Home Island

Island of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia

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Home Island, also known locally as Pulu Selma, is one of only two permanently-inhabited islands of the 26 islands of the South Keeling Islands of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an Australian external territory in the central-eastern Indian Ocean.

Description

It is 95 hectares (230 acres) in area and contains the largest settlement of the territory, Bantam, with a population of about 500 Cocos Malay people. Local attractions include a museum covering local culture and traditions, flora and fauna, Australian naval history, and the early owners of the Cocos-Keeling Islands.^[1]

The Home Island Mosque is one of the busiest places on the island, and the minaret is painted in territorial flag colours of green and gold.^[2]^[3]

There is also a trail leading to Oceania House, which was the ancestral home of the Clunies-Ross family, the former rulers of the Cocos-Keeling Islands and is over a century old.^[4]

Education

Cocos Islands District High School operates a primary education centre on Home Island; most of the staff live on West Island and travel to their jobs on a daily basis. Secondary level students go to the West Island campus.^[5]

Heritage listings

Home Island contains a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Captain Ballard's Grave^[6]
Jalan Kipas: Early Settlers' Graves^[7]
Home Island Cemetery^[8]
Jalan Panti: Home Island Foreshore^[9]
Jalan Bunga Mawar: Home Island Industrial Precinct^[10]
Jalan Bunga Kangkong: Oceania House^[11]
Jalan Bunga Mawar: Old Co-Op Shop^[12]

References

^ "Home Island", Cocos Keeling Islands. Retrieved on 13 February 2018.
^ "Home Island Mosque". Flickr. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
^ "Cocos Keeling Islands Travel Guide". taste2travel. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
^ "Oceania House" Archived 3 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Cocos Keeling Islands. Retrieved on 13 February 2018.
^ Home Archived 25 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Cocos Islands District High School. Retrieved on 8 April 2019.
^ "Captain Ballards Grave (Place ID 105361)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
^ "Early Settlers Graves (Place ID 105362)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
^ "Home Island Cemetery (Place ID 105355)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
^ "Home Island Foreshore (Place ID 105363)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
^ "Home Island Industrial Precinct (Place ID 105220)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
^ "Oceania House and Surrounds (Place ID 105236)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
^ "Old Co-op Shop (Canteen) (Place ID 105409)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 15 May 2019.