Home > Howland Island
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 1,600 miles (2,600 km) southwest of Honolulu. It is about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia. Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of the 455 acre (1.8 km˛) island and the surrounding 32,074 acres (130 km˛) 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. Howland Island is an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the US.
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, the island is visited annually by the US Coast Guard.
1 History
The United States of America took possession of the island in 1857, claimed under the Guano Islands Act of 1856Events January 8 Borax is discovered ( John Veatch). January 29 Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross February 18 The American Party ( Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former Presi. Its guanoGuano (from the Quechua 'wanu') is the name given to the collected droppings of seabirds and bats. It can be used as an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of nitrogen. Soil that is deficient in organic matter can be made much more productive by a deposits were mined by US and British companies during the second half of the 19th centuryAlternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical ( 18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801- 1900. Events The Little Ice Age ended. In 1935Events January January 1 Italian colonies of Tripoli and Kyrenaika are joined together as Libya January 7 World War II: Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French foreign minister Pierre Laval conclude agreement in which each power undertakes not to oppo, 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 IslandBaker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean at 0 13 N, 176 31 W, about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) southwest of Honolulu. It is about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia. Baker Island National Wi and on Jarvis IslandJarvis Island is an uninhabited 4. 5 square kilometer island with located at 0°22' S, 160°03' W in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to the Cook Islands. It is an unincorporated territory of the United States administered from - but was disrupted by World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough and thereafter abandoned.
American civilians were evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air and naval attacks during World War II; the island was occupied by the US military during World War II, but abandoned after the war. Public entry to the island is by special-use permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service only and is generally restricted to scientists and educators, though the island is visited annually by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
See also the History of the Pacific Islands.
