General information: According to findjobdescriptions, the Southern Lands consist of two archipelagos (Crozet Island and Kerguelen Island) and two volcanic islands (Amsterdam Island and St. Paul Island). They have no permanent population and are only visited by wildlife explorers. The Antarctic part includes Adélie Land, a small part of Antarctica discovered by the French in 1840.
Geography
Location: southern Africa, islands in the southern Indian Ocean, approximately equidistant from Africa, Antarctica and Australia; note – includes Amsterdam Island, Saint-Paul Island, the Crozet Islands, the Kerguelen Islands in the South Indian Ocean, and the sector of Antarctica (“Adélie Land”) claimed by France; The US does not recognize French claims.
Geographical coordinates: 43° 00′ S. latitude, 67° 00′ E e.
Reference map: Antarctic region.
Area: total: 7,781 km2; land surface area: 7,781 km2; water surface area: 0 km2; note: including Amsterdam Island, Saint-Paul Island, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Island; excluding “Adelie Land” (approximately 500,000 square kilometers), claims to which are not recognized by the United States.
Comparative area: slightly less than 1.3 the area of Delaware.
Land borders: 0 km.
Coastline: 1,232 km
Maritime claim: Exclusive Economic Zone: 200 nautical miles from Kerguelen Island only; territorial waters: 12 nautical miles.
Climate: Antarctic.
Terrain: volcanic.
Maximum and minimum heights: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m; highest point: Mount Ross on Kerguelen Island 1,850 m.
Natural resources: fish, lobsters.
Land use: arable land: 0%; cultivated land: 0%; pasture: 0%; forests and plantations: 0%; others: 100%.
Irrigated lands: 0 km sq. (1993).
Natural Hazards: Amsterdam Island and Saint-Paul Island are dormant volcanoes.
Current environmental issues: no data available.
International agreements on environmental protection:
Geography note: The islands are scattered at a great distance from each other in remote areas of the southern Indian Ocean.
Population
Population: no local residents; note: in 1997 there were about 100 explorers, numbers varying from winter (July) to summer (January) (July 2001 est.). State Title:
Politics
Common long form: Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands;
Common short form: French Southern and Antarctic Lands; local long form: Territoire des Terres Aust-rales et Antarctiques Francaises; local short form: Terres Australes et Antarctiques Francaises. Dependency status: French overseas territory since 1955; which is ruled from Paris by the High Commissioner of the Republic, Brigitte GIRARDIN (since March 25, 1998), her assistant is the Secretary General Jean-Yves HERMOSO (Jean-Yves HERMOSO) (from which date – no data).
State structure:
Capital:
Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions according to the classification adopted by the US government, but there are 3 districts: Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Island, Saint-Paul and Amsterdam Islands; not including “Adelie’s Land”, claims to which are not recognized by the US.
Economics
Economic overview: Economic activity is limited to the maintenance of meteorological and geophysical research stations, as well as French and foreign fishing fleets. Fish caught by foreign ships off Kerguelen Island are exported to France and Reunion. Telecommunications
Transport
Transport Railways:
Roads:
Waterways:
Pipelines:
Ports and harbours: none; only anchorages.
Merchant fleet: total: 74 vessels (displacement of 1,000 tons or more) with a total displacement of 3,024,194 gross register tons / 5,255,706 long tons of gross tonnage; ships of various types: dry cargo ships – 7, cargo ships – 5, chemical tankers – 9, container ships – 11, liquefied gas tankers – 7, oil tankers – 23, ferries for the transport of loaded vehicles – 12; note: part of the French shipping register allowing French ships to operate under more liberal taxation and crewing rules than the main French register (2000 est.).
