evidence: The Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands is an uninhabited external territory of Australia made up of four low-lying tropical islands separated by two reefs, as well as the 12-nautical-mile (22 km) territorial sea created by the islands. The region is located in the Indian Ocean on the continental shelf, approximately 320 kilometers off the northwest coast of Australia and 144 kilometers south of the Indonesian island of Rote. Ashmore Reef is known as Pulau Pasir in Indonesia and Nusa Solokaek in Rotenese. Both names translate to "sand island."