About the Wake Atoll

A photo, facts, and general information about About the Wake Atoll, one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Facts

ENGLISH NAME: Wake Atoll
ALSO KNOWN AS: Wake Island (one of 3 islets in the atoll)
NAMED AFTER: British Sea Captain Samuel Wake (visited in 1796)
FORMER ENGLISH NAME: Halcyon Island
STATUS: Territory of the United States (claimed January 1, 1899)
DESIGNATED: National Wildlife Refuge
ADMINISTERED BY: United States Fish and Wildlife Service
LOCATION: Northern Pacific Ocean
PUBLIC ENTRY ALLOWED: No

Lowlying Coral Islets in the Wake Atoll
- Wake Island
- Wilkes Island
- Peale Island

Resources

- US-FWS "Wake Atoll Wildlife Refuge" Article - WikiTravel "Wake Island" Article
- Wikipedia "Wake Island" Article
- Britannica "Wake Island History and Facts" Article
- Wikipedia "Wake Island Airfield" Article
- Wikipedia "Battle of Wake Island" Article
- Wikipedia "Bibliography of Wake Island" Article
- Wikipedia "Wake Island 1942 Film" Article

Resources (2)

The U.S. National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operate research stations on the islands of the Wake Atoll The atoll experiences little rainfall. It has large rainwater catchment containers and and a distillation plant for removing salt from seawater.

NAME: Wake Atoll
REEF LENGTH: About 4.6 miles
REEF WIDTH: About 2 miles
LAND AREA: Abo8ut 2.5 square miles
STATUS: Territory of the United States
STATISTICAL CATEGORY: U.S. Minor Outlying Islands
LOCATION: About 2,300 miles west of Oahu Island

Islands of the Wake Atoll
Three islands linked by causeways:
- Peale island (Pan American Airways Hotel was here)
- Wilkes Island
- Wake island

Wake Atoll National Wildlife Refuge

History of the Wake Atoll
1568: Sighted by the Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendana
1796: Visited by the British mariner William Wake
1841: Charted by U.S. expedition led by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes
1899: Formally claimed by the United States
1934: Placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy.
1935: Commercial seaplane base and hotel were built
1939: U.S. Navy began building an air and submarine base
1941: Wake attached and occupied by Japanese forces
1945: Japanese surrender at the end of World War II
1962: Places under Juristiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior
1975: Vienamese refugees housed at Wake fore transport to the U.S.
1995: Chinese refugees stranded on Wake Island (later repatriated)
2009: Wake designated part of Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument

---

U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

Northwest Hawaiian Islands

Southeast Hawaiian Islands

Hawaii for Visitors

---