Ashmore and Cartier Islands

The Territory of the Ashmore and Cartier Islands () is the collective name for two groups of small low-lying uninhabited tropical islands. The islands are in the Indian Ocean north-west of Australia and south of the Indonesian island of Roti."Ashmore and Cartier Islands" at CIA World Factbook ; excerpt, "no indigenous inhabitants"; retrieved 2013-4-19. The Australian mainland is about  to the southwest, the island of Timor (and Roti next to it) is about  to the north.

The territory includes Ashmore Reef (West, Middle, and East Islets) and Cartier Island  east with, a total area of  within the reefs and including the lagoons, and  of dry land. They have a long coastline, over , but there are no ports or harbours, only offshore anchorage. Nearby Hibernia Reef,  northeast of Ashmore Reef, is not part of the territory, because it has no permanently dry land area, although large parts of the reef become exposed during low tide.

 Government 

The territory is administered from Canberra by the Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage. Therefore, it is a dependency within the commonwealth. The islands are visited by seasonal caretakers.

 Images 

References

Category:Commonwealth dependent states
Category:States and territories of Australia
Category:Islands of Australia