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The Kerguelen Islands ( or ;〔Oxford English Dictionary〕 in French ''フランス語:Îles Kerguelen'' but officially ''フランス語:Archipel des Kerguelen'', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (''フランス語:Îles de la Désolation'' in French), are a group of islands in the southern Indian Ocean constituting one of the two emerged parts of the mostly submerged Kerguelen Plateau. They are among the most isolated places on Earth, located 450 km (280 mi) northwest of the uninhabited Heard Island and McDonald Islands and more than away from the nearest populated location. The islands, along with Adélie Land, the Crozet Islands and the Amsterdam and Saint Paul Islands are part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and are administered as a separate district. The main island, Grande Terre, is in area and is surrounded by a further 300 smaller islands and islets, forming an archipelago of , slightly smaller than Puerto Rico. The climate is raw and chilly with frequent high winds throughout the year. The surrounding seas are generally rough and they remain ice-free year-round. There are no indigenous inhabitants, but France maintains a permanent presence of 45 to 100 scientists, engineers and researchers.〔(Sea Level Measurement and Analysis in the Western Indian Ocean ), UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission〕 There are no airports on the islands, so all travel and transport from the outside world is conducted by ship. == History == Kerguelen Islands appear as the "Ile de Nachtegal" on Philippe Bauche's map from 1754 before the island was officially discovered in 1772. The Bauche map has the title "Carte des Terres Australes comprises entre le Tropique du Capricorne et le Pôle Antarctique où se voyent les nouvelles découvertes faites en 1739 au Sud du Cap de Bonne Esperance" (‘Map of the Southern Lands contained between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Pole, where the new discoveries made in 1739 to the south of the Cape of Good Hope may be seen’). It is possible this early name was after Tasman's ship "De Zeeuwsche Nachtegaal." On the Bauche map, "Ile de Nachtegal" is located at 43°S, 72°E, about 6 degrees north and 2 degrees east of the accepted location of Grande Terre. The islands were discovered by the Breton-French navigator Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec on 12 February 1772. The next day Charles de Boisguehenneuc landed and claimed the island for the French crown. Yves de Kerguelen organised a second expedition in 1773 and arrived at the " baie de l'Oiseau " by December of the same year. On 6 January 1774 he commanded his lieutenant, Henri Pascal de Rochegude, to leave a message notifying any passersby of the two passages and of the French claim to the islands.〔(''The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook Round the World'' ), volume 5, James Cook, pub. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, et Brown, Londres, 1821, pp. 146–151.〕 Thereafter, a number of expeditions briefly visited the islands, including that of Captain James Cook in December 1776, who verified and confirmed the passage of de Kerguelen by discovering and annotating the message left by the French navigator.〔 In 1874–1875, British, German and U.S. expeditions visited Kerguelen to observe the transit of Venus.〔(Exploring Polar Frontiers, p. 346 ), William James Mills, 2003〕 Soon after their discovery, the archipelago was regularly visited by whalers and sealers (mostly British, American and Norwegian) who hunted the resident populations of whales and seals to the point of near extinction, including fur seals in the 18th century and elephant seals in the 19th century. Since the end of the whaling and sealing era, most of the islands' species have been able to increase their population again.〔(Whales, whaling, and ocean ecosystems ), James A. Estes〕 In 1800, ''Hillsborough'' spent eight months sealing and whaling around the islands. During this time Captain Robert Rhodes, her master, prepared a chart of the islands.〔Clayton, Jane M. (2014) ''Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775-1815: An alphabetical list of ships''. (Berforts Group), p.141. ISBN 978-1908616524〕 In 1825, the British sealer John Nunn and three crew members from the ''Favourite'', were shipwrecked on Kerguelen until they were rescued in 1827 by Captain Alexander Distant during his hunting campaign. For the 1874 transit of Venus, George Biddell Airy at the Royal Observatory of the UK organised and equipped five expeditions to different parts of the world. Three of these were sent to the Kerguelen Islands. The Reverend Stephen Joseph Perry led the British expeditions to the Kerguelen Islands. He set up his main observation station at Observatory Bay and two auxiliary stations, one at Thumb Peak () led by Sommerville Goodridge, and the second at Supply Bay () led by Cyril Corbet. Observatory Bay was also used by the German Antarctic Expedition led by Erich Dagobert von Drygalski in 1902–03. In January 2007, an archaeological excavation of this site was carried out. In 1877 the French started a coal mining operation; however, this was abandoned soon after. The Kerguelen Islands, along with the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul, and the Crozet archipelago were officially annexed by France in 1893, and were included as possessions in the French constitution in 1924 (in addition to that portion of Antarctica claimed by France and known as Adélie Land; as with all Antarctic territorial claims, France's possession on the continent is held in abeyance until a new international treaty is ratified that defines each claimant's rights and obligations). The German auxiliary cruiser ''Atlantis'' called at Kerguelen during December 1940. During their stay the crew performed maintenance and replenished their water supplies. This ship's first fatality of the war occurred when a sailor, Bernhard Herrmann, fell while painting the funnel. He is buried in what is sometimes referred to as "the most southerly German war grave" of World War II. Kerguelen has been continually occupied since 1950 by scientific research teams, with a population of 50 to 100 frequently present.〔 There is also a French satellite tracking station. Until 1955, the Kerguelen Islands were part of the French colony of Madagascar. That same year they collectively became known as ''フランス語:Les Terres australes et antarctiques françaises'' (French Southern and Antarctic Lands) and were administratively part of the French ''フランス語:Départment d'outre-mer de la Réunion''. In 2004 they were permanently transformed into their own entity (keeping the same name) but having inherited another group of five very remote tropical islands, ', which are also owned by France and are dispersed widely throughout the southern Indian Ocean. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kerguelen Islands」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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