2020 Edition

Background

Early Micronesian and Polynesian settlers probably visited Wake Island, and oral legends tell of periodic voyages to the islands by people from the Marshall Islands. Wake Island was uninhabited when Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana de NEYRA became the first European to see it in 1568 and still had no inhabitants when English captain Samuel WAKE sailed by it in 1796. The United States Exploring Expedition visited the island in 1841, and the US annexed it in 1899 to use as a cable and refueling station for its newly acquired Pacific territories of Hawaii, the Philippines, and Guam. In the 1930s, Pan American Airways built facilities on Wake Island so that it could be used as a stopover for flights from the US to China. In 1941, the US began to install military assets on Wake Island, and Japan then captured the island and held it until the end of World War II. In 1946, commercial airlines resumed using Wake Island as a refueling stop.  In 1973, the Marshall Islands claimed Wake Island, based on the oral legends, although the US has not recognized these claims. In 1974, the US military took exclusive control of the island’s airstrip and restricted visitors. In 1978, Bikini Islanders from the Marshall Islands, who were evacuated in the 1950s and 1960s because of US nuclear tests, considered rehoming on Wake Island, but the US military rejected that plan. Since the 1970s, the island has been important for missile defense testing. In 2009, Wake Island was included in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

Area

land

6.5 sq km

total

7 sq km

water

0 sq km

Area - comparative

about 11 times the size of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Climate

tropical

Coastline

19.3 km

Elevation

highest point

unnamed location 8 m

lowest point

Pacific Ocean 0 m

Geographic coordinates

19 17 N, 166 39 E

Geography - note

strategic location in the North Pacific Ocean

Irrigated land

0 sq km (2022)

Land boundaries

total

0 km

Land use

agricultural land

0% (2018 est.)

other

100% (2018 est.)

Location

Oceania, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to the Northern Mariana Islands

Map references

Oceania

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone

200 nm

territorial sea

12 nm

Natural hazards

subject to occasional typhoons

Natural resources

none

Terrain

atoll of three low coral islands, Peale, Wake, and Wilkes, built up on an underwater volcano; central lagoon is former crater, islands are part of the rim

Population

total

no permanent inhabitants

Citizenship

see United States

Country name

conventional long form

none

conventional short form

Wake Island

etymology

the name comes from one of two explorers who sighted the islands in the late 1700s; British Captain William WAKE visited in 1792, as did his relative, British Captain Samuel WAKE, in 1796, and sources disagree on which captain claimed the honor of naming the island

Dependency status

unincorporated, unorganized territory of the US; administered by the Department of the Interior; the 11th US Air Force currently conducts activities on the atoll, and it is managed from Pacific Air Force Support Center

Flag

the US flag is used

Independence

none (territory of the US)

Legal system

US common law

Electricity access

electrification - total population

100% (2021)

Petroleum

refined petroleum consumption

8,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)

Broadcast media

US Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) provides satellite radio/TV broadcasts (2018)

Airports

1 (2025)

Ports

key ports

Wake Island

large

0

medium

0

ports with oil terminals

1

small

0

total ports

1 (2024)

very small

1

Military - note

defense is the responsibility of the US; the island serves as a trans-Pacific refueling stop for military aircraft and supports US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) testing activities; Wake is managed by the US Air Force (2025)

Carbon dioxide emissions

from petroleum and other liquids

1.214 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

total emissions

1.214 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

Environmental issues

limited potable water; hazardous waste disposal