Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Encyclopedia
The Territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, also called Cocos Islands and Keeling Islands, is a territory
of Australia
, located in the Indian Ocean
, southwest of Christmas Island
and approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka
.
The territory consists of two atoll
s and 27 coral island
s, of which two, West Island
and Home Island, are inhabited with a total population of approximately 600.
s may occur in the early months of the year.
North Keeling
Island is an atoll consisting of just one C-shaped island, a nearly closed atoll ring with a small opening into the lagoon
, about 50 metres (164 ft) wide, on the east side. The island measures 1.1 square kilometres (271.8 acre) in land area and is uninhabited. The lagoon is about 0.5 square kilometres (123.6 acre). North Keeling Island and the surrounding sea to 1.5 km (0.93205910497471 mi) from shore form the Pulu Keeling National Park, established on 12 December 1995. It is home to the only surviving population of the endemic, and endangered, Cocos Buff-banded Rail
.
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.
Table of the islets, with areas, numbered islets clockwise starting in the north:
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There are no rivers or lakes on either atoll. Fresh water resources are limited to water lenses (see Lens (hydrology)
) on the larger islands, underground accumulations of rainwater lying above the seawater. These lenses are accessed through shallow bores or wells.
Cocos (Keeling) Island is located on almost exactly the opposite side of the globe from Cocos Island
, Costa Rica.
on Home Island (estimated population 500). A Cocos dialect
of Malay
and English are the main languages spoken, and 80% of Cocos Islanders are Sunni Muslim.
was the first European to see the islands, while serving in the East India Company
, but they remained uninhabited until the 19th century.
In 1814, a Scottish merchant seaman named Captain John Clunies-Ross stopped briefly at the islands on a trip to India, nailing up a Union Jack and planning to return and settle on the islands with his family in the future.
However, a wealthy Englishman named Alexander Hare had similar plans, and hired a captain, coincidentally Clunies-Ross' brother, to bring him and a harem
of forty Malay women to the islands where he hoped to set up his own private residence. Hare had previously served as governor of a colony in Borneo
and found that "he could not confine himself to the tame life that prosy civilisation affords".
When 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 a private harem, a feud grew instantly between the two men. Clunies-Ross' eight sailors, "began at once the invasion of the new kingdom to take possession of it, women and all".
After some time, Hare's women began deserting him, and instead finding themselves mates amongst Clunies-Ross' sailors. Disheartened, Hare left the island and went to Batavia
where he later died.
Clunies-Ross' 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.
On 1 April 1836, under Captain Robert FitzRoy
arrived to take soundings establishing the profile of the atoll as part of the survey expedition of the Beagle
. To the young naturalist Charles Darwin
, who was on 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. Darwin's assistant Syms Covington
noted, "an Englishman [he was of course Scottish] and HIS family, with about sixty or seventy mulatto
s from the Cape of Good Hope, live on one of the islands. Captain Ross, the governor, is now absent at the Cape."
, which included Penang
, Malacca
and Singapore
. Queen Victoria
granted the islands in perpetuity to the Clunies-Ross family in 1886. The Cocos Islands under the Clunies-Ross family have been cited as an example of a 19th-century micronation
.
, one of the first naval battles of World War I. The wireless telegraph
station on Direction Island, a vital link between the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, was destroyed by sailors from the German light cruiser
, which was in turn surprised and destroyed by the Australian cruiser, .
raider cruisers operating in the Indian Ocean. Following Japan
's entry into the war, Japanese forces did occupy 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.
After the Fall of Singapore in 1942, the islands were administered from Ceylon (Sri Lanka
), 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 inches (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 Ceylon Defence Force, mutinied
, under the leadership of Gratien Fernando
. The mutineers were said to have been provoked by the attitude of their British officers, and were also supposedly inspired by anti-imperialist
beliefs. They attempted to take control of the gun battery
on the islands. The Cocos Islands Mutiny
was crushed, although the mutineers killed one non-mutinous soldier and wounded one officer. Seven of the mutineers were sentenced to death at a trial which was later alleged to have been improperly conducted. Four of the sentences were commuted, but three men were executed, including Fernando. These were to be the only British Commonwealth
soldiers executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
On 25 December 1942, the Japanese submarine I-166 bombarded the islands but caused no damage.
