The
Shire of Cocos is a
Local Government AreaThe Australian state of Western Australia is divided into 142 Local Government Areas . Their mandate and operations are governed by the Local Government Act 1995...
which manages local affairs on the
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n external territory of
Cocos (Keeling) IslandsThe Territory of Cocos Islands, also called Cocos Islands and Keeling Islands, is a territory of Australia. There are two atolls and twenty-seven coral islands in the group...
. The island is grouped with
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
but is administered by
Attorney-General's DepartmentAn Attorney-General's Department is a government department in certain countries.*Attorney-General's Department *Attorney-General's Department...
and an Administrator.
It covers an area of 14.1 km² in the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
about 2,770 km north-west of
PerthPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. With a population of 1,650,000 , Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average....
and 1,000 km south-west of
JavaJava is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia...
in
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. It has a population of 621 (
ABSThe Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It came into being, as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics, on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of...
2001).
From the 19th century onwards, the islands were owned by the
Clunies-Ross familyKing of the Cocos Islands was a title given by the press to John Clunies-Ross, a Scottish sea captain and other members of his family.He went to live on the Cocos Islands in 1827. Queen Victoria granted the islands in perpetuity to the Clunies-Ross family in 1886...
, and in 1886 were granted to them in perpetuity by
Queen VictoriaVictoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death...
.
The
Shire of Cocos is a
Local Government AreaThe Australian state of Western Australia is divided into 142 Local Government Areas . Their mandate and operations are governed by the Local Government Act 1995...
which manages local affairs on the
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n external territory of
Cocos (Keeling) IslandsThe Territory of Cocos Islands, also called Cocos Islands and Keeling Islands, is a territory of Australia. There are two atolls and twenty-seven coral islands in the group...
. The island is grouped with
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
but is administered by
Attorney-General's DepartmentAn Attorney-General's Department is a government department in certain countries.*Attorney-General's Department *Attorney-General's Department...
and an Administrator.
It covers an area of 14.1 km² in the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
about 2,770 km north-west of
PerthPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. With a population of 1,650,000 , Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average....
and 1,000 km south-west of
JavaJava is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia...
in
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. It has a population of 621 (
ABSThe Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It came into being, as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics, on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of...
2001).
History
From the 19th century onwards, the islands were owned by the
Clunies-Ross familyKing of the Cocos Islands was a title given by the press to John Clunies-Ross, a Scottish sea captain and other members of his family.He went to live on the Cocos Islands in 1827. Queen Victoria granted the islands in perpetuity to the Clunies-Ross family in 1886...
, and in 1886 were granted to them in perpetuity by
Queen VictoriaVictoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death...
. On 23 November 1955 the islands were transferred to Australian control under the
Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955. In 1978, Australia entered a form of purchase of the islands with the Clunies-Ross family, and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Council came into existence in July 1979 as a representative of the
Cocos MalayCocos Malays are a community that form the predominant group of the Cocos Islands, which is now part of Australia. Despite that they all have assimilated into the ethnic Malay culture, they are named in reference to the Malay race, coming from places such as Bali, Bima, Celebes, Madura, Sumbawa,...
community.
On 1 July 1992, the
Federal GovernmentThe Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
's
Territories Law Reform Act came into place, applying
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
n law to the islands. An ordinance subsequently created the Shire of Cocos, replacing the earlier Council and transferring all the Council's assets to the new body. The first elections were held in May 1993.
The
shireA shire is a traditional division found in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in Australia.In Britain, "shire" is the original term for what is usually known as a county; the word county having been introduced at the Norman Conquest. The two are synonymous...
's offices are located at Jalan Bunga Kangkong, Home Island.