South Keeling Islands

The South Keeling Islands are a group of 24 islands of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, next to North Keeling, about to the north. The Australian atoll is located in the Indian Ocean about northwest of Perth, west of Darwin, southwest of Christmas Island and more than southwest of Java and Sumatra. Only two of the 24 islands are populated, with a total population of around 600.

History

The islands are named after Captain William Keeling, who is believed to have been the first European to have visited, in 1609. The islands were not inhabited until 1826, when Alexander Hare moved his family to Home Island. The islands were ruled by John Clunies-Ross and his descendants between 1827 and 1986, even after the Cocos Islands became an Australian territory in 1955.

The atoll consists of 24 islands, with the largest being West, Home, South, Direction, and Horsburgh islands. West Island is the largest in the territory, with a length of 10 km.
The South Keeling Islands have two inhabited islands with a combined population of 600, West Island and Home Island. The capital of the Territory of Cocos Islands is West Island while the largest settlement is the village of Bantam, on Home Island. The other islands are not permanently inhabited. A Malay ethnic group of just over 450 people live on the islands, the Cocos Malays, who live mainly in Bantam on Home Island. There are also about 150 Australians, most of whom live on West Island.