Why FRANCE Has a Border With Australia

Why does France keep the Kerguelen Islands? They sit at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, halfway to Antarctica, with no town, no airport, and not one person who lives there for good. The only way in is a ship from Réunion, about four times a year. Yves de Kerguelen promised his king a southern France and went to prison for it. Two brothers tried a sheep farm. In 1940 a German raider hid in one of the bays. So what is France still doing here, and how did it end up with a border with Australia?

0:00 Why does France keep the Kerguelen Islands?
0:53 Who discovered the Kerguelen Islands?
2:41 Why is Kerguelen called Desolation Island?
4:17 Did anyone ever live on Kerguelen?
5:41 What happened at Kerguelen in World War 2?
7:13 Who lives on the Kerguelen Islands today?
8:25 Why did rockets fly from Kerguelen?
9:58 Why does France have a border with Australia?
12:54 What is Kerguelen used for today?
14:14 What animals live on Kerguelen?
15:12 The map of why

A whole year on Kerguelen, one ship every few months, no way to leave early. Would you go? Tell me in the comments.

Music: 'Kinetic' by Revo on #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/c/revo
License code: RZ49N6GRWN4Q88MR

Satellite imagery: Sentinel-2 cloudless - https://s2maps.eu by EOX IT Services GmbH (Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016 & 2017), CC BY 4.0
Elevation: Copernicus DEM GLO-30, © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA
Port-aux-Français, the Marion Dufresne, seals and penguins: Antoine Lamielle, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2020-11_Kerguelen_Islands_-_PAF_from_the_sea_07.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2020-11_Kerguelen_Islands_-_PAF_45.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2021-08_Marion_Dufresne_11.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2020-11_Kerguelen_Islands_-_Southern_elephant_seal_27.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2020-11_Kerguelen_Islands_-_King_Penguin_59.jpg
Port-Couvreux: Pascal Subtil, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Site_de_Port-Couvreux_aux_Kerguelen.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Croix_%C3%A0_Port-Couvreux_aux_Kerguelen.jpg
Port-Jeanne-d'Arc: Jean-Mowak, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_Baleiniere_de_Port-Jeanne-D%27Arc.jpg
Kerguelen cabbage and the seal oil vats: B.navez, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pringlea_antiscorbutica.JPG https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ElephantSealOilVats_Kerguelen.jpg
Château de Saumur: Coucouoeuf, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Saumur_depuis_les_vignes.JPG
Soviet MR-1 rocket: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Метеорологическая_ракета_МР-1.jpg
Mont Ross: Cousin jf, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mont_Ross_-_Archipel_des_Kerguelen.jpg
Toothfish catch: CCAMLR Fishery Report 2025, Division 58.5.1, https://fishdocs.ccamlr.org/FishRep_KI_TOP_2025.html
Island close-ups: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2022-2026 (Sentinel-2)
Radar image: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026 (Sentinel-1D, 28 Oct 2026), via Microsoft Planetary Computer
Sea floor: NOAA ETOPO 2022; Kerguelen Plateau: R.J. Beaman, Geoscience Australia, AusBathyTopo (Kerguelen Plateau) 2022 100 m, CC BY 4.0
Earth: NASA Blue Marble Next Generation (Reto Stöckli, NASA Earth Observatory)
"Sheep" by kenchoo, CC BY 4.0, https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/sheep-08b05ae799d947f1a68c49b2d661eb53
"Liberty ship" by AlanTinka, CC BY 4.0, https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/liberty-ship-a1db8e8414464c5d8b11383e202fcf26

#KerguelenIslands #France #Geography