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 planned
reinvasion of Malaya
and reconquest of Singapore
. The first aircraft to arrive were Supermarine Spitfire
Mk VIIIs of No. 136 Squadron RAF
. They included some Liberator bombers from No. 321 (Netherlands) Squadron RAF
(members of exiled Dutch forces serving with the Royal Air Force
), which were also stationed on the islands. When in July 1945 No. 99
and No. 356
RAF squadrons arrived on West Island, they brought with them a daily newspaper called Atoll which contained news of what was happening in the outside world. Run by airmen in their off-duty hours, it achieved fame when dropped by Liberator bombers on POW camps over the heads of the Japanese guards. In 1946 the administration of the islands reverted to Singapore.
was appointed on secondment from the Northern Territory Police. A media release at the end of October 1958 by the Minister for Territories, Mr Hasluck, commended Mr Hull's three years of service on Cocos. Mr Stokes served in the position from 31 October 1958 to 30 September 1960. Mr 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 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 A$6,250,000, using the threat of compulsory acquisition. By agreement, the family retained ownership of Oceania House, their home on the island. However, in 1983 the Australian government reneged this agreement, and told John Clunies-Ross that he should leave the Cocos. The following year the High Court of Australia
ruled that resumption of Oceania House was unlawful, but the Australian government ordered that no government business was to be granted to Clunies-Ross's shipping company, an action that contributed to his bankruptcy. John Clunies-Ross now lives in Perth, Western Australia. However, some members of the Clunies-Ross family still live on the Cocos.
The 2004 earthquake and tsunami centered off the western shore of Sumatra, Indonesia, prompted early worries about the Cocos, but no casualties were reported.
while the largest settlement is the village of Bantam (Home Island). Governance of the islands is based on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955 and depends heavily on the laws of Australia. The islands are administered from Canberra
by the Attorney-General's Department
(before 29 November 2007 administration was carried out by the Department of Transport and Regional Services), through a non-resident Administrator
appointed by the Governor-General
.
The current Administrator is Brian Lacy
, who was appointed on 18 September 2009 and is also the Administrator of Christmas Island
. These two Territories comprise Australia's Indian Ocean Territories. There also exists a unicameral Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council
with seven seats. A full term lasts four years, though elections are held every two years; approximately half the members retire each two years. Federally, Cocos (Keeling) Islanders form the electorate of Lingiari
with Christmas Island and outback Northern Territory.
The islands have a five-person police force but their defence remains the responsibility of Australia.
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, stevedore
s, and lighterage worker operations. Tourism employs others. The unemployment rate was 11.3% in 2006.
: 6799). Public phones are located on both West Island and Home Island. A GSM mobile phone network operates on Cocos (Keeling) Islands which is "on its last legs" according to the Government. Phones must be registered through the Telecentre to access this service. There is one paved airport on the West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Island International Airport
, to which Virgin Australia operates scheduled jet services from Perth, Western Australia. There is also a lagoon anchorage.
In the 1950s and 1960s the airport at Cocos Islands was a key stop for commercial 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 requirement.
Cocos Island only receives four channels because digital television is not available yet.
School instruction is in English, and efforts are made to discourage students from speaking the local language (Cocos Islands Malay
, a Malay
dialect) on school premises.
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, located in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, southwest of Christmas Island
Christmas Island
The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
and approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
The territory consists of two atoll
Atoll
An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...
s and 27 coral island
Coral island
A coral island is the result of an atoll whose lagoon has dried up or been filled in with coral sand and detritus. This state is typically the last in the life cycle of an island, the first being volcanic and the second being an atoll. Most of the world's coral islands are in the Pacific Ocean...
s, of which two, West Island
West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands
West Island is the capital of the Cocos Islands. The population is roughly 120. It is the less populous of the two inhabited islands . It was part of the Clunies-Ross plantation and an airstrip was built here during World War II...
and Home Island, are inhabited with a total population of approximately 600.
