Coral Sea Islands

From MicroWiki, the free micronational encyclopædia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Coral Sea Islands
Overseas Territory of the Kingdom of Latveria
Coat of arms
Capital
and largest city
Hevean/Cato Reef
Official languagesEnglish
GovernmentDemocracy
• Emperor
Victor Von Doom
Establishment27 July 2022
Population
• Census
4 (2018)
CurrencyLatverian Franc, Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar, American Dollar
Time zoneUTC 10
Preceded by
Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands

The Coral Sea Islands were first charted in 1803. In the 1870s and 1880s the islands were mined for guano but the absence of a reliable supply of fresh water prevented long-term habitation. The Coral Sea Islands became an Australian external territory in 1969 by the Coral Sea Islands Act (prior to that, the area was considered part of Queensland) and extended in 1997 to include Elizabeth Reef and Middleton Reef nearly 800 km further south.

The two latter reefs are much closer to Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, (about 150 km (93 mi)) than to the southernmost island of the rest of the territory, Cato Island. The islands, cays and reefs of the Great Barrier Reef are not part of the territory, belonging to Queensland instead. The outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef is the boundary between Queensland and the Coral Sea Islands Territory.

The territory is a possession or external territory of Australia, administered from Canberra by the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities. Previously it was administered by the Attorney-General's Department and the Department of Transport and Regional Services). Defence is the responsibility of Australia, and the territory is visited regularly by the Royal Australian Navy.

Australia maintains automatic weather stations on many of the isles and reefs, and claims a 200-nautical-mile (370 km) exclusive fishing zone. There is no economic activity (except for a significant but as yet unquantified charter fishing and diving industry), and only a staff of three or four people to run the meteorological station on Willis Island (South Islet), established in 1921. In November 2011, the Australian government announced that a 989,842-square-kilometre (382,180 sq mi) protected area was planned in the Coral Sea.

The Supreme Court of Norfolk Island has jurisdiction over the islands, however, the laws of the Australian Capital Territory apply.The territory's FIPS 10-4 code is CR, whereas ISO 3166 includes it in Australia (AU).

In 2004, the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands was declared as a sovereign state as a symbolic political protest by a group of gay rights activists based in Australia in response to the Australian government's refusal to recognise same-sex marriages. The Kingdom was dissolved on 17 November 2017 following results of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey indicated a majority of Australians supported same-sex marriage.

In 2020 the Aleutian Islands Colonized the islands

In 2022 the Kingdom of Latveria colonized the islands