Home Island

Home Island is an inhabited island in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an Australian external territory in the eastern Indian Ocean. It is one of the main population centers of the atoll group and is closely associated with the Cocos Malay community.

The island contains the principal village settlement and local amenities used by residents and occasional visitors. Visitors typically experience local cultural life, village architecture and small-scale coastal environments rather than large tourist infrastructure. Access to the island is by boat or scheduled local transport from the territory’s other islands.

European settlement and commercial activity on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands began in the 19th century, when the Clunies-Ross family established copra plantations and a long-running local administration. Over the 20th century control and administration moved toward formal Australian government authority while the local Cocos Malay community remained centered on Home Island.

Home Island lies in the central part of the Cocos (Keeling) atoll group in the eastern Indian Ocean, southwest of Indonesia and northwest of mainland Australia. It is one of several islands within the atoll and sits close to the territory’s administrative West Island across a short inter-island crossing.

• Community: Located in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, it is one of the inhabited islands of the atoll group and is home to the local Cocos Malay community.
• Settlement role: Serves as one of the main population centers of the territory, distinct from the administrative centre on West Island.