Wake Island

Wake Island (the local name is EnenKio) is a 6.5 sq kilometer atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to the Northern Mariana Islands. The Spanish discovered the island in 1568. The British visited it in 1796 and named it after Captain William Wake. It was annexed by the United States on January 17, 1899, in 1935 became a commercial air base on the route to Asia, and later served as a U.S. military base. In December 1941 Wake Island was seized by the Japanese. The U.S. forces bombed the island from 1942 until Japan's surrender in 1945. The island has no indigenous inhabitants, and the U.S. military personnel have left. It is claimed by the Marshall Islands, and some civilian personnel ("contractor inhabitants") remain.

From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Not Wikified.

• Geography of Wake Island
• Government of Wake Island
• Economy of Wake Island
• Communications
• Transportation
• Military of Wake Island