Wake Island facts for kids
Map of Wake Island
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | North Pacific |
| Coordinates | 19°18′N 166°38′E / 19.300°N 166.633°E |
| Administration | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 permanent, 100 temporary |
Wake Island is an atoll (a type of island) in the Pacific Ocean, near Hawaii. It is controlled by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It is a territory of the United States, part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. From December 1941 to August 1945 the Empire of Japan ruled Wake Island.
Contents
Geography
Wake is located to the west of the International Date Line and sits in the Wake Island Time Zone, one day ahead of the 50 U.S. states.
Referring to the atoll as an island is the result of a pre-World War II desire by the United States Navy to distinguish Wake from other atolls, most of which were Japanese territory.
Population
There is no permanent population on Wake Island, so there are no schools for children. About 100 people live there at any given time, though. Most are contractors who keep the roads and other infrastructure working. One man has been there since 1991.
Images for kids
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Damaged trees and debris left by Super Typhoon Ioke in 2006 at the Memorial Chapel on Wake Island
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Palm trees at Wake Island's lagoon
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Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, commander of the U.S. Navy's United States Exploring Expedition, 1838–42
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Members of the Tanager Expedition explore an abandoned feather collecting camp on Peale Island.
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Tanager Expedition tent camp in 1923 at Wake Island, established on the eastern end of Wilkes Island
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Pan American Airways (PAA) construction workers "lighter" building materials from SS North Haven to the dock at Wilkes Island, Wake Atoll.
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Aerial view of Pan American Airways Hotel and facilities on Peale Island at Wake Atoll. The hotel is on the left, the anchor from the Libelle shipwreck and the pergola leading to the "Clipper" seaplane dock is on the right.
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The formal surrender of the Japanese garrison on Wake Island, September 7, 1945. Island commander Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara is the Japanese officer in the right-foreground.
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U.S. Civilian POWs Memorial
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The original Drifter's Reef bar, built near the harbor area at Wake Island, opened its doors to aircrews, visitors and other "drifters" on November 8, 1949.
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President Harry S. Truman awards the Distinguished Service Medal, Fourth Oak Leaf Cluster, to General Douglas MacArthur during the Wake Island Conference.
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Vietnamese refugees on Wake Island await resettlement processing by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service personnel in May 1975
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Passengers and crew of Pan Am's China Clipper II Boeing 747 at Wake Island during a 1985 trip across the Pacific to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first China Clipper flight
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The insignia for Campaign Fierce Sentry (FTO-02 E2), a Missile Defense Agency Integrated Flight Test in 2015, depicts a map of Wake Island within the head of an eagle
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A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched from a THAAD battery located on Wake Island, during Flight Test Operational (FTO)-02 Event 2a, conducted November 1, 2015.
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The VFA-27 Royal Maces, a United States Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet squadron based in Atsugi, Japan, flies over the "Downtown" area of Wake Island.
See also
In Spanish: Isla Wake para niños
