The World Factbook (1990)/Baker Island
Baker Island
(territory of the US)
_Baker_Island.jpg)
See regional map X
Geography
Total area: 1.4 km²; land area: 1.4 km²
Comparative area: about 2.3 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 4.8 km
Maritime claims:
- Contiguous zone: 12 nm
- Continental shelf: 200 m
- Extended economic zone: 200 nm
- Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: equatorial; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun
Terrain: low, nearly level coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef
Natural resources: guano (deposits worked until 1891)
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other
Environment: treeless, sparse and scattered vegetation consisting of grasses, prostrate vines, and low growing shrubs; lacks fresh water; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife
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; a cemetery and cemetery ruins located near the middle of the west coast
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
Ports: none; offshore anchorage only, one
boat landing area along the the middle of
the west coast
Airports: 1 abandoned World War II runway of 1,665 m
Note: there is a day beacon near the middle of the west coast
Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of the
US; visited annually by the US Coast
Guard