Howland Island travel guide

Howland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about 3,100 km (1,670 nm) southwest of Honolulu. The island is almost half way between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States, and is often included as one of the Phoenix Islands. For statistical purposes, Howland is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands.
The island was named after a lookout who sighted it from the whaling ship Isabella of New Bedford on 9 September 1842. One recorded European sighting had already been made 20 years earlier from the Nantucket whaler Oeno in 1822, and it was briefly named Worth Island after that ship's captain, George B. Worth. Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of the 455 acre (1.84 km²) island and the surrounding 32,074 acres (130 km²) of submerged land. The island is now a National Wildlife Refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an insular area under the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The atoll has no economic activity and is perhaps best known as the island Amelia Earhart never reached. Airstrips built in the late 1930s to accommodate her planned stopover were never used, subsequently damaged, not maintained and gradually disappeared. There are no harbors or docks. The reefs may pose a hazard. There is one boat landing area along the middle of the sandy beach on the west coast along with a crumbling day beacon. Defense is the responsibility of the United States and the island is visited every two years by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (...) more....

travel guide by edit this text

Latest Reviews for Howland Island

Have you been here? Write a quick review:

 You are currently not logged in. Login or register to write a review.