Jarvis Island




                                  Header


Affiliation:
     (territory of the US)


                                 Geography


Location:
     Oceania, Polynesia, in the South Pacific Ocean, 2,090 km south of
     Honolulu, just south of the Equator, about halfway between Hawaii and
     the Cook Islands
Map references:
     Oceania
Area:
total area:
     4.5 sq km
land area:
     4.5 sq km
comparative area:
     about 7.5 times the size of the Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
     0 km
Coastline:
     8 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
     24 nm
continental shelf:
     200-m depth or to depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone:
     200 nm
territorial sea:
     12 nm
International disputes:
     none
Climate:
     tropical; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun
Terrain:
     sandy, coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef
Natural resources:
     guano (deposits worked until late 1800s)
Land use:
arable land:
     0%
permanent crops:
     0%
meadows and pastures:
     0%
forest and woodland:
     0%
other:
     100%
Irrigated land:
     0 sq km




Environment:
current issues:
     lacks fresh water
natural hazards:
     NA
international agreements:
     NA
Note:
     sparse bunch grass, prostrate vines, and low-growing shrubs; primarily
     a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds,
     and marine wildlife; feral cats


                                  People


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
     special-use permit only and generally restricted to scientists and
     educators


                                Government


Names:
conventional long form:
     none
conventional short form:
Digraph:
     DQ
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
Capital:
     none; administered from Washington, DC


                                  Economy


Overview:
     no economic activity


                              Communications


Ports:
     none; offshore anchorage only - one boat landing area in the middle of
     the west coast and another near the southwest corner of the island
Note:
     there is a day beacon near the middle of the west coast


                              Defense Forces


     defense is the responsibility of the US; visited annually by the US
     Coast Guard