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Kingdom of the Cocos Islands
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday
Cocos black ensign
State ensign of the Cocos Islands
Languages English, Malay
Capital Bantam (Home Island)
Government Hereditary absolute monarchy
King John Cecil Clunies-Ross
Regent John George Clunies-Ross
Population approx. 500-600
Area 14 km2
Currency Cocos Islands rupee (r)

Background

The Cocos Islands lie in the Indian Ocean. They are claimed by the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand as the "Cocos (Keeling) Islands" but have functioned as an independent micro-kingdom since 1983. They are not to be confused with the Isla del Coco, also called Cocos Island, in the Pacific Ocean, a Costa Rican island annexed to Colombia in 2001.

The Clunies-Ross family from Shetland established a coconut plantation on the uninhabited islands in 1827. Most of the islands' population is descended from workers on the plantation; today approximately 80% of the islanders are Malay-speaking Sunnis. In 1886 Queen Victoria granted them title to the islands in perpetuity, and the family began styling themselves "kings". In 1955 Britain transferred the islands to Australia, though the family still owned the islands and continued to run them nearly as they had before; however, Australia did appoint a Supreme Court to establish and maintain the rule of law and to harmonize the island's law code, mostly derived from Singapore, with that of Australia. It was only in 1978 that Australia forced John Clunies-Ross to sell the islands, keeping only Oceania House, the family seat. In 1979, a Council was created to govern the territory.

History since 1983

Oceania House

Oceania House, the "palace" on Home Island outside of Bantam village

Three Australian cities were hit by Soviet nukes in 1983. For a long, critical period, the Commonwealth neglected its newest territory. The Cocos were essentially cut off. For the entire 150-year history of human habitation, their economy had been based almost entirely on the coconut cash crop. In the short term, the people could live on high-calorie coconuts - which the Council now attempted to ration - and on the catch of local fishermen. But this state of affairs could not last indefinitely without something else to fuel the economy.

The Clunies-Ross family, out of power for less than five years, no longer held title to the lands. They did now possess a very large amount of cash, however, and they had begun to invest in a shipping fleet. Used to being obeyed, it was not difficult for John Clunies-Ross to present himself as the islands' savior and assume control once again. The legal structure from the islands' long period as a fiefdom was still in place; Australia had not had a chance to reform it yet. John was not so brash as to dismiss the Council or the Court, but since he now controlled most of the Cocos' economy, he was able to limit these bodies to act as mere advisors.

John also knew that his newfound position depended on prolonging the breach with Australia. His ships would ensure that the Cocos would not be cut off from the world, but it was to Indonesia that they sailed to trade and hire. John took full advantage of the disorder in the country, willingly trading and dealing with all sides in Indonesia's many internal conflicts. It was only in 1989 that Australia sent an expedition to the Cocos Islands, and it found John and his son firmly in control and uninterested in returning to Australian rule. The family shipping fleet had secured a lucrative contract from the new, federalized government of Indonesia, providing a valuable new source of income.

Late in 1992, Australia hit the Sultanate of Aceh with sanctions after its invasion of Indonesian Sumatra. As a minor act of retaliation, Aceh recognized the Cocos' independence and provided a small amount of aid. So far, neither Australia nor its successor the ANZC have gone to the trouble of taking the Cocos militarily, though they have never dropped their claim to them.

In 2000, King John entered a state of near-retirement, handing over most responsibilities to his son John George.

The creation of the League of Nations in 2008 presented the ANZC with a new avenue for retaking the islands. So far, the issue has not yet been brought before the League - since its foundation it has been completely occupied with one crisis after the other. But the ANZC does plan to raise the issue eventually, and there is no question that the League would then side with them and authorize force to retake Australia's wayward territory. So unless the kingdom can find a creative way to maintain its independence, its takeover by the ANZC is probably only a matter of time.

Geography

Cocos small map

The islands of Cocos

The Cocos' territory is the same as before Doomsday: two atolls, North Keeling Island and the South Keeling Islands, separated by about 40 km. The small north atoll is uninhabited. The southern atoll forms a U-shaped ring of islands approximately 15 km across. The main islands, clockwise from the north, are Horsburgh, Direction, Home, South, and West. Of these, South Island is uninhabited.

