 Howland Island seen from space in April 2007 | |
  Howland Island Location of Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | North Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | 0°48′25.84″N 176°36′59.48″W / 0.8071778°N 176.6165222°W |
| Archipelago | Phoenix Islands |
| Area | 2.6 km2 (1.0 sq mi)[1] |
| Length | 2.25 km (1.398 mi) |
| Width | 0.89 km (0.553 mi) |
| Coastline | 6.4 km (3.98 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 3 m (10 ft) |
| Administration | |
United States | |
| Status | Unincorporated, unorganized territory (United States Minor Outlying Islands) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 ( 2000 ) |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone |
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| Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge | |
 | |
| Designated | 1974 |
| Website | www |
Howland Island (/ˈhaʊlənd/) is a coral island and strict nature reserve located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about 1,700 nautical miles (3,100 km) southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Together with Baker Island, it forms part of the Phoenix Islands. For statistical purposes, Howland is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands.[2] The island has an elongated cucumber-shape on a north–south axis, 1.40 by 0.55 miles (2.25 km × 0.89 km), and covers 1 square mile (640 acres; 2.6 km2).[1]
Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of the entire island and the surrounding 32,074 acres (129.80 km2) of submerged land. The island is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an insular area under the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
The atoll currently has no economic activity. It is managed as a nature reserve. It is best known as the island Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were searching for but failed to find when they and their airplane disappeared on July 2, 1937, during their planned round-the-world flight. Airstrips constructed to accommodate her planned stopover were subsequently damaged in World War II, not maintained, and gradually disappeared. There are no harbors or docks. The fringing reefs may pose a maritime hazard. There is a boat landing area along the middle of the sandy beach on the west coast and a crumbling day beacon. The island is visited every two years by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.[3] It was mined for guano in the 19th century, and in the 1930s it was colonized by the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project. In modern times, it is a nature reserve, and there are some historical remains from the colony and a stone tower called Earhart Light.
- ^ a b "United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges". World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "Howland Island". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
- ^ "Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge". Archived from the original on June 2, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2019.