JARVIS ISLAND
(territory of the US)
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 4.5 km2; land area: 4.5 km2
Comparative area: about 7.5 times the size of The Mall in
Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 8 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth);
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun
Terrain: sandy, coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef
Natural resources: guano (deposits worked until late 1800s)
Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 100%
Environment: sparse bunch grass, prostrate vines, and low-growing
shrubs; lacks fresh water; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging
habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife; feral cats
Note: 2,090 km south of Honolulu in the South Pacific Ocean, just
south of the Equator, about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands
PEOPLE
Population: uninhabited
Note: Millersville settlement on western side of island
occasionally used as a weather station from 1935 until World War II, when
it was abandoned; reoccupied in 1957 during the International Geophysical
Year by scientists who left in 1958; public entry is by special-use
permit only and generally restricted to scientists and educators
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: none (territory of the US)
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
ECONOMY
Overview: no economic activity
COMMUNICATIONS
Ports: none; offshore anchorage only--one boat landing area in the
middle of the west coast and another near the southwest corner of the
island
Note: there is a day beacon near the middle of the west coast
DEFENSE FORCES
Note: defense is the responsibility of the US; visited annually
by the US Coast Guard
