British Army. An additional 50 German personnel from the shore party, unable to be recovered before Sydney arrived, commandeered a schooner and escaped from Direction Island, eventually arriving in Constantinople. Emden was the last active Central Powers warship in the Indian or Pacific Ocean, which meant troopships from Australia and New Zealand could sail without naval escort, and Allied ships could be deployed elsewhere.

World War II

During World War II, the cable station was once again a vital link. The Cocos were valuable for direction finding by the Y service, the worldwide intelligence system used during the war.^[32]

Allied planners noted that the islands might be seized as an airfield for German planes and as a base for commerce raiders operating in the Indian Ocean. Following Japan's entry into the war, Japanese forces occupied neighbouring islands. To avoid drawing their attention to the Cocos cable station and its islands' garrison, the seaplane anchorage between Direction and Horsburgh islands was not used. Radio transmitters were also kept silent, except in emergencies.^{[citation needed]}

After the Fall of Singapore in 1942, the islands were administered from Ceylon and West and Direction Islands were placed under Allied military administration. The islands' garrison initially consisted of a platoon from the British Army's King's African Rifles, located on Horsburgh Island, with two 6-inch (152.4 mm) guns to cover the anchorage. The local inhabitants all lived on Home Island. Despite the importance of the islands as a communication centre, the Japanese made no attempt either to raid or to occupy them and contented themselves with sending over a reconnaissance aircraft about once a month.

On the night of 8–9 May 1942, 15 members of the garrison, from the

On 25 December 1942, the Japanese submarine I-166 bombarded the islands but caused no damage.^[34]

Later in the war, two airstrips were built, and three bomber squadrons were moved to the islands to conduct raids against Japanese targets in South East Asia and to provide support during the

In 1946, the administration of the islands reverted to Singapore and it became part of the Colony of Singapore.^[36]

Transfer to Australia

On 23 November 1955, the islands were transferred from the United Kingdom to the

• The Commonwealth Parliament and the Government requested and consented to the enactment of a United Kingdom Act for the purpose.
• The Cocos Islands Act, 1955, authorised Her Majesty, by Order in Council, to direct that the islands should cease to form part of the Colony of Singapore and be placed under the authority of the Commonwealth.
• By the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act, 1955, the Parliament of the Commonwealth provided for the acceptance of the islands as a territory under the authority of the Commonwealth and for its government.
• The Cocos Islands Order in Council, 1955, made under the United Kingdom Act of 1955, provided that upon the appointed day (23 November 1955) the islands should cease to form part of the Colony of Singapore and be placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia.

The reason for this comparatively complex machinery was due to the terms of the Straits Settlement (Repeal) Act, 1946. According to Sir Kenneth Roberts-Wray "any other procedure would have been of doubtful validity".^[39] The separation involved three steps: separation from the Colony of Singapore; transfer by United Kingdom and acceptance by Australia.

H. J. Hull was appointed the first official representative (now administrator) of the new territory. He had been a lieutenant-commander in the Royal Australian Navy and was released for the purpose. Under Commonwealth Cabinet Decision 1573 of 9 September 1958, Hull's appointment was terminated and John William Stokes was appointed on secondment from the Northern Territory police. A media release at the end of October 1958 by the Minister for Territories, Hasluck, commended Hull's three years of service on Cocos.

Stokes served in the position from 31 October 1958 to 30 September 1960. His son's boyhood memories and photos of the Islands have been published.^[40] C. I. Buffett MBE from Norfolk Island succeeded him and served from 28 July 1960 to 30 June 1966, and later acted as Administrator back on Cocos and on Norfolk Island. In 1974, Ken Mullen wrote a small book^[41] about his time with wife and son from 1964 to 1966 working at the Cable Station on Direction Island.

In the 1970s, the Australian government's dissatisfaction with the Clunies-Ross feudal style of rule of the island increased. In 1978, Australia forced the family to sell the islands for the sum of

Extensive preparations were undertaken by the government of Australia to prepare the Cocos Malays to vote in their referendum of self-determination. Discussions began in 1982, with an aim of holding the referendum, under United Nations supervision, in mid-1983. Under guidelines developed by the UN Decolonization Committee, residents were to be offered three choices: full independence, free association, or integration with Australia. The last option was preferred by both the islanders and the Australian government. A change in government in Canberra following the March 1983 Australian elections delayed the vote by one year. While the Home Island Council stated a preference for a traditional communal consensus "vote", the UN insisted on a secret ballot.

