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Coral Sea Islands
The Coral Sea Islands Territory is an external territory of Australia which comprises a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia. The only inhabited island is Willis Island. The territory covers , most of which is ocean, extending east and south from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef and includes Heralds Beacon Island, Osprey Reef, the Willis Group and fifteen other reef/island groups. Cato Island is the highest point in the Territory.Geoscience AustraliaCoral Sea Islands History and status The Coral Sea Islands were first charted in 1803. In the 1870s and 1880s the islands were mined for guano but the absence of a reliable supply of fresh water prevented long-term habitation. The Coral Sea Islands became an Australian external territory in 1969 by the ''Coral Sea Islands Act'' (prior to that, the area was considered a part of Queensland) and extended in 1997 to include Elizabeth Reef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the French Natural Park of the Coral Sea (french: Parc Naturel de la Mer de Corail) and the Australian Coral Sea Marine Park. The sea was the location for the Battle of the Coral Sea, a major confrontation during World War II between the navies of the Empire of Japan, and the United States and Australia. The sea contains numerous islands and reefs, as well as the world's largest reef system, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981. All previous oil exploration projects were terminated at the GBR in 1975, and fishing is restricted in many areas. The reefs and islands of the Coral Sea are particularly rich in birds and aquatic life and are a popular tourist destination, both domestically and interna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Department Of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development And Local Government (Australia)
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Cities was an Australian Public Service department of the Government of Australia that existed between December 2017 and May 2019, charged with the responsibility for infrastructure and major projects, transport, local government, external territories administration, rural and regional development, population policy, and cities. When created on 20 December 2017, the department replaced the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development. It was dissolved and remade as the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development by Administrative Arrangements Orders made on 29 May 2019. Location The department was headquartered in the Canberra central business district at Infrastructure House and the neighbouring building to Infrastructure House. Operational activities In an Administrative Arrangements Order made on 20 December 2017, the functions of the department were broadly classi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve
Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve is a former marine protected area covering an area of 8440 km2 in the Australian Coral Sea Islands Territory that was incorporated into the new Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve in December 2012. Together with the Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve, from which it is separated by about 100 km of open ocean, it forms the Coral Sea Reserves Ramsar Site, designated on 16 August 2002, listing it under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. History Lihou Reef and its cays were discovered by Lieutenant John Lihou, R.N., on 23 February 1823. Lihou, then Master of the brig-sloop HMS ''Zenobia'', was on passage from Manila to South America. After a hazardous passage through the reef, the ship departed the Great Barrier Reef via an opening near Murray Islands. On 23 February, the Lihou Reefs were sighted.''Source: Hydrographic Service - Royal Australian Navy. (M.A. BOLGER. Lieutenant Commander RAN for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can grow. Most of the approximately 440 atolls in the world are in the Pacific Ocean. Two different, well-cited models, the subsidence and antecedent karst models, have been used to explain the development of atolls.Droxler, A.W. and Jorry, S.J., 2021. ''The Origin of Modern Atolls: Challenging Darwin's Deeply Ingrained Theory.'' ''Annual Review of Marine Science'', 13, pp.537-573. According to Charles Darwin's ''subsidence model'', the formation of an atoll is explained by the subsidence of a volcanic island around which a coral fringing reef has formed. Over geologic time, the volcanic island becomes extinct and eroded as it subsides completely beneath the surface of the ocean. As the volcanic island subsides, the coral fringing reef becomes a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock outcrops, etc.—but there are also reefs such as the coral reefs of tropical waters formed by biotic processes dominated by corals and coralline algae, and artificial reefs such as shipwrecks and other anthropogenic underwater structures may occur intentionally or as the result of an accident, and sometimes have a designed role in enhancing the physical complexity of featureless sand bottoms, to attract a more diverse assemblage of organisms. Reefs are often quite near to the surface, but not all definitions require this. Earth's largest coral reef system is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, at a length of over . Biotic There is a variety of biotic reef types, including oyster reefs and sponge reefs, but the most massive and w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey