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 (16.2 mi) of coastline, a highest elevation of 5 metres (16.4 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. CycloneCyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
s may occur in the early months of the year.
North Keeling
North Keeling
North Keeling is a small, uninhabited coral atoll of about 1.2 km2, about 25 km north of Horsburgh Island. It is the northernmost atoll and island of the Australian territory of the Cocos Islands...
Island is an atoll consisting of just one C-shaped island, a nearly closed atoll ring with a small opening into the lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
, about 50 metres (164 ft) wide, on the east side. The island measures 1.1 square kilometres (271.8 acre) in land area and is uninhabited. The lagoon is about 0.5 square kilometres (123.6 acre). North Keeling Island and the surrounding sea to 1.5 km (0.93205910497471 mi) from shore form the Pulu Keeling National Park, established on 12 December 1995. It is home to the only surviving population of the endemic, and endangered, Cocos Buff-banded Rail
Cocos Buff-banded Rail
The Cocos Buff-banded Rail, Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi, is an endangered subspecies of the Buff-banded Rail endemic to the Cocos Islands, an Australian Offshore Territory in the central-eastern Indian Ocean...
.
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
Home Island
Home Island, also known locally as Pulu Selma, is one of only two permanently inhabited islands of the 26 islands of the Southern Atoll of the Cocos Islands, an Australian Overseas Territory in the central-eastern Indian Ocean...
and West Island
West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands
West Island is the capital of the Cocos Islands. The population is roughly 120. It is the less populous of the two inhabited islands . It was part of the Clunies-Ross plantation and an airstrip was built here during World War II...
are populated. The Cocos Malays maintain weekend shacks, referred to as pondoks, on most of the larger islands.
Table of the islets, with areas, numbered islets clockwise starting in the north:
| Nr. | Islet (Malay name) |
English name | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pulau Luar | Horsburgh Island Horsburgh Island Horsburgh Island is one of the Cocos Islands. Its area is 1,04 square kilometers. There is a small lagoon in the interior of the island to the northeast.-History:... |
1.04 | 2 | Pulau Tikus | Direction Island | 0.34 | 3 | Pulau Pasir | Workhouse Island | <0.01 | 4 | Pulau Beras | Prison Island | 0.02 | 5 | Pulau Gangsa | Woeplace Islets | <0.01 | 6 | Pulau Selma | Home Island Home Island Home Island, also known locally as Pulu Selma, is one of only two permanently inhabited islands of the 26 islands of the Southern Atoll of the Cocos Islands, an Australian Overseas Territory in the central-eastern Indian Ocean... |
0.95 | 7 | Pulau Ampang Kechil | Scaevola Islet | <0.01 | 8 | Pulau Ampang | Canui Island | 0.06 | 9 | Pulau Wa-idas | Ampang Minor | 0.02 | 10 | Pulau Blekok | Goldwater Island | 0.03 | 11 | Pulau Kembang | Thorn Island | 0.04 | 12 | Pulau Cheplok | Gooseberry Island | <0.01 | 13 | Pulau Pandan | Misery Island | 0.24 | 14 | Pulau Siput | Goat Island | 0.10 | 15 | Pulau Jambatan | Middle Mission Isle | <0.01 | 16 | Pulau Labu | South Goat Island | 0.04 | 17 | Pulau Atas | South Island | 3.63 | 18 | Pulau Kelapa Satu | North Goat Island | 0.02 | 19 | Pulau Blan | East Cay | 0.03 | 20 | Pulau Blan Madar | Burial Island | 0.03 | 21 | Pulau Maria | West Cay | 0.01 | 22 | Pulau Kambling | Keelingham Horn Island | <0.01 | 23 | Pulau Panjang | West Island West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands West Island is the capital of the Cocos Islands. The population is roughly 120. It is the less populous of the two inhabited islands . It was part of the Clunies-Ross plantation and an airstrip was built here during World War II... |
6.23 | 24 | Pulau Wak Bangka | Turtle Island | 0.22 |
There are no rivers or lakes on either atoll. Fresh water resources are limited to water lenses (see Lens (hydrology)
Lens (hydrology)
In hydrology a lens is a convex layer of fresh groundwater that floats on top of denser saltwater. It arises when rainwater seeps down through a soil surface and then gathers over a layer of seawater at or down to about five feet below sealevel...
