These uninhabited, barren, sub-Antarctic islands were transferred from the UK to Australia in 1947. Populated by large numbers of seal and bird species, the islands have been designated a nature preserve.
Geography
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Location:
islands in the Indian Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica
Geographic coordinates:
53 06 S, 72 31 E
Map references:
Antarctic Region
Area:
total: 412 sq km
land: 412 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly more than two times the size of Washington, DC
Heard Island - 80% ice-covered, bleak and mountainous, dominated by a large massif (Big Ben) and an active volcano (Mawson Peak); McDonald Islands - small and rocky
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mawson Peak, on Big Ben 2,745 m