The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the postal service between 12 September and 7 November 2017. Unlike voting in elections and referendums, which is compulsory in Australia, responding to the survey was voluntary. A survey form, instructions, and a reply-paid envelope were mailed out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to every person on the federal electoral roll, asking the question "Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?" The ABS outlined processes to ensure eligible Australians lacking access to post could participate. The survey returned 7,817,247 (61.6%) "Yes" responses and 4,873,987 (38.4%) "No" responses. An additional 36,686 (0.3%) responses were unclear and the total turnout was 12,727,920 (79.5%). Prior to the survey, the Liberal–National Coalition government had pledged to facilitate a private membe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gay And Lesbian Kingdom Of The Coral Sea Islands
The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands (also known as The Gay Kingdom of the Coral Sea) was a putative micronation established as a symbolic political protest by a group of gay rights activists based in Australia. Declared in 2004 in response to the Government of Australia's refusal to recognise same-sex marriages, it was founded on Australia's external overseas territory of the Coral Sea Islands, a group of uninhabited islets east of the Great Barrier Reef. The Kingdom was dissolved on 17 November 2017 following the 'Yes' vote in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey legalising same-sex marriage. The Coral Sea Islands Territory is an external territory of Australia which comprises a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia. The territory covers , most of which is ocean, extending east and south from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef; it includes Heralds Beacon Island, Osprey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ISO 3166
ISO 3166 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, special areas of geographical interest, and their principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states). The standard employs a code of letters and numbers to represent the name of a given geographical area in order to save time and energy when describing the area, as well as to reduce the risk of description errors. The official name of the standard is ''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions''. Parts It consists of three parts: * ISO 3166-1, ''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country codes'', defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It defines three sets of country codes: ** ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 – two-letter country codes which are the most widely used of the thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FIPS 10-4
The FIPS 10-4 standard, ''Countries, Dependencies, Areas of Special Sovereignty, and Their Principal Administrative Divisions'', was a list of two-letter country codes that were used by the U.S. Government for geographical data processing in many publications, such as the ''CIA World Factbook''. The standard was also known as DAFIF 0413 ed 7 Amdt. No. 3 (November 2003) and as DIA 65-18 (Defense Intelligence Agency, 1994, "Geopolitical Data Elements and Related Features"). The FIPS 10-4 codes are similar to (but sometimes incompatible with) the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes. The standard also includes codes for the top-level subdivision of the countries, similar to but usually incompatible with the ISO 3166-2 standard. History On September 2, 2008, FIPS 10-4 was one of ten standards withdrawn by NIST as a Federal Information Processing Standard. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding township#Australia, townships. It is located in southeastern Australian mainland as an enclave and exclave, enclave completely within the states and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. Founded after Federation of Australia, Federation as the seat of government for the new nation, the territory hosts the headquarters of all important institutions of the Australian Government. On 1 January 1901, Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia was achieved. Section 125 of the new Constitution of Australia, Australian Constitution provided that land, situated in New South Wales and at least from Sydney, would be ceded to the new Government of Australia, federal government. Following discussion and exploration of various ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supreme Court Of Norfolk Island
The Supreme Court of Norfolk Island is the superior court for the Australian territory of Norfolk Island. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters and hears the most serious criminal matters. (NI) s 5 Jurisdiction of Supreme Court. It also has jurisdiction over the Coral Sea Islands Territory. (Cth) s 8 Courts having jurisdiction in the Territory All matters are heard before a single judge, including appeals from the Court of Petty Sessions. In the Australian court hierarchy, it is one of eight state and territory Supreme Courts having unlimited jurisdiction in their respective parts of Australia. Appeal lies to the Federal Court of Australia, from which an appeal by special leave can be made to the High Court of Australia. History Prior to 1960 almost all matters were heard by the Chief Magistrate who was also the Administrator. If there was a need for a judge then a person was appointed specifically for that purpose. The first such appointment was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