) on the larger islands, underground accumulations of rainwater lying above the seawater. These lenses are accessed through shallow bores or wells.
Cocos (Keeling) Island is located on almost exactly the opposite side of the globe from Cocos Island
Cocos Island
Cocos Island is an uninhabited island located off the shore of Costa Rica . It constitutes the 11th district of Puntarenas Canton of the province of Puntarenas. It is one of the National Parks of Costa Rica...
, Costa Rica.
Demographics
In 2010, the population of the islands is estimated at just over 600. The population on the two inhabited islands generally is split between the ethnic Europeans on West Island (estimated population 100) and the ethnic MalaysCocos Malays
Cocos Malays are a community that form the predominant group of the Cocos Islands, which is now part of Australia. The Cocos Malays are originated from the descendants of Malay settlers from the British colonies of British Malaya, Singapore, Brunei and the Riau Archipelago of Dutch East Indies.The...
on Home Island (estimated population 500). A Cocos dialect
Cocos Islands Malay
Cocos Islands Malay is a variety of Malay, spoken by the Cocos Malays of Home Island, which amounts to around 500, and those originally from the Cocos Islands currently living in Sabah....
of Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
and English are the main languages spoken, and 80% of Cocos Islanders are Sunni Muslim.
History
In 1609 Captain William KeelingWilliam Keeling
Captain William Keeling , of the East India Company, was a British sea captain. He commanded the Susanna on the second East India Company voyage in 1604, and he commanded the Red Dragon on the third voyage of 1607. He discovered the Cocos Islands in 1609 as he was going home from Java to England....
was the first European to see the islands, while serving in the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, but they remained uninhabited until the 19th century.
In 1814, a Scottish merchant seaman named Captain John Clunies-Ross stopped briefly at the islands on a trip to India, nailing up a Union Jack and planning to return and settle on the islands with his family in the future.
However, a wealthy Englishman named Alexander Hare had similar plans, and hired a captain, coincidentally Clunies-Ross' brother, to bring him and a harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
of forty Malay women to the islands where he hoped to set up his own private residence. Hare had previously served as governor of a colony in Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
and found that "he could not confine himself to the tame life that prosy civilisation affords".
When 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 a private harem, a feud grew instantly between the two men. Clunies-Ross' eight sailors, "began at once the invasion of the new kingdom to take possession of it, women and all".
After some time, Hare's women began deserting him, and instead finding themselves mates amongst Clunies-Ross' sailors. Disheartened, Hare left the island and went to Batavia
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
where he later died.
Clunies-Ross' 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.
Robert FitzRoy
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy RN achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, and as a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate weather forecasting a reality...
arrived to take soundings establishing the profile of the atoll as part of the survey expedition of the Beagle
Second voyage of HMS Beagle
The second voyage of HMS Beagle, from 27 December 1831 to 2 October 1836, was the second survey expedition of HMS Beagle, under captain Robert FitzRoy who had taken over command of the ship on its first voyage after her previous captain committed suicide...
. To the young naturalist Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, who was on 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
The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs
The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, Being the first part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. Fitzroy, R.N. during the years 1832 to 1836, was published in 1842 as Charles Darwin's first monograph, and set out his theory of the formation of coral reefs...
. He studied the natural history of the islands and collected specimens. Darwin's assistant Syms Covington
Syms Covington
Syms Covington was a fiddler and cabin boy on HMS Beagle who became an assistant to Charles Darwin and was appointed as his personal servant in 1833, continuing in Darwin's service after the voyage until 1839. Originally named Simon Covington, he was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, the...
noted, "an Englishman [he was of course Scottish] and HIS family, with about sixty or seventy mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
s 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. This annexation was carried out by Captain Stephen Grenville Fremantle in command of . Fremantle claimed the islands for the British Empire and appointed Ross II as Superintendent. In 1867, their administration was placed under the Straits SettlementsStraits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...
