Jarvis Island

(territory of the US)

Geography

Location: Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to 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:
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: no natural fresh water resources
natural hazards: the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard
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: Jarvis Island

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

Transportation

Ports: none; offshore anchorage only; note - there is 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

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