Kerguelen Islands
The Kerguelen Archipelago is in the southern Indian Ocean at 49°20' S, 70°20' E. The main island is 6,675 km2 and it is surrounded by another 300 smaller outcropss, forming an archipelago of 7,215 km2. The climate is cold, very windy and the seas are usually rough.
The islands belong to France, and were discovered by de Kerguelen-Tremarec in February 1772. The archipelago was exploited for its seal population until their destruction, fur seals in the 18th Century and elephant seals in the early 20th Century. A number of expeditions have briefly touched the islands including that of James Cook in 1776.
Kerguelen has been used by a small number of science teams since 1949, with a population of 50-100 always present.