The World Factbook (1990)/Howland Island
Howland Island
(territory of the US)
_Howland_Island.jpg)
See regional map X
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
- Extended 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: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 5% forest and woodland; 95% other
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