What is the main island of the Kerguelen Islands called?

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The main island of the Kerguelen Islands is called Grande Terre.

Grande Terre, also written La Grande Terre, dominates the French sub-Antarctic archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. It covers about 6,675 square kilometres—roughly three-quarters the area of Corsica—and accounts for most of the group’s total land surface. Around 300 smaller islands and islets surround it.

The island is deeply indented by fjords, bays, and peninsulas. Mont Ross, in the Gallieni Massif, is its highest point and rises to 1,850 metres. The Cook Ice Cap covers part of the west-central island, while the French research base Port-aux-Français stands on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Morbihan.

French navigator Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec reached the islands in 1772, and France administers them as part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. There is no indigenous population or civilian town; rotating scientific and support teams occupy the base. The smaller named islands in the choices are satellite islands, not the archipelago’s main island.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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