Wake Island

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About Wake Island

Welcome to the Wake Island group. Please feel free to post all photos from Wake Island, and also consider joining worldwidewandering - a travel atlas, where you can not only add photos, but also post your Wake Island pictures and comments to the Wake Island thread.
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- from wikipedia

Capital: None
Languages: English
Ethnic Groups: American
Religions: Protestant, Roman Catholic


- click map for large size

Wake Island (also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll having a coastline of 12 miles (19 kilometers) in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu (2,300 statute miles or 3,700 km west) to Guam (1,510 miles or 2,430 km east). It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior. Wake is located to the west of the International Date Line and is one day ahead of the 50 states. All operations on the island were suspended and all personnel evacuated in August 2006 with the approach of super typhoon Loke (category 5), which struck the island with sustained winds of 250 kph and a 6 m storm surge inflicting major damage. A US Air Force assessment and repair team returned to the island in September and restored limited function to the airfield and facilities. The future status of activities on the island will be determined upon completion of the survey and assessment. Access to the island is restricted, and all current activities on the island are managed by the United States Air Force and the United States Army.

Although Wake is officially called an island in the singular form, it is actually an atoll comprising three islands (Wake, Wilkes, and Peale) surrounding a central lagoon. 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. The largest island (Wake Island) is the center of activity on the atoll and features a 9,800 foot (3,000 m) runway.

For statistical purposes, Wake is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands...more
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On flickr:
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• Polynesian Perspective
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