The islands belong to France, it was discovered by de Kerguelen-Tremarec in February 1772. The archipelago was exploited for its seal population until their destruction, [fur seal]?s in the 18th C and [elephant seal]?s in the early 20th Century. A number of expeditions have briefly touched the islands including that of James Cook in 1776.
Kerguelen has been used by a small number of science teams since 1949, with a population of 50-100 always present.