Howland Island

right Howland Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean at 0°48′ N, 176°38′ W, about 3,100 km (1,675 nautical miles) southwest of Honolulu. It is about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of the 455 acre (1.84 km²) island and the surrounding 32,074 acres (129.80 km²) of submerged land. The island is now a National Wildlife Refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an insular area under the U.S. Department of the Interior. The island has no economic activity and is perhaps best known as the island that Amelia Earhart never reached. Defense is the responsibility of the United States and the island is visited annually by the U.S. Coast Guard.

History

The United States took possession of the island in 1857, claimed under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. Its guano deposits were mined by American and British companies during the second half of the 19th century. In 1935, a short-lived attempt at colonization was begun on this island, with a population of four in the settlement Itascatown (named after the vessel that brought the settlers)—as well as on nearby Baker Island and on Jarvis Island—but was disrupted by World War II and abandoned. Howland Island was a refueling stop for American pilot Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan on their round-the-world flight in 1937. They took off for the island from Lae, New Guinea, but were never seen again. American civilians were evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air and naval attacks during World War II; the island was occupied by the U.S. military during World War II, but abandoned after the war. Public entry to the island is by special-use permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only and is generally restricted to scientists and educators. See also: History of the Pacific Islands

Geography

Located in the North Pacific Ocean at (0°48′ N, 176°38′ W), the island is tiny at just 1.84 km² (455 acres) and 6.4 km of coastline. The island has an elongated shape on a north-south axis. The climate is equatorial, with little rainfall, constant wind and a burning sun. The terrain is low-lying and sandy: a coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef with a depressed central area. The highest point is three meters above sea level. There are no natural fresh water resources. The island is almost totally covered with grasses, prostrate vines, and low-growing shrubs with a small area of trees in the center and is primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife. The U.S. claims an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km) and a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles (22 km). The island's time zone is UTC –12

Transportation

There are no ports or harbors: the reefs may cause a hazard. There is one boat landing area along the middle of the west coast. There is an unserviceable airstrip, constructed in 1937 for a scheduled refuelling stop for Amelia Earhart's ill-fated flight. 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 and named in Earhart's memory.

External links

• Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge
• Howland Island daylight
• Geography, history and nature on Howland Island
• Voyage of the Odyssey - pictures and travelogue

Category:Insular areas of the United States Category:Islands Category:National Wildlife Refuges in the U.S. es:Isla Howland ja:ハウランド島 nl:Howland Island fi:Howland Island

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