Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Location: Southeastern Asia, group of islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Indonesia, about halfway from Australia to Sri Lanka Geographic coordinates: 12 30 S, 96 50 E Map references: Southeast Asia Area: total: 14 km² (note: includes the two main islands of West Island and Home Island) land: 14 km² water: 0 km² Area - comparative: about 24 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC Land boundaries: 0 km Coastline: 26 km Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 200 nautical miles territorial sea: 3 nautical miles Climate: pleasant, modified by the southeast trade winds for about nine months of the year; moderate rainfall Terrain: flat, low-lying coral atolls Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location 5 m Natural resources: fish Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) Irrigated land: NA km² Natural hazards: cyclone season is October to April Environment - current issues: fresh water resources are limited to rainwater accumulations in natural underground reservoirs Geography - note: two coral atolls thickly covered with coconut palms and other vegetation. There is a Cocos Island (Isla del Coco) in the Pacific Ocean that belongs to Costa Rica and not to be confused with these Cocos Islands. Information from the CIA World Factbook, 2003 edition. See also : Cocos (Keeling) Islands This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.