Kerguelen Islands

The Kerguelen Islands lie in the southern Indian Ocean and form part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF). The archipelago consists of the main Kerguelen Island—also called Desolation Island—and nearly 300 smaller islets. The main island is heavily glaciated, with active glaciers and peaks reaching about 1,965 metres. The islands are associated with the Kerguelen Plateau, a vast submarine volcanic plateau in the region.

French navigator Yves-Joseph de Kerguélen-Trémarec discovered the archipelago in 1772; Captain James Cook later explored it. Whalers and seal hunters frequented the islands in the following centuries. A permanent base and scientific centre, Port-aux-Français, was established on the main island in 1950.

The Kerguelen Islands are part of the UNESCO-listed French Austral Lands and Seas, a remote expanse of southern Indian Ocean islands and waters supporting exceptionally dense bird and marine-mammal populations. UNESCO identifies this isolation as helping preserve the region and making it valuable for scientific research. The broader property includes Crozet, Kerguelen, Saint-Paul and Amsterdam islands, and smaller subantarctic islands.