Pulu Keeling National Park RegionPulu Keeling National Park Region

Pulu Keeling National Park Region

Located in the Indian Ocean (lat. 12° 12’S, long. 96° 54’E), the Cocos (Keeling) Islands [Figure 1] are approximately 2900 kilometres north-west of Perth, 975 kilometres west-south-west of Christmas Island and 1,000 kilometres south-west of Java Head. They are located in one of Australia’s most distant and isolated Territories. The Cocos (Keeling) Group consists of 27 separate islands, the land area of which totals some 14 square kilometres [Figure 2].

The island group comprises two separate atolls, the southern, inhabited atoll of 26 islands, and the northern atoll (North Keeling Island - a single horseshoe-shaped island), which is located 24 km to the north of the southern group (lat. 11° 50’S, long. 96° 49’E). The atolls are connected by a submerged ridge at a depth of 700-800 metres. Together they comprise a single feature rising from the surrounding ocean floor.

Pulu Keeling National Park was proclaimed in December 1995 and is Australia’s sixth and smallest Commonwealth national park. ‘Pulu’ is the Cocos-Malay word for island. The Park includes the 1.2 square kilometre land area of the island, the central lagoon, and the waters around the island extending out to 1.5 kilometres from the high water mark.