Territory Name: Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Capital: West Island

Government Type: non-self-governing overseas territory of Australia

Background: British captain William KEELING discovered Cocos (Keeling) Islands in 1609, and they were named the Cocos Islands in 1622 for their coconut trees. Some maps began referring to them as the Keeling Islands in 1703. In 1825, Scottish trader John CLUNIES-ROSS was trying to get to Christmas Island but was blown off-course and landed on Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The next year, a British trader hired John’s brother to bring slaves and a harem of Malay women to create the first permanent settlement on the island. By the 1830s, the Clunies-Ross family had firmly established themselves as the leaders of the islands and they ruled Cocos (Keeling) Islands in a feudal style until 1978.

The UK annexed the islands in 1857 and administered them from Ceylon after 1878 and from Singapore after 1886. Cocos (Keeling) Islands hosted a cable relaying station and was attacked by the Germans in World War I. The Japanese similarly attacked the islands in World War II. The UK transferred the islands to Australia in 1955, which officially named the islands the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and in 1978, Australia bought all the land held by the Clunies-Ross family, ending their control of the islands’ governance. In a referendum in 1984, most islanders voted to integrate with Australia, and Western Australian laws have applied on the islands since 1992.

Region: Oceania

Population: 596 (July 2014 est.)

Ethnic Groups: Europeans, Cocos Malays

Languages: Malay (Cocos dialect) 68.8%, English 22.3%, unspecified 8.9%; note - data represent language spoken at home (2016 est.)

Religions: Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 75%, Anglican 3.5%, Roman Catholic 2.2%, none 12.9%, unspecified 6.3% (2016 est.)

Currency: Australian Dollar (AUD)

Export Commodities: integrated circuits, vaccines and cultures, furniture, carbon batteries, rubber gloves (2021)

Export Partners: United States 57%, Ireland 15% (2019)

Import Commodities: gold, x-ray equipment, cars, prefabricated buildings, packaged medicines (2019)

Import Partners: Australia 73%, United Arab Emirates 15%, Netherlands 5% (2019)

Agricultural Products: vegetables, bananas, pawpaws, coconuts

Industries: copra products, tourism

Labor Force: NA

Unemployment Rate: 0.1% (2011)

Natural Hazards: cyclone season is October to April

Geography:

• Total: 14 sq km

• Land: 14 sq km

• Water: 0 sq km

(Country Summary, The World Factbook, CIA.gov)

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