'''French Southern and Antarctic Lands''' are a loose group of islands of the Southern Ocean, about equidistant between Africa, Antarctica, and Australia. (They also include a small strip of Antarctica itself, a claim which is not recognized or currently exercised.)

Regions

  • Iles Crozet
  • Iles Kerguelen
  • Ile Amsterdam
  • Ile Saint-Paul
  • Understand

    The Southern Lands consist of two near-polar archipelagos, Iles Crozet and Iles Kerguelen, and two volcanic islands, Ile Amsterdam and Ile Saint-Paul. They contain no permanent inhabitants and are visited only by researchers studying the native fauna. The "Antarctic Lands" portion consists of Adelie Land, a thin slice of the Antarctic continent discovered and claimed by the French in 1840, but which is not recognized internationally and is set aside by the Antarctic Treaty.

    Get in

    By plane

    There are no airports in these islands.

    By boat

    There are no harbors in these islands. The Marion Dufresne, an oceanographic ship, travels four times a year from Reunion to these isles.

    Buy

    Economic activity is limited to servicing meteorological and geophysical research stations and French and other fishing fleets. The fish catches landed on Iles Kerguelen by foreign ships are exported to France and Reunion.

    Sleep

    There is no public accommodation in these islands.

    Stay safe

    Ile Amsterdam and Ile Saint-Paul are extinct volcanoes.

    Stay healthy

    All of these islands have harsh environments, especially in the austral winter. a small hospital exists in Port aux Francaises, Kerguelen.