Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Where is Heard Island and McDonald Islands?

Located in the Indian Ocean, Heard Island and McDonald Islands is an island nation. It has a 102.00 km coastline.

Heard Island and McDonald Islands are external territories of Australia. They cover a total area of 144 square miles. The islands do not have any permanent residents nor do they have a capital city. Heard Island is named after Captain John Heard while the McDonald Island is named after Captain William McDonald. Australia governs the Islands. Australia took over the administration of the Islands in 1947 from the United Kingdom. The population of the islands was zero as of January 1, 2011. The islands are considered a marine reserve with few tourists visiting. Most who visit the islands visit for research purposes. Some of the interesting sites to visit on the islands include Mount Drygalski, the Challenger glacier, Hayter peak and Anzac peak. There are a few plants and algae that can survive in the Antarctic climate and a few species of birds, seals, and Penguins to see. The weather experienced in the islands is an Antarctic climate. The islands are usually windy and cloudy with low daily temperatures. There is also constant rainfall and snow throughout the year. The annual precipitation ranges between 51.2 and 74.8 inches.

Heard Island and McDonald Islands is an Antarctican country covering 412.00 km². and about 7 times smaller than Rhode Island. Its geographic coordinates are 53 06 S, 72 31 E

Its ISO code is HM.

Heard Island and McDonald Islands are made up of five Islands located in the Indian Ocean, in the Southern part of Africa. The islands are considered an external territory of Australia, and they are uninhabited. The islands are used as research stations, and the people who visit are usually scientific researchers who stay for a period and leave after their assignments. The islands do not have any official language or any languages at that as they do not have any permanent residents. The islands' population was 0 in 2011. As the Islands are an Australian territory and are governed by Australia, Australian English is used by the administrators. Australian English is directly derived from British English, but in 1820, it was noted to be different from British English. There are no minority languages used on the islands, but there are several minority languages in mainland Australia. The minority languages are each spoken by less than 3% of the general population. The languages include Vietnamese, Italian, Mandarin, Arabic and Cantonese.

The dialing code for the country is .

The currency of Heard Island and McDonald Islands is the Dollar (AUD).

Geography

Heard Island and McDonald Islands has a mean elevation of 0 m above sea level.

It has an antarctic climate. Its terrain is characterized by ice coverage and mountains.

The Heard Island and McDonald Islands are situated in the Indian Ocean south of Africa. They are grouped as external territories of Australia. The Australian Antarctic Division governs the territory under the Australian Department of the Environment. Australia is a member of the Commonwealth realm with the Queen as the head of state. The Queen resides at Buckingham Palace in London and represented in Australia by the Governor-General. No elections are carried out in Heard Island and McDonald Islands as the Islands do not have permanent residents, and they do not send any representatives to the Senate. There are also no political parties present in the Islands. The government governing the Islands can be described as a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Elections are carried out every three years in Australia to elect members of the House of Representatives and members of the Senate. Australia has two dominant political parties with several other minor parties.

Flag

The Heard and McDonald Islands use the Australian flag. The Australian flag consists of the Union Jack flag, a blue background, and six stars. The Union Jack is on the canton of the flag while one of the six-pointed stars is centrally located below the Union Jack flag. The other stars form a dipper-like constellation with one five-pointed star. They are along the edge on the right. The flag was officially adopted in 1947. The six points on the star below the jack union flag stand for the six states in Australia with the last one representing the overseas territories. The blue color of the flag represents vigilance, truth, and justice. The flag design was chosen from 32,823 entries. The islands of Heard and McDonald do not have permanent residents. Apart from being un-inhabited, the islands also have active volcanic mountains. They are only used for research purposes.

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