Country:  Heard Island and McDonald Islands
(territory of Australia)
- Geography
Total area: 412 km2; land area: 412 km2
 
Comparative area: slightly less than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
 
Land boundaries: none
 
Coastline: 101.9 km
 
Maritime claims:
 
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
 
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploration;
 
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
 
Territorial sea: 3 nm
 
Climate: antarctic
 
Terrain: Heard Island--bleak and mountainous, with an extinct
volcano; McDonald Islands--small and rocky
 
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and
pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other
 
Environment: primarily used as research stations
 
Note: located 4,100 km southwest of Australia in the
southern Indian Ocean
 
- People
Population: uninhabited
 
- Government
Long-form name: Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands
 
Type: territory of Australia administered by the Antarctic Division
of the Department of Science in Canberra (Australia)
 
- Economy
Overview: no economic activity
 
- Communications
Ports: none; offshore anchorage only
 
- Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of Australia