The United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of eleven United States insular areas in the central Pacific Ocean.
Palmyra Atoll is the only incorporated territory. As of 2008, none of the islands has any permanent residents. The only human population consists of temporarily stationed scientific and military personnel. The 2000 census counted 315 people on Johnston Atoll and 1 person on Wake Island.[1] There has been no modern indigenous population, except at the 1940 census. The Baker, Howland and Jarvis Colonization Scheme attempted to settle Americans on those three islands beginning in 1935, but all three islands were evacuated in 1942 as a result of World War II.
The islands are grouped together as a statistical convenience. They are not administered collectively, nor do they share a single cultural or political history beyond being uninhabited islands under the sovereignty of the United States.
They are collectively represented by the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code UM. The individual islands have ISO 3166-2 numerical codes, see ISO 3166-2:UM. The Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) ".um" has historically been assigned to the islands; however, the .um ccTLD was retired in January 2007. [2]
The ISO introduced the term "United States Minor Outlying Islands" in 1986. From 1974 until 1986, five of the islands (Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef) were grouped under the term United States Miscellaneous Pacific Islands, with ISO 3166 code PU. The code of Midway Atoll was MI, the code of Johnston Atoll was JT, and the code of Wake Island was WK.
Contents |
Airports
- PJON (JON) – Johnston Atoll Airport - Johnston Atoll
- PMDY (MDY) – Henderson Field (Naval Air Facility) – Sand Island
- PWAK (AWK) – Wake Island Airfield - Wake Island
- PLPA – Palmyra (Cooper) Airport – Palmyra Atoll - Cooper Island
- PBAR – Baker Island Airport - Baker Island
- PLUR – Jarvis Airport – Jarvis Island
- Kamakaiwi Field - Howland Island (1937 to about 1945)[3]
- Kingman Reef: lagoon was used as a halfway station between Hawaii and American Samoa by Pan American Airways for flying boats in 1937 and 1938[4]
Ports
Three of the islands are listed with ports in the World Port Index,[5] with World Port Number:
- 56325 JOHNSTON ATOLL - Johnston Atoll
- 56328 MIDWAY ISLAND - Midway Atoll
- 56330 WAKE ISLAND - Wake Island
- not listed WEST LAGOON - Palmyra Atoll
Baker Island, Howland Island and Jarvis Island have a small boat landing place on each. Kingman Reef and Navassa Island have offshore anchorage only.
Islands
| Atoll/Island | Island Area km² |
Lagoon km² |
Coordinates | NWR established |
date of acquisition |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Northern Pacific Ocean, scattered isolated islands |
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| Wake Island1 | 7.4 | 6 | 19°18′N 166°38′E / 19.3°N 166.633°E | N/A | 1899-01-17 | |||
| Johnston Atoll2 | 2.52 | 130 | 16°45′N 169°31′W / 16.75°N 169.517°W | N/A | 1859-09-06 | |||
|
Northern Pacific Ocean, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands |
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| Midway Atoll | 5.18 | 40 | 28°13′N 177°22′W / 28.217°N 177.367°W | 1998 | 1867-08-28 | |||
|
Central Pacific Ocean, Northern Line Islands |
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| Kingman Reef | 0.01 | 76 | 6°24′N 162°24′W / 6.4°N 162.4°W | 2001-01-18 | 1860-02-08 | |||
| Palmyra Atoll2 | 6.56 | 15 | 5°53′N 162°05′W / 5.883°N 162.083°W | 2001-01-18 | 1912-02-21 | |||
|
Central Pacific Ocean, Central Line Islands |
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| Jarvis Island | 4.45 | - | 0°22′S 160°01′W / 0.367°S 160.017°W | 1974 | 1856-10-28 | |||
|
Central Pacific Ocean, Northern Phoenix Islands |
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| Baker Island | 1.24 | - | 0°12′N 176°29′W / 0.2°N 176.483°W | 1974 | 1856-10-28 | |||
| Howland Island | 1.62 | - | 0°48′N 176°37′W / 0.8°N 176.617°W | 1974 | 1856-10-28 | |||
| Navassa Island3 | 5.2 | - | 18°24′N 75°01′W / 18.4°N 75.017°W | 1999-09-30 | 1858-10-31 | |||
| Bajo Nuevo Bank4 | 0.02 | 155 | 15°53′N 78°38′W / 15.883°N 78.633°W | N/A | 1869-11-22 | |||
| Serranilla Bank4 | 0.02 | 1200 | 15°50′N 79°50′W / 15.833°N 79.833°W | N/A | 1879-09-08 1880-09-13 |
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| U.S. Minor Outlying Islands | 34.2 | 267 | ||||||
| 1 claimed by the Marshall Islands | ||||||||
| 2 previously claimed by Hawaii when independent. Palmyra was officially part of Hawaii until 1959. | ||||||||
| 3 claimed by Haiti | ||||||||
| 4These islands are disputed with Colombia, Jamaica and Nicaragua. Their areas are not included in the totals. Only one U.S. Government online resource[6] list these islands in the context of the USMOI; all others do not. In either case, the U.S. does not actually control these territories. | ||||||||
See also
- ISO 3166-2:UM
- List of airports by ICAO code: P
- List of airports in United States minor islands
- Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
- United States Miscellaneous Caribbean Islands
- United States Miscellaneous Pacific Islands
References
- ^ US Census 2000 Population Summary — see Table I
- ^ Jesdanun, Anick (24 January 2007). "Unused Domain Name for U.S. Isles Gone". msnbc. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16788293/. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
- ^ Purdue University E-Archives : Search Results
- ^ FAQs.org
- ^ NGA.mil
- ^ United States Board on Geographic Names
External links
- WorldStatesmen- U.S.
- Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges
- CIA World Factbook: United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges
- Historical Population figures
- dates of acquisition
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