Christmas Island, which is also Australian, is 956 km (594 mi) in a west-northwest direction.

[1] South Island forms the southwestern edge of the atoll, so it is very curved.

While the sea side is rather straight, consists of a beach and drops steeply after a few meters, the lagoon side is branched and only drops very gently.

Numerous tiny, mostly elongated islands can be found on the lagoon side, never more than 350 metres (380 yards) from the coast.

If the Cocos Islands are not included in Asia, the southernmost point is on the Indonesian island of Pamana, 134 km (83 mi) farther north.