Coco Islands

The islands took their current name from Portuguese sailors in the 16th century, "coco" being the Portuguese word for the coconut. The Andaman Islands were taken over by the English East India Company in the 18th century. In the 19th century, the British government in India established a penal colony in the Andamans, and the Coco Islands were a source of food for it (mainly coconuts). The British government had leased out the islands to Burma's Jadwet family,[1] a respected business family in Rangoon that also had presences in Moulmein and Mergui.[2]

Due to the remoteness of the Coco Islands, they were not properly governed, and the British transferred their control to the government of Lower Burma in Rangoon. In 1882 they officially became part of British Burma. When Burma separated from India in 1937 and became a self-governing Crown Colony, the islands remained a Burmese territory. In 1942, along with the rest of the Andaman Islands, they were occupied by Japan. When Burma gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, the Coco Islands passed to the new Union of Burma.

In 1959, General Ne Win’s interim military administration established a penal colony on Great Coco Island. After Ne Win’s 1962 coup d'état and subsequent installation of a military government, the prison gained the reputation of being a Burmese "Devil’s Island". In 1969, it was enlarged to house an increased number of political prisoners. After a strike, all prisoners on the island were transferred to Rangoon’s Insein Prison in 1971. After the closing of the penal colony, the facilities on Great Coco Island were transferred to the Burmese Navy. Burmese writer Mya Than Tint was among the people incarcerated at the Great Coco Island penal colony.

The Coco Islands were allegedly leased to the People's Republic of China from 1994.[3] The governments of Burma and the People's Republic of China deny this, and many members of the Burmese military categorically deny any agreement at all.[4]

China supposedly established a SIGINT intelligence gathering station on Great Coco Island in 1992 to monitor Indian naval activity in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.[3] The station is also said to allow China to monitor the movement of other navies and ships throughout the eastern Indian Ocean, especially in the crucial point for shipping routes between the Bay of Bengal and the Strait of Malacca.[3] It may also be used to monitor activities at the launch site of the Indian Space Research Organisation at Sriharikota and the Defence Research and Development Organisation at Chandipur-on-sea. The Chinese Army has future plans of building a maritime base on Little Coco Island.[5]

The alleged existence of the Chinese base has been questioned.[4] In 1998, the United States stated that it had not detected any significant Chinese activity in Burma.[6] In October 2005, India’s Chief of Naval Staff was quoted as saying that India had "firm information that there is no listening post, radar or surveillance station belonging to the Chinese on Coco Islands".[4][7] In 2014, Air Marshal P. K. Roy, commander-in-chief of India's Andaman and Nicobar Command, stated that "China has been developing a runway for civilian purposes.[8][9] There are no reports of the presence of Chinese per se. The situation is not alarming". He added that there was only some civilian infrastructural developments, which were not a threat to India.[10]

The Bay of Bengal lies to the west of the islands, and the Andaman Sea lies to the east. The Burmese mainland is 250 kilometres (155 mi) to the north. The island of Preparis lies 77 km (48 mi) to the north-northeast of the Coco Islands.[11] The Coco Islands consist of three main islands, namely Great Coco Island and the smaller Little Coco Island, separated by the Alexandra Channel, as well as Table Island, a third small island located near Great Coco Island.[12] Geographically, they are a part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands archipelago (most of which belongs to India) and are separated from Landfall Island, the northernmost island in the Indian part of the archipelago, by the 20 kilometres (12 mi) wide Coco Channel.

There are more than 200 houses on Great Coco Island, and its total population is around a thousand people. A large water catchment reservoir is able to support the island's population.[16]

There is a naval base on the islands, which belongs to the 28th unit of the Myanmar Navy. It is home to some 200 soldiers and their families.

The Coco Islands have a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am). Temperatures are very warm throughout the year. There is a winter dry season from December to March and a summer wet season from April to November. Heavy rain has been known in September, such as 761 millimetres (30.0 in) of rain.

The island belongs to the township of Cocokyun. The township had a corruption scandal in the Myanmar general election of 2015.[19] Ballots were filled in Yangon without being shipped, resulting in a high turnout and subsequent police investigation.[20][21]

The 1,800-metre (5,900 ft) Coco Island Airport (ICAO code: VYCI) is at the north of Great Coco Island. It follows the north-south axis near the island's village. The airport was recently renovated.[22] Newspapers claim the airport has some use as a Chinese Air Force base.

The islands offer the opportunity to see rare reptiles, birds, and mammals that are unique to the Coco Islands.[23]

• 
  Map of the Coco Islands
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  Map of Great Coco Island
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  Map of Little Coco Island
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  Map of Table Island
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  Map of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with the Coco Islands in the extreme north

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coco Islands.

• Burma's mythical islands
• Official Nautical Chart of Coco Islands
• Indian Ocean - South-East Asian Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding
• Google Earth map of Chinese facilities at Great Coco Island