77 lines
6.1 KiB
Plaintext
77 lines
6.1 KiB
Plaintext
|
HOWLAND ISLAND
|
|||
|
|
(territory of the US)
|
|||
|
|
GEOGRAPHY
|
|||
|
|
Total area: 1.6 km2; land area: 1.6 km2
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Comparative area: about 2.7 times the size of The Mall in
|
|||
|
|
Washington, DC
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Land boundaries: none
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Coastline: 6.4 km
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Maritime claims:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth);
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Territorial sea: 12 nm
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Climate: equatorial; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Terrain: low-lying, nearly level, sandy, coral island surrounded by
|
|||
|
|
a narrow fringing reef; depressed central area
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Natural resources: guano (deposits worked until late 1800s)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
|
|||
|
|
0%; forest and woodland 5%; other 95%
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Environment: almost totally covered with grasses, prostrate vines,
|
|||
|
|
and low-growing shrubs; small area of trees in the center; lacks fresh
|
|||
|
|
water; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds,
|
|||
|
|
shorebirds, and marine wildlife; feral cats
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Note: remote location 2,575 km southwest of Honolulu in the North
|
|||
|
|
Pacific Ocean, just north of the Equator, about halfway between Hawaii
|
|||
|
|
and Australia
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
PEOPLE
|
|||
|
|
Population: uninhabited
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Note: American civilians evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air and
|
|||
|
|
naval attacks during World War II; occupied by US military during World
|
|||
|
|
War II, but abandoned after the war; public entry is by special-use
|
|||
|
|
permit only and generally restricted to scientists and educators
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
GOVERNMENT
|
|||
|
|
Long-form name: none
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Type: unincorporated territory of the US administered by the Fish
|
|||
|
|
and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the
|
|||
|
|
National Wildlife Refuge System
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ECONOMY
|
|||
|
|
Overview: no economic activity
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
COMMUNICATIONS
|
|||
|
|
Airports: airstrip constructed in 1937 for scheduled refueling
|
|||
|
|
stop on the round-the-world flight of Amelia Earhart and Fred
|
|||
|
|
Noonan--they left Lae, New Guinea, for Howland Island, but were never
|
|||
|
|
seen again; the airstrip is no longer serviceable
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Ports: none; offshore anchorage only, one boat landing area along
|
|||
|
|
the middle of the west coast
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Note: Earhart Light is a day beacon near the middle of the west
|
|||
|
|
coast that was partially destroyed during World War II, but has since
|
|||
|
|
been rebuilt in memory of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DEFENSE FORCES
|
|||
|
|
Note: defense is the responsibility of the US; visited annually
|
|||
|
|
by the US Coast Guard
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|