The capital of the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands is West Island while the largest settlement is the village of Bantam, on Home Island.^[citation needed]

Governance of the islands is based on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955^[46][47] and depends heavily on the laws of Australia. The islands are administered from Canberra by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts through a non-resident Administrator appointed by the Governor-General. They were previously the responsibility of the Department of Transport and Regional Services (before 2007), the Attorney-General's Department (2007–2013), Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development (2013–2017) and Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities (2017–2020).^[48][49]

As of November 2023, the Administrator is Farzian Zainal, she is also the Administrator of Christmas Island.^[50] These two territories comprise the Australian Indian Ocean Territories. The Australian Government provides Commonwealth-level government services through the Christmas Island Administration and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.^[51] As per the Federal Government's Territories Law Reform Act 1992, which came into force on 1 July 1992, Western Australian laws are applied to the Cocos Islands, "so far as they are capable of applying in the Territory";^[52] non-application or partial application of such laws is at the discretion of the federal government. The Act also gives Western Australian courts judicial power over the islands. The Cocos Islands remain constitutionally distinct from Western Australia, however; the power of the state to legislate for the territory is power-delegated by the federal government. The kind of services typically provided by a state government elsewhere in Australia are provided by departments of the Western Australian Government, and by contractors, with the costs met by the federal government.^[53]

There also exists a unicameral

Cocos (Keeling) Islands residents who are Australian citizens also vote in federal elections. Cocos (Keeling) Islanders are represented in the House of Representatives by the member for the Division of Lingiari (in the Northern Territory) and in the Senate by Northern Territory senators.^[58] At the 2016 federal election, the Labor Party received absolute majorities from Cocos electors in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.^[56][57]

Defence and law enforcement

Defence is the responsibility of the Australian Defence Force. Until 2023, there were no active military installations or defence personnel on the island; the administrator could request the assistance of the Australian Defence Force if required.

In 2016, the Australian Department of Defence announced that the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Airport (West Island) would be upgraded to support the Royal Australian Air Force's P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.^[59] Work was scheduled to begin in early 2023 and be completed by 2026. The airfield will act as a forward operating base for Australian surveillance and electronic warfare aircraft in the region.^[60][61]

The Royal Australian Navy and Australian Border Force also deploy Cape and Armidale-class patrol boats to conduct surveillance and counter-migrant smuggling patrols in adjacent waters.^[62] As of 2023, the Navy's Armidale-class boats are in the process of being replaced by larger Arafura-class offshore patrol vessels.^[63][64]

Civilian law enforcement and community policing is provided by the Australian Federal Police. The normal deployment to the island is one sergeant and one constable. These are augmented by two locally engaged Special Members who have police powers.

Courts

Since 1992, court services have been provided by the

The population of the islands is approximately 600. There is a small and growing tourist industry focused on water-based or nature activities. In 2016, a beach on Direction Island was named the best beach in Australia by Brad Farmer, an Aquatic and Coastal Ambassador for Tourism Australia and co-author of 101 Best Beaches 2017.^[65][66]

Small local gardens and fishing contribute to the food supply, but most food and most other necessities must be imported from Australia or elsewhere.

The Cocos Islands Cooperative Society Ltd. employs construction workers,

Strategic importance

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (November 2017)

The Cocos Islands are strategically important because of their proximity to shipping lanes in the Indian and Pacific oceans.^[72] The United States and Australia have expressed interest in stationing surveillance drones on the Cocos Islands.^[73] Euronews described the plan as Australian support for an increased American presence in Southeast Asia, but expressed concern that it was likely to upset Chinese officials.^[74]

James Cogan has written for the World Socialist Web Site that the plan to station surveillance drones at Cocos is one component of former US President Barack Obama's "pivot" towards Asia, facilitating control of the sea lanes and potentially allowing US forces to enforce a blockade against China.^[72] After plans to construct airbases were reported on by The Washington Post,^[75] Australian defence minister Stephen Smith stated that the Australian government views the "Cocos as being potentially a long-term strategic location, but that is down the track."^[76] In 2023, Indian aircraft from their Navy and Air Force paid a visit to the islands. Australia hopes to further advance relationships with India in order to grow their monitoring strength in the Indian Ocean. ^[77]

Communications and transport

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Transport

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands have fifteen kilometres (9.3 miles) of highway.

There is one paved airport on the West Island. A tourist bus operates on Home Island.

The only airport is Cocos (Keeling) Islands Airport with a single 2,441 m (8,009 ft) paved runway. Virgin Australia operates scheduled jet services from Perth Airport via Christmas Island. After 1952, the airport at Cocos Islands was a stop for airline flights between Australia and South Africa, and Qantas and South African Airways stopped there to refuel. The arrival of long-range jet aircraft ended this need in 1967.

The Cocos Islands Cooperative Society operates an interisland ferry, the Cahaya Baru, connecting West, Home and Direction Islands, as well as a bus service on West Island.^[78]

There is a

Communications

The islands are connected within Australia's telecommunication system (with number range +61 8 9162 xxxx). Public phones are located on both West Island and Home Island. A reasonably reliable GSM mobile phone network (number range +61 406 xxx), run by CiiA (Christmas Island Internet Association), operates on Cocos (Keeling) Islands. SIM cards (full size) and recharge cards can be purchased from the Telecentre on West Island to access this service.

