The World Factbook (1990)/Baker Island

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Baker Island
(territory of the US)


 See regional map X



Geography


Total area: 1.4 km²; land area: 1.4 km²

Comparative area: about 2.3 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 4.8 km

Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 12 nm
Continental shelf: 200 m
Extended economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

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

Terrain: low, nearly level coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef

Natural resources: guano (deposits worked until 1891)

Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other

Environment: treeless, sparse and scattered vegetation consisting of grasses, prostrate vines, and low growing shrubs; lacks fresh water; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife

Note: remote location 2,575 km southwest of Honolulu in the North Pacific Ocean, just north of the Equator, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia


People


Population: uninhabited

Note: American civilians evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air and naval attacks during World War II; occupied by US military during World War II, but abandoned after the war; public entry is by special-use permit only and generally restricted to scientists and educators; a cemetery and cemetery ruins located near the middle of the west coast


Government


Long-form name: none 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


Economy


Overview: no economic activity


Communications


Ports: none; offshore anchorage only, one boat landing area along the the middle of the west coast

Airports: 1 abandoned World War II runway of 1,665 m

Note: there is a day beacon near the middle of the west coast


Defense Forces


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