In 1609, William Keeling, a seafarer of the English East India Company, discovered the island, so it was also called the Keeling Islands.
In 1826, the British explorer Hale settled here with his wives and concubines and slaves of Malayan origin.
In 1827, John Clunis also settled here with his family, improving the natural coconut grove and adding the Malayan coconut harvest to make dried coconuts.
In 1836, the British biologist Darwin set up a coral reef observation station here.
In 1857 the British declared the Archipelago as its dependency, and in 1878 the Cocos Islands were placed under the British Governor-General of Ceylon.
In 1886, it was incorporated into the Straits Settlements, the capital of Singapore, and was granted permanent property of the Klunis family.
In 1903 it was transferred to British Singapore. The German cruiser Emden was sunk by the Australian cruiser Sydney off the coast of North Keeling Island during World War I.
An airstrip was built on the island in 1945 and used as a stopover for flights between Perth in Australia and Johannesburg in South Africa until 1967.
In 1955 the archipelago was transferred from British Singapore to Australia.
In September 1978, the archipelago owner, Klunis Ross, sold the plantation and transferred the title to Australia. Since then, the Australian currency has been switched to and the Autonomous Government of Cocos Malaya has been gradually established.
It was incorporated into Australia in April 1984.
So, it's a small island that almost founded itself.
The Chief Executive now appointed by the Governor-General of Australia is a senior government official on Cocos Island. In 1979, the islanders established the Cocos Islands Council, an elected local government body, to advise the Chief Executive on behalf of the islanders in local affairs. The archipelago has its postal service. Educational, medical and dental services are provided by the Australian Government.
The Cocos Islands are 2,768 km northwest of Perth, 3,685 km west of Darwin Harbour in Australia and 1,300 km south-southwest of Singapore. The archipelago covers an area of 14.2 square kilometres, consists of 27 coral islands with a population of 628 (2005) and was part of Singapore until 1955.
It's windy here, and the coconut trees are blown like this, and some are uprooted.