, which included Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
granted the islands in perpetuity to the Clunies-Ross family in 1886. The Cocos Islands under the Clunies-Ross family have been cited as an example of a 19th-century micronation
Micronation
Micronations, sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects, are entities that claim to be independent nations or states but which are not recognized by world governments or major international organizations...
.
World War I
On 9 November 1914, the islands became the site of the Battle of CocosBattle of Cocos
The Battle of Cocos took place on 9 November 1914 during the First World War off the Cocos Islands, in the north east Indian Ocean. The German light cruiser attacked the British cable station on Direction Island and was engaged several hours later by the Australian light cruiser...
, one of the first naval battles of World War I. The wireless telegraph
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
station on Direction Island, a vital link between the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, was destroyed by sailors from the German light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
, which was in turn surprised and destroyed by the Australian cruiser, .
World War II
During World War II, the cable station was once again a vital link. Allied planners noted that the islands might be seized as a base for GermanNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
raider cruisers operating in the Indian Ocean. Following Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
's entry into the war, Japanese forces did occupy neighbouring islands. To avoid drawing their attention to the Cocos cable station and its islands' garrison, the seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
anchorage between Direction and Horsburgh
Horsburgh Island
Horsburgh Island is one of the Cocos Islands. Its area is 1,04 square kilometers. There is a small lagoon in the interior of the island to the northeast.-History:...
islands was not used. Radio transmitters were also kept silent, except in emergencies.
After the Fall of Singapore in 1942, the islands were administered from Ceylon (Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
), 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
King's African Rifles
The King's African Rifles was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from the various British possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions within the East African colonies as well as external service as...
, located on Horsburgh Island, with two 6 inches (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 Ceylon Defence Force, mutinied
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
, under the leadership of Gratien Fernando
Gratien Fernando
Bombardier Gratien Fernando CGA was the leader of the Cocos Islands Mutiny, an agitator for the freedom of Sri Lanka from the British....
. The mutineers were said to have been provoked by the attitude of their British officers, and were also supposedly inspired by anti-imperialist
Anti-imperialism
Anti-imperialism, strictly speaking, is a term that may be applied to a movement opposed to any form of colonialism or imperialism. Anti-imperialism includes opposition to wars of conquest, particularly of non-contiguous territory or people with a different language or culture; it also includes...
beliefs. They attempted to take control of the gun battery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
on the islands. The Cocos Islands Mutiny
Cocos Islands Mutiny
The Cocos Islands Mutiny was a failed mutiny by Ceylonese soldiers against British officers, on the Cocos Islands in May 1942, during the Second World War....
was crushed, although the mutineers killed one non-mutinous soldier and wounded one officer. Seven of the mutineers were sentenced to death at a trial which was later alleged to have been improperly conducted. Four of the sentences were commuted, but three men were executed, including Fernando. These were to be the only British Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
soldiers executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
On 25 December 1942, the Japanese submarine I-166 bombarded the islands but caused no damage.
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 planned
Operation Tiderace
Operation Tiderace was the codename of the British plan to retake Singapore in 1945. The liberation force was led by Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia Command...
reinvasion of Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
and reconquest of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The first aircraft to arrive were Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
Mk VIIIs of No. 136 Squadron RAF
No. 136 Squadron RAF
No. 136 Squadron RAF was a short-lived RAF unit that saw no action in World War I, but upon reformation became the highest scoring unit in South East Asia Command during World War II. Shortly after the war the squadron was disbanded.-Formation in World War I:...
. They included some Liberator bombers from No. 321 (Netherlands) Squadron RAF
No. 321 Squadron RAF
No. 321 Squadron RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force during World War II formed from the personnel of the Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service.-Formation:...
