United States Minor Outlying Islands

History

In 1936, a colonization program began to settle Americans on Baker, Howland, and Jarvis islands. All were evacuated in 1942 due to World War II.

The International Organization for Standardization (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 . The code of Midway Atoll was , the code of Johnston Atoll was , and the code of Wake Island was . Before 1986, Navassa Island, along with several small islands in the Caribbean Sea that are no longer under U.S. sovereignty, were grouped under the term United States Miscellaneous Caribbean Islands, with FIPS country code .

The populated Stewart Islands, called Sikaiana and now effectively controlled by the Solomon Islands, are not included in official lists of U.S. Minor Outlying Islands. In 1856, the Kingdom of Hawaii Privy Council and King Kamehameha IV voted to accept their voluntary cession. The Kingdom later became the Republic of Hawaii, all of which was annexed by the United States in 1898. In 1959, the resulting federal U.S. Territory of Hawaii, excluding only Palmyra Atoll and Midway Atoll, became a U.S. state. Residents of the Stewart Islands, who are Polynesian like the native Hawaiians rather than Melanesian, claimed to be citizens of the United States since the Stewart Islands were given to King Kamehameha IV in 1856 and were part of Hawaii at the time of the United States annexation in 1898. The U.S. federal and Hawaii state governments informally accept the recent claim of the Solomon Islands over the Stewart Islands, and the United States makes no official claim of sovereignty.

Overview

Except for Palmyra Atoll, all of these islands are unincorporated unorganized territories of the United States. Currently, none of the islands have any known permanent residents. However, military personnel, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel, and temporarily stationed scientific and research staff are posted to some islands. The 2000 census counted 315 people on Johnston Atoll and 1 person on Wake Island. The Territory of Palmyra Atoll is an incorporated territory, separated in 1959 from the rest of the former incorporated Territory of Hawaii when Hawaii became a state.

There has been no recorded modern Indigenous population, except at the 1940 census. During the late 2010s, the U.S. military began reinvesting in the airfield and other assets on Wake Island.

The islands are grouped for statistical convenience. They are neither administered collectively nor share a single cultural or political history beyond being uninhabited islands under the sovereignty of the United States. They are all outside the customs territory of the United States and have no customs duties. Except for Midway Atoll, the Pacific islands are surrounded by large exclusive economic zones and are within the bounds of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

They are collectively represented by the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code UM. The individual islands have ISO 3166-2 numerical codes.

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.

Most of the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands islands are closed to the public. Visitors to islands such as Jarvis Island need a permit. Palmyra Atoll is open to the public, but there is no easy way to reach it.

Islands and atolls

Transportation

Airports

Airports in the United States Minor Outlying Islands provide critical emergency landing points across the vast Pacific Ocean for all aircraft types, allow for important military presence in key strategic zones, and have limited scheduled commercial services. The following is a list of island airports with ICAO (IATA) codes:

• PLPA: Palmyra (Cooper) Airport, Cooper Island, Palmyra Atoll
• PMDY (MDY): Henderson Field, Sand Island, Midway Atoll
• PWAK (AWK): Wake Island Airfield, Wake Island

Other airports include:

• Johnston Atoll Airport, Johnston Atoll (Formerly PJON/JON): The airport was built during WWII and saw significant commercial traffic during the second half of the 20th century. However, it was abandoned in 2003.
• Kamakaiwi Field: Howland Island (from 1937 to about 1945)
• Kingman Reef: The lagoon was used as a halfway station between Hawaii and American Samoa by Pan American Airways for flying boats in 1937 and 1938.

Seaports

Three of the islands are listed with ports in the World Port Index, 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 each have small boat landing places. Kingman Reef and Navassa Island only have offshore anchorages.

Flora and fauna

• List of birds of the United States Minor Outlying Islands
• List of mammals of the United States Minor Outlying Islands

References

References

1. "Office of Insular Affairs: Baker and Howland Islands". United States Department of the Interior.
2. "Office of Insular Affairs: Jarvis Island". United States Department of the Interior.
3. (November 7, 1997). "GAO/OGC-98-5 – U.S. Insular Areas: Application of the U.S. Constitution". U.S. Government Printing Office.
4. [https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc3-us-pt1.pdf US Census 2000 Population Summary] {{Webarchive. link. (3 December 2017 — see Table I)
5. (October 19, 2019). "The US Military Is Pouring Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Into Tiny Wake Island". KITV-TV.
6. {{CodeFedReg. 19. 101.1
7. Jesdanun, Anick. (24 January 2007). "Unused Domain Name for U.S. Isles Gone". [[NBC News]].
8. "Midway Atoll NWR - Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service".
9. "About the Refuge - Johnston Atoll - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service".
10. "About the Refuge - Baker Island - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service".
11. "About the Refuge - Howland Island - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service".
12. "Rare tour to Wake Island".
13. "About the Refuge - Jarvis Island - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service".
14. "Plan Your Visit - Navassa Island - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service".
15. "Plan Your Visit - Palmyra Atoll - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service".
16. "United States Minor Outlying Islands Territories".
17. "Valueset-fips-county - FHIR v3.0.1".
18. "Appendix D :: Cross-Reference List of Country Data Codes — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency".
19. (22 Dec 2022). "United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges".
20. "Executive Order 13022: Administration of the Midway Islands". [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]].
21. (17 Jan 2024). "Wake Island".
22. "Presidential Proclamation 8336".
23. "Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents: Monday, January 12, 2009 Volume 45—Number 1, Page 14". United States Government Printing Office.
24. "Office of Insular Affairs: Johnston Island - History". United States Department of the Interior.
25. "Department of the Interior: Secretary's Order #3223". United States Department of the Interior.
26. "Department of the Interior: Secretary's Order #3224". United States Department of the Interior.
27. (17 Jan 2024). "Navassa Island".
28. "Department of the Interior: Secretary's Order #3210". United States Department of the Interior.
29. "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Western Pacific Islands".
30. "Search results". Purdue University Libraries.
31. (2002). "Kingman Reef". FAQs.org.
32. "NGA.mil". [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]].