Coral Sea Islands
Coral Sea Islands Territory | |||||
Coral Sea Islands | |||||
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Official language | English | ||||
Form of government | Australian outskirts | ||||
Head of state , also head of government | Elizabeth II | ||||
surface | 780,000 km² | ||||
population | 3 to 4 (ward staff) | ||||
Internet TLD | no own | ||||
The Coral Sea Islands are a group of small, tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea , northeast of Australia . They are spread over a sea area of around 780,000 square kilometers and have a land area of 3 km². There is no port on any of the islands, there are only anchorages off the coast . With an area of 37 hectares, South East Cay in the Magdelaine Cays group is the largest of these islands. The only inhabited island is Willis Island , on it is the manned weather station Willis Islandwith a crew of four people. The islands also have important nesting sites for birds and turtles , but the islands' natural resources are negligible.
politics
The archipelago belongs to Australia as territory and is administered from Canberra by the Australian Department of the Environment , which monitors the activities of visitors. The territory was created in 1969 (previously the islands were considered part of Queensland ) and expanded in 1997 to include the reefs or atolls Middleton and Elizabeth Reef further south , which are often included in the Tasman Sea . Defense is subject to Australia and the Royal Australian Navy periodically controls the islands. The abbreviation for the territory is CR .
Facilities
Australia operates automatic weather stations on many of the islands and reefs and claims a 200 nautical mile fishing zone.
population
There is no permanent population on the islands other than the crew of the Willis Island meteorological station and no economic activity.
See also
- Gay & Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands (self-proclaimed "Kingdom")
Web links
Coordinates: 19 ° 5 ′ S , 150 ° 54 ′ E