French overseas territory consisting of the islands of Saint-Paul and Nouvelle Amsterdam (q.v.) and the island groups of Kerguelen (Kerguelen Islands) and Crozet (Crozet Islands) (qq.v.) in the south Indian Ocean, as well as the Adélie Coast (q.v.) on the Antarctic continent. The barren and for the most part uninhabited lands were linked for administrative purposes with Madagascar from 1924 until 1955, when they became a French territory governed under a special statute by a senior administrator who is partially resident in Paris. It was not until the arrival of scientific personnel in 1949–50 that they were effectively occupied. French scientists use weather and other research stations on the islands.