| Global Cost of Living Rank |
| CIA Background Information |
There are 27 coral islands in the group. Captain William KEELING discovered the islands in 1609, but they remained uninhabited until the 19th century. From the 1820s to 1978, members of the CLUNIE-ROSS family controlled the islands and the copra produced from local coconuts. Annexed by the UK in 1857, the Cocos Islands were transferred to the Australian Government in 1955. The population on the two inhabited islands generally is split between the ethnic Europeans on West Island and the ethnic Malays on Home Island. | |
Location: Cocos (Keeling) Islands is Southeastern Asia, group of islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Indonesia, about halfway from Australia to Sri Lanka See Map
Capital: name: West Island
geographic coordinates: 12 10 S, 96 50 E
time difference: UTC+6.5 (11.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Currency (Code): Australian dollar (AUD) ...More
Area: total: 14 sq km , land: 14 sq km , water: 0 sq km , note: includes the two main islands of West Island and Home Island ( 1 sq km is approximately 0.4 sq miles or 250 acres)
Area Comparison: about 24 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Elevation Extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m , highest point: unnamed location 5 m (1 meter = 3.28 feet)
Population: 596 (July 2007 est.)
Unemployment: 60% (2000 est.)
Ethnic Groups: Europeans, Cocos Malays
Religion: Sunni Muslim 80%, other 20% (2002 est.)
Languages: Malay (Cocos dialect), English
More Statistics
|
|
