Coral Sea Islands stretch northeast from the Great Barrier Reef near Australia. Many of these scattered reefs and islands are little more than sandbanks. They are spread out over an area of about 300,000 square miles (780,000 square kilometers) with only about 1 square mile (2.6 square kilometers) of actual land area. They were declared an Australian territory in 1969 under the Coral Sea Islands Act. The Coral Sea Islands Act was amended in 1997 to include the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs.
All of the islands are uninhabited, except for Willis Island, which has a meteorological station operated by the Australian government. All wildlife in the territory is legally protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Regulations.
