also claimed by South Korea;
China and Taiwan have intensified their claims to the Senkaku
Islands (Diaoyu Tai) administered by Japan

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

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@Jarvis Island

Introduction Jarvis Island

Background:
First discovered by the British in 1821, the uninhabited island was
annexed by the US in 1858, but abandoned in 1879 after tons of guano
had been removed. The UK annexed the island in 1889, but never
carried out plans for further exploitation. The US occupied and
reclaimed the island in 1935. Abandoned after World War II, the
island is currently a National Wildlife Refuge administered by the
US Department of the Interior; a day beacon is situated near the
middle of the west coast.

Geography Jarvis Island

Location:
Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way between
Hawaii and the Cook Islands

Geographic coordinates:
0 22 S, 160 03 W

Map references:
Oceania

Area:
total: 4.5 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 4.5 sq km

Area - comparative:
about eight times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
8 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:
tropical; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun

Terrain:
sandy, coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 7 m

Natural resources:
guano (deposits worked until late 1800s), terrestrial and aquatic
wildlife

Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100% (2001)

Irrigated land:
0 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island poses a maritime
hazard

Environment - current issues:
no natural fresh water resources

Geography - note:
sparse bunch grass, prostrate vines, and low-growing shrubs;
primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds,
shorebirds, and marine wildlife

People Jarvis Island

Population:
uninhabited
note: Millersville settlement on western side of island occasionally
used as a weather station from 1935 until World War II, when it was
abandoned; reoccupied in 1957 during the International Geophysical
Year by scientists who left in 1958; public entry is by s