The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands is an Australian external territory that consists of a volcanic series of relatively barren Antarctic islands located around two-thirds of the way between Madagascar and Antarctica. The islands, discovered in the mid-nineteenth century, are located on the Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean and have been an Australian territory since 1947. They are home to Australia’s only active volcanoes. The islands are among the most remote places on Earth, located approximately 4,099 kilometers southwest of Perth, 3,845 kilometers southwest of Cape Leeuwin, and 4,200 kilometers southeast of South Africa. The islands are uninhabited and can only be accessed by sea, which would take two weeks from Australia.
