Cocos Islands

Where is Cocos Islands?

Located in Southeastern Asia, Cocos Islands is an island nation. It has a 26.00 km coastline.

The capital city of Cocos Islands is West Island, the main city of which is located a six-minute drive from the Cocos Islands Airport. West Island, as the name implies, is the westernmost island of the country and is located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of Indonesia and the northwest of Western Australia. Cocos Islands were discovered in 1609 but remained unsettled until 1857 when the British set up a trading and merchant port. The population of West Island is just 120 people, consisting of mainly Australian and European expatriates. West Island relies heavily on these citizens to work in various sectors of the area.

Cocos Islands is an Asian country covering 14.00 km². The area includes the two main islands of West Island and Home Island. and about 24 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC. Its geographic coordinates are 12 30 S, 96 50 E and West Island is the capital city.

Its ISO code is CC.

Geography

Cocos Islands has a mean elevation of 0 m above sea level.

It has a tropical, humid climate that is mostly moderated by southeast trade winds. Its terrain is characterized by flat, low-lying coral atolls.

Population

Cocos Islands has a population of 596 making it the 236th largest in the world.

Malay and English are spoken. The majority ethnic groups are Europeans and Cocos Malays. Sunni Muslim is the majority religion.

The official languages of Cocos Islands are Cocos Malay, a creole-Malay dialect, and English. Cocos Malay derives from the languages used during 19th-century trading and has had influences from the Betawi and Javanese dialects. The language is also used in Christmas Island and in some parts of Malaysia and Australia.

The dialing code for the country is 61.

Government

It is a territory of Australia. Its constitution was last ratified in 2010.

Cocos Islands are an Australian external territory and therefore, the country follows the political system of Australia. Australian citizens elect representatives to the Federal Parliament with elections taking place in the six states and two territories of the nation. The legislative process in Australia resembles the Westminster system and the leader of the country is officially known as the Prime Minister.

Economy

The currency of Cocos Islands is the Dollar (AUD).

Its major imports include foodstuffs.

Flag

The flag of Cocos Islands consists of a green field with a palm tree in a gold disc in the upper left-hand corner. The flag also contains a gold crescent in the center of the flag and the Southern Cross constellation in gold on the right-hand side. This flag was officially adopted on 6 April 2004 and replaced the flag of Australia in many capacities. The flag of Cocos Islands was designed by Mohd Ian Minkom, working for the Office of the Island's Administrator, in early 2003. There are accounts from many locals that this design was used earlier as a regional flag in some parts of Cocos Islands. Previous flags of the country include the flag of Australia which was flown in Cocos Islands from 23 November 1955 until 2004. This flag is still used in some official areas because the country is still considered a part of Australia. The Union Jack of the British Empire was used in the country from 1857-1903 and again from 1942-1945 during World War II. From 1903 until 1955 the country used three additional flags, all of which contain the Union Jack in the upper-left corner.