Australia Post provides mail services with the postcode 6799. There are post offices on West Island and Home Island. Standard letters and express post items are sent by air twice weekly, but all other mail is sent by sea and can take up to two months for delivery.

Internet

Internet access on Cocos is provided by CiiA (Christmas Island Internet Association), and is supplied via satellite ground station on West Island, and distributed via a wireless PPPoE-based WAN on both inhabited islands. Casual internet access is available at the Telecentre on West Island and the Indian Ocean Group Training office on Home Island.

The National Broadband Network announced in early 2012 that it would extend service to Cocos in 2015 via high-speed satellite link.^[79]

The Oman Australia Cable, completed in 2022, links Australia and Oman with a spur to the Cocos Islands.^{[80][81][82][83]}

Media

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands have access to a range of modern communication services. Digital television stations are broadcast from Western Australia via satellite. A local radio station, 6CKI – Voice of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, is staffed by community volunteers and provides some local content.

Newspapers

The Cocos Islands Community Resource Centre publishes a fortnightly newsletter called The Atoll. It is available in paper and electronic formats.^[84]

Radio

Television

Australian

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands receives a range of digital channels from Western Australia via satellite and is broadcast from the Airport Building on the West Island on the following VHF frequencies: ABC6, SBS7, WAW8, WOW10 and WDW11^[85]

Malaysian

From 2013 onwards, Cocos Island received four Malaysian channels via satellite:

Although it is an Australian territory, the culture of the islands has extensive influences from Malaysia and Indonesia due to its predominantly ethnic Malay population.

Heritage listings

The

The Pulu Cocos Museum on Home Island was established in 1987, in recognition of the fact that the distinct culture of Home Island needed formal preservation.^[87][88] The site includes the displays on local culture and traditions, as well as the early history of the islands and their ownership by the Clunies-Ross family.^[89][90] The museum also includes displays on military and naval history, as well as local botanical and zoological items.^[91]

Marine park

Reefs near the islands have healthy

In the 2021 budget the Australian Government committed $A39.1M to create two new marine parks off Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The parks will cover up to 740,000 square kilometres (290,000 sq mi) of Australian waters.[93] After months of consultation with local people, both parks were approved in March 2022, with a total coverage of 744,000 square kilometres (287,000 sq mi). The park will help to protect spawning of bluefin tuna from illegal international fishers, but local people will be allowed to practise fishing sustainably inshore in order to source food.^[92]

Sport

Unlike Norfolk Island, another external territory of Australia, the Cocos Islands do not participate in the Commonwealth Games or the Pacific Games.

Image gallery

• Gallery
• 
  Aerial view of Cocos (Keeling) Islands Airport (ICAO code: YPCC).
• 
  Home Island

  .
• 
  Compass stand from the bridge of HMAS Sydney, which destroyed the SMS Emden, installed at Port Macquarie, New South Wales, in 1929.
• 
  A broadside view of the wrecked Emden after her encounter with HMAS Sydney. Crew huddle on the wreck, awaiting rescue by Sydney.
• 
  The last bombing raid of World War II by 99, 356 and 321 Squadrons is cancelled, 15 August 1945.^[96]
• 
  Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip arrive at the Cocos Islands, April 1954.
• 
  Prince Philip waves goodbye as he and Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by

  John Clunies-Ross

  , return to their ship from Home Island (1954).
• 
  Queen Elizabeth at a garden party held in her honour at Home Island (1954).

See also

• Banknotes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
• Index of Cocos (Keeling) Islands-related articles
• Pearl Islands (Isla de Cocos, Panama; Cocos Island, Costa Rica).

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

•  This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.).
  CIA. (Archived 2003 edition.)
• Clunies-Ross, John Cecil; Souter, Gavin. The Clunies-Ross Cocos Chronicle, Self, Perth 2009,
  ISBN 9780980586718
  .
• McGrath, Tony (2019). In Tropical Skies: A History of Aviation to Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Carlisle, WA: Hesperian Press.
  ISBN 9780859057561
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

• Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands homepage
• Areas of individual islets
• Atoll Research Bulletin vol. 403
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands Tourism website
• "Keeling Islands" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 712.
• Noel Crusz, The Cocos Islands mutiny Archived 11 September 2001 at the Wayback Machine, reviewed by Peter Stanley (Principal Historian, Australian War Memorial).
• The man who lost a "coral kingdom"
• Amateur Radio DX Pedition to Cocos (Keeling) Islands VK9EC

12°07′03″S 96°53′42″E / 12.11750°S 96.89500°E / -12.11750; 96.89500