(members of exiled Dutch forces serving with the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
), which were also stationed on the islands. When in July 1945 No. 99
No. 99 Squadron RAF
No. 99 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was a bomber squadron in both first and second world war. At present it operates the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III from RAF Brize Norton, the RAF's air transport hub. The squadron was the first RAF unit to receive the Avro Aldershot, Handley Page Hyderabad,...
and No. 356
No. 356 Squadron RAF
No. 356 Squadron RAF was a short-lived long range bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force between 1944 and 1945.-History:The squadron was formed on 15 January 1944 at Salbani, Bengal, British India, as a long range bomber unit equipped with the Consolidated Liberator. The squadron attacked Japanese...
RAF squadrons arrived on West Island, they brought with them a daily newspaper called Atoll which contained news of what was happening in the outside world. Run by airmen in their off-duty hours, it achieved fame when dropped by Liberator bombers on POW camps over the heads of the Japanese guards. In 1946 the administration of the islands reverted to Singapore.
Transfer to Australia
On 23 November 1955, the islands were transferred to Australian control under the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955 (an Australian Act) pursuant to the Cocos Islands Act, 1955 (a UK Act). Mr 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, Mr Hull's appointment was terminated and John William StokesJohn William Stokes
John William Stokes, also known as Jack Stokes was an Australian administrator in the Northern Territory Police, and on the Territories of the Cocos Islands and of Christmas Island....
was appointed on secondment from the Northern Territory Police. A media release at the end of October 1958 by the Minister for Territories, Mr Hasluck, commended Mr Hull's three years of service on Cocos. Mr Stokes served in the position from 31 October 1958 to 30 September 1960. Mr C.I. Buffett MBE
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
from Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
succeeded him and served from 28 July 1960 to 30 June 1966, and later acted as Administrator back on Cocos and on Norfolk Island.
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
In 1974, Ken Mullen wrote a small book 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 A$6,250,000, using the threat of compulsory acquisition. By agreement, the family retained ownership of Oceania House, their home on the island. However, in 1983 the Australian government reneged this agreement, and told John Clunies-Ross that he should leave the Cocos. The following year the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
ruled that resumption of Oceania House was unlawful, but the Australian government ordered that no government business was to be granted to Clunies-Ross's shipping company, an action that contributed to his bankruptcy. John Clunies-Ross now lives in Perth, Western Australia. However, some members of the Clunies-Ross family still live on the Cocos.
The 2004 earthquake and tsunami centered off the western shore of Sumatra, Indonesia, prompted early worries about the Cocos, but no casualties were reported.
Government
The capital of the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands is West IslandWest Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands
West Island is the capital of the Cocos Islands. The population is roughly 120. It is the less populous of the two inhabited islands . It was part of the Clunies-Ross plantation and an airstrip was built here during World War II...
while the largest settlement is the village of Bantam (Home Island). Governance of the islands is based on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955 and depends heavily on the laws of Australia. The islands are administered from Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
by the Attorney-General's Department
Attorney-General's Department
An Attorney-General's Department is a government department in certain countries.*Attorney-General's Department *Attorney-General's Department...
(before 29 November 2007 administration was carried out by the Department of Transport and Regional Services), through a non-resident Administrator
Administrator (Australia)
The title Administrator of the Government has several uses in Australia.-Administrator of the Commonwealth:At the Commonwealth level, Section 4 of the Australian Constitution provides that:...
appointed by the Governor-General
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
.
The current Administrator is Brian Lacy
Brian Lacy
Brian James Lacy is the current Administrator of Christmas Island and Cocos Islands. Lacy was the Senior Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission before he took up his current position on 5 October 2009.-References:...
, who was appointed on 18 September 2009 and is also the Administrator of Christmas Island
Christmas Island
The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
. These two Territories comprise Australia's Indian Ocean Territories. There also exists a unicameral Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council
Shire of Cocos
The Shire of Cocos is a Local Government Area which manages local affairs on the Australian external territory of Cocos Islands . The island is grouped with Western Australia but is administered by Attorney-General's Department and an Administrator....
with seven seats. A full term lasts four years, though elections are held every two years; approximately half the members retire each two years. Federally, Cocos (Keeling) Islanders form the electorate of Lingiari
Division of Lingiari
The Division of Lingiari is an Australian Electoral Division in the Northern Territory. It was created in 2000, out of the former Division of Northern Territory. It covers almost the entire Territory , an area of , making it the second largest electorate in terms of area in Australia...
with Christmas Island and outback Northern Territory.
