The History of Cocos (Keeling) Islands: From the Discovery by William Keeling to the Current Day

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands is an Australian external territory located in the Indian Ocean, approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and relatively close to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The territory consists of two atolls made up of 27 coral islands, of which only two – West Island and Home Island – are inhabited. The population of around 600 people consists mainly of Cocos Malays, who mostly practice Sunni Islam and speak a dialect of Malay as their first language.

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The islands were discovered in 1609 by the British sea captain William Keeling, but no settlement occurred until the early 19th century. One of the first settlers was John Clunies-Ross, a Scottish merchant; much of the island’s current population is descended from the Malay workers he brought in to work his copra plantation. The islands were annexed by the United Kingdom in 1857 and were later transferred from Singapore to Australia on November 23, 1955.

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are administered by the Australian federal government’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications as an Australian external territory and together with Christmas Island (which is about 960 kilometres (600 mi) to the east) forms the Australian Indian Ocean Territories administrative grouping. However, the islanders do have a degree of self-government through the local shire council. Many public services – including health, education, and policing – are provided by the state of Western Australia, and Western Australian law applies except where the federal government has determined otherwise.