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Baker Island

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	Topics Baker Island Topic Home Baker Island is an uninhabited atollAtoll Summary An atoll is a type of low, coral island found in tropical oceans and consisting of a coral-algal reef usually surrounding an... located just north of the equatorEquator The equator is an imaginary circle drawn around a planet at a distance halfway between the poles.... in the central Pacific OceanPacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the world's largest body of water. ... about 3,100 km (1,670 nmiNautical mile ame= nautical mile\|m= 1852\|accuracy=3 ... ) southwest of HonoluluHonolulu, Hawaii Honolulu is the capital and largest city of the U.S.... . The island lies almost halfway between HawaiiHawaii Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States on August 21, 1959.... and AustraliaAustralia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland o... , and is a possession of the United StatesUnited States The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is... . Its nearest neighbor is Howland IslandHowland Island Howland Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean at , about 3,100 km s... , 68 kilometers to the north. Baker is located at . It covers a mere 1.64 km² (405 acres), with 4.8 km of coastline. The climate is equatorial, with little rainfall, constant wind, and strong sunshine. The terrrain is low-lying and sandy: a coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef with a depressed central area devoid of any lagoon. Baker's highest point is 8 meters above sea level. Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of the 405 acreAcre An acre is the name of a unit of area in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customar... (164 haHectare A hectare is a unit of area, equal to 10,000 square metres, commonly used for measuring land area.... ) island and a surrounding 30,500 acres (123 km²) of submerged land. The island is now a National Wildlife RefugeNational Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish... managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an insular areaInsular area An insular area is United States territory that is neither a part of one of the fifty states nor a part of the District of C... under the U.S. Department of the Interior. Baker Island is an unincorporated and unorganized territoryUnorganized territory The term unorganized territory has several denotations depending the exact usage and context.... of the U.S.United States The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is... . Its defense is the responsibility of the United States; though uninhabited, it is visited annually by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For statistical purposes, Baker is grouped with the United States Minor Outlying IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying Islands The United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by ISO 3166-1, consists of the following insular... . Flora and Fauna Baker has no natural fresh water sources. It is treeless, with sparse vegetation consisting of four kinds of grass, prostrate vines and low growing shrubs. The island is primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife. A cemetery and rubble from earlier settlements are located near the middle of the west coast, which is where the boat landing area is located. There are no ports or harbors, with anchorage available only offshore. The narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard, so there is a day beaconDay beacon A day beacon is an unlighted nautical sea mark.... near the old village site. Baker's abandoned World War II runway, 1,665 meters (5,463 ft) long, is completely covered with vegetation and unusable. The U.S. claims an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km) and territorial sea of 12 nautical miles (22 km) around Baker Island. During the 1935–1942 colonization attempt the island was most likely on Hawaii time, which was then 10.5 hours behind UTC. Being uninhabited the island's time zone is now unspecified, but it lies in waters whose nautical time zoneNautical time Overview The establishment of nautical standard times, nautical standard time zones and the nautical date line were recom... is 12 hours behind UTC. Similarly named islands See also History of the Pacific IslandsHistory of the Pacific Islands History of islands in the Pacific Ocean.... External links This article incorporated material from the CIA World Factbook 2000. Update as needed.