The islands have a five-person police force but their defence remains the responsibility of Australia.
Economy
There is a small and growing tourist industry focused on water-based or nature activities.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, stevedore
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
s, and lighterage worker operations. Tourism employs others. The unemployment rate was 11.3% in 2006.
Communications and transport
The islands are connected within Australia's telecommunication system (with number range +61 8 9162 xxxx) and postal system (post codePostal code
A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.In February 2005, 117 of the 190 member countries of the Universal Postal Union had postal code systems...
: 6799). Public phones are located on both West Island and Home Island. A GSM mobile phone network operates on Cocos (Keeling) Islands which is "on its last legs" according to the Government. Phones must be registered through the Telecentre to access this service. There is one paved airport on the West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Island International Airport
Cocos (Keeling) Island International Airport
- Statistics :Cocos Island Airport airport served 9,129 revenue passengers during financial year 2009-2010, ranking it 99th amongst airports in Australia.- External links :*...
, to which Virgin Australia operates scheduled jet services from Perth, Western Australia. There is also a lagoon anchorage.
In the 1950s and 1960s the airport at Cocos Islands was a key stop for commercial 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 requirement.
Media
Cocos (Keeling) Islands has access to a range of modern communication services. Four television stations broadcast from Western Australia via satellite. These are ABC, SBS, WIN and GWN. A local radio station, 6CKI – Voice of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, is staffed by community volunteers and provides some local content.As television and radio stations broadcast through a satellite service, rainfall may cause interference.Television
Cocos Island received four channels from Western Australia via Satellite:- ABC1
- SBS One
- WIN Television (Affiliated of Nine Network Perth)
- GWN7 (Affiliated of Seven Network Perth)
Cocos Island only receives four channels because digital television is not available yet.
Education
There are two schools in the archipelago, located on the two inhabited islands. One is on West Island, and the other on Home Island.School instruction is in English, and efforts are made to discourage students from speaking the local language (Cocos Islands Malay
Cocos Islands Malay
Cocos Islands Malay is a variety of Malay, spoken by the Cocos Malays of Home Island, which amounts to around 500, and those originally from the Cocos Islands currently living in Sabah....
, a Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
dialect) on school premises.
See also
- Banknotes of the Cocos (Keeling) IslandsBanknotes of the Cocos (Keeling) IslandsBanknotes were issued in the Cocos Islands between 1887 and 1902. All the issues prior to the 1902 issue are extremely rare.The notes bear the signature of the reigning King of the Cocos Islands....
- Cocos MalaysCocos MalaysCocos Malays are a community that form the predominant group of the Cocos Islands, which is now part of Australia. The Cocos Malays are originated from the descendants of Malay settlers from the British colonies of British Malaya, Singapore, Brunei and the Riau Archipelago of Dutch East Indies.The...
- King of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Pearl IslandsPearl IslandsThe Pearl Islands are a group of 100 or more islands lying about off the Pacific coast of Panama in the Gulf of Panama.- Islands :...
Isla de Cocos, Panama and Cocos Island, Costa Rica - Transport in the Cocos (Keeling) IslandsTransport in the Cocos (Keeling) IslandsThe Cocos Islands have fifteen kilometres of highway. The airport has paved runways of length exceeding 1,525 metres. There are no major seaports on the islands, but there is lagoon anchorage.-See also:*Cocos Islands...
External links
- Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands homepage
- Areas of individual islets
- Atoll Research Bulletin vol. 403
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands Tourism website
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands entry from the CIA World Factbook
- Noel Crusz, The Cocos Islands mutiny, Reviewed by: Peter Stanley, Principal Historian, Australian War Memorial
- History of Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- The man who lost a "coral kingdom"