Kerguelen Islands

Kerguelen Islands, island group, southern Indian Ocean, comprising about 300 islands and islets of volcanic origin. The only island of importance in the group is Kerguelen. The island is rocky and mountainous; the highest peak attains an elevation of 1,960 m (6,430 ft) above sea level. The island is so deeply indented by fjords that, although it is 160 km (100 mi) long and 130 km (80 mi) wide, no point on the island is more than 19 km (12 mi) from the sea. Penguins and other seabirds frequent it, but no fauna is indigenous to Kerguelen. The native flora dates from ancient times and is thought possibly to have reached the island from distant South America rather than from comparatively nearby Africa. Especially notable is the Kerguelen cabbage, a vegetable long valued by explorers of these waters for its antiscorbutic qualities. The island was discovered in 1772 by the French navigator Yves Joseph de Kerguélen-Trémarec. The British explorer Captain James Cook visited it in 1776 and named it Desolation Island. France annexed Kerguelen in 1893 and has established permanent scientific research stations here. The only inhabitants are the personnel at the stations. Area, 6,000 sq km (2,300 sq mi).