Introduction

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Background:

These uninhabited, barren, sub-Antarctic islands were transferred from the UK to Australia in 1947. Populated by large numbers of seal and bird species, the islands have been designated a nature preserve.

Geography

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Location:	islands in the Indian Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica
Geographic coordinates:	53 06 S, 72 31 E
Map references:	Antarctic Region
Area:	total: 412 sq km land: 412 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:	slightly more than two times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:	0 km
Coastline:	101.9 km
Maritime claims:	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Climate:	antarctic
Terrain:	Heard Island - 80% ice-covered, bleak and mountainous, dominated by a large massif (Big Ben) and an active volcano (Mawson Peak); McDonald Islands - small and rocky
Elevation extremes:	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Mawson Peak, on Big Ben 2,745 m
Natural resources:	fish
Land use:	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)
Irrigated land:	0 sq km
Natural hazards:	Mawson Peak, an active volcano, is on Heard Island
Environment - current issues:	NA

People

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Population:

uninhabited

Government

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Country name:	conventional long form: Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands conventional short form: Heard Island and McDonald Islands abbreviation: HIMI
Dependency status:	territory of Australia; administered from Canberra by the Australian Antarctic Division of the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Legal system:	the laws of Australia, where applicable, apply
Diplomatic representation in the US:	none (territory of Australia)
Diplomatic representation from the US:	none (territory of Australia)
Flag description:	the flag of Australia is used

Economy

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Economy - overview:

The islands have no indigenous economic activity, but the Australian Government allows limited fishing in the surrounding waters.

Communications

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Internet country code:

.hm

Transportation

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Ports and terminals:

none; offshore anchorage only

Military

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Military - note:

defense is the responsibility of Australia; Australia conducts fisheries patrols

Transnational Issues

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Disputes - international:

none

History of Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Heard Island did not have visitors until the mid-1850s. It is probable that no human had ever seen the Island until this time. Peter Kemp, a British sealer (seal hunter), was the first person thought to have seen the island on November 27, 1833, from the brig Magnet during a voyage from Kerguelen to the Antarctic and was believed to have entered the island in his 1833 chart.

Captain John Heard, an American sealer on the ship Oriental, sighted the island on November 25, 1853, en route from Boston to Melbourne. He reported the discovery one month later and had the island named after him. Coincidentally, Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang discovered the McDonald Islands close to Heard Island shortly afterwards on January 4, 1854.

No landing was made on the islands until March 1855, when sealers from the Corinthian led by Captain Erasmus Darwin Rogers went ashore, at a place called Oil Barrel Point. In the sealing period from 1855–1880, a number of American sealers spent a year or more on the island, living in appalling conditions in dark smelly huts, also at Oil Barrel Point. At its peak the community populated 200 people. By 1880, most of the seal population had been wiped out and the sealers left the island. In all, more than 100,000 barrels of elephant seal oil was produced during this period.

There are a number of wrecks in the vicinity of the islands.

The islands have been part of Australia since 1947, and became a World Heritage Site in 1997.

Last update on 10 March 2008