1994 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1994 (Project Gutenberg)
Introduction
Affiliation
(territory of the US)
Airports
1 abandoned World War II runway of 1,665 m
Area
total area: 1.4 sq km land area: 1.4 sq km comparative area: about 2.3 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Capital
none; administered from Washington, DC
Coastline
4.8 km
Digraph
FQ
Environment
current issues: lacks fresh water natural hazards: NA international agreements: NA
International disputes
none mate: equatorial; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun rain: low, nearly level coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef ural resources: guano (deposits worked until 1891)
Irrigated land
0 sq km
Land boundaries
0 km
Land use
arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 0% forest and woodland: 0% other: 100%
Location
Oceania, Micronesia, in the North Pacific Ocean, just north of the Equator, 2,575 km southwest of Honolulu, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia
Map references
Oceania
Maritime claims
contiguous zone: 12 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Names
conventional long form: none conventional short form: Baker Island
Note
- treeless, sparse, and scattered vegetation consisting of grasses, prostrate vines, and low growing shrubs; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife
- there is a day beacon near the middle of the west coast
Overview
no economic activity
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 are located near the middle of the west coast
Ports
none; offshore anchorage only, one boat landing area along the middle of the west coast
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