Home Island is the center of activity, containing both the only large settlement, Bantam, and Oceania House, seat of the royal family. A new house for the Cocos Islands Council was built at the south end of Bantam, facing the lagoon, in 1990. West Island contains the islands' only airstrip and the former Australian government buildings. The only entrance to the atoll's central lagoon is to the north, between Horsburgh and Direction Islands. The main anchorage is to the south of Direction.

The western tip of Direction Island features the most significant costruction project on the islands since Doomsday: Fort Direction, usually called the Battery or the Fort. The king had the fortification built using hired labor and expertise from Indonesia in 1987. Built to defend the Cocos against pirates, the Battery commands the channel entering the atoll as well as the entire anchorage area to the south of the island. Warning shots from the Battery greeted the Australian expedition of 1988 and helped prevent the islands' immediate re-annexation.

Government

Cocos cypher

The royal cypher, normally used in lieu of a coat of arms. The Cocos also adopted a civic seal in 1994.

The Cocos are an absolute monarchy in that the king has no real constitutional checks on his power. The Supreme Court of 1983, made up of Aussies appointed by the Australian government, was initially kept, along with the Council. The members of the court were banished one by one over the years, however, for various offenses, and replaced with loyal allies of the family. The council has kept a good deal of authority over local affairs. It currently consists of six members elected annually, with the king (nowadays, the regent) allowed to cast a tiebreaking vote.

The monarchy itself is a little idiosyncratic in that the Clunies-Ross family have taken on very few of the trappings of royalty. They do not wear any crown, although a highly stylized crown does appear in the national seal and on the state ensign (see below). The correct way to address the king or regent is "Mr. Clunies-Ross," not "Your Majesty" or any more traditional style. As John George told an Australian reporter in a sympathetic interview in 2009, "We're kings because we're the hereditary rulers of a country. If there was a better name for that than 'king', we'd use it. We really don't go in for a lot of that royalty nonsense, robes and crowns and maces and all that."

International relations

The following may be changed by the caretakers of the nations mentioned.

Besides Aceh and Indonesia, the Cocos' independence has been recognized by the governments of most of the South American Confederation nations. The Foreign Secretary of the CAS once described the ANZC's claims on the Cocos as "imperialistic". This is somewhat ironic in that the Clunies-Ross regime is a classic case of Anglos ruling over nonwhites. Cocos state-owned ships have occasionally traded in the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Rayalaseema, which amounts to tacit recognition by those states. Closer to home, Singapore recognizes the Cocos, while Brunei and the Philippines do not.

The ANZC and its allies in North America and Europe do not recognize the Cocos, nor would they have much reason to do so. The Foreign Ministry of the Union Interim Parliament of India has ruled that it considers the Cocos to be ANZC territory.

The Regent of the Cocos Islands conducts a good deal of diplomacy personally but also employs a Foreign Secretary. Cocossian Ambassadors have offices in Banda Aceh, Yogyakarta, and Singapore.

Flags

The shipping company owned by the Clunies-Ross family helped insure the islanders' survival and quickly became the mainstay of their new economy, transporting people and cargo around the western parts of Indonesia. The need for a new identifying flag quickly became apparent. The colors black and gold were chosen primarily because they were different from the Cocos Islands' neighbors. The saltire represents the Clunies-Ross family's Scottish origins, and the crescents represent the Islam of most of the island's other inhabitants. The four crescents represent the four inhabited islands: Home Island, West Island, Direction Island, and Horsburgh Island. The national flag is reserved for use on the islands and serves as the jack of all Cocos ships.

The state ensign, or Black Ensign, is the one most frequently encountered. It flies on all ships owned by the royal family. When the Cocos Islands represent themselves diplomatically in other countries, they usually use the Black Ensign to represent their islands rather than the national flag. The Green Ensign is the civil flag used at sea. It flies on vessels owned by private individuals, mostly small fishing boats.

The world today makes strict observation of quarantine necessary whenever a ship is infected with disease. The Cocos Islands' quarantine flag is the national flag with colors reversed and a somewhat narrower saltire.

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