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Place Name
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Wake Island
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Place Status (Type)
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atoll
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Location
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Hawaii, United States, North America
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Latitude
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00°00'
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Longitude
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166°35'E
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Wake Island
, atoll (
3 sq mi/7.8 sq km), central
Pacific, bet. Hawaii and Guam,
c.2,300 mi/3,701 km W of Honolulu, Hawaii (HI);
4.5 mi/7.2 km long,
1.5 mi/2.4 km wide; 166°35'E, 19°18'N.
Includes horseshoe shaped Wake Isl. and 2 islets (Wilkes, with Kuku
Point, W, and Peale, with Toki Point, NW). Isl. is isolated, not part
of any isl. group. Peacock Point at SE end of Wake, Heel Point at NE
end. Administered by U.S. Air Force, it is a U.S. commercial and
military base under the jurisdiction of the FAA. There is no indigenous
pop. Wake Isl. was discovered by the Spanish in 1568, visited by the
British in 1796 and named after Capt. William Wake, and annexed by the
U.S. (1898). The isl. became (1935) a commercial air base on route to
the Orient and later served as a U.S. military base. In Dec. 1941, Wake
Isl. was seized by the Japanese. U.S. forces bombed the isl. from 1942
until Japan's surrender in 1945. Wake Airport and small settlement in
E, on main isl. Used as refueling stop; no industries.
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