Islands like "Kingman Reef" and "Palmyra Atoll" are owned by the US according to maps, why...

Question

Why do we never hear of them? I have never heard of them before until I saw them on the map. Who lives there? Are they used for military bases?

Answer 1

They were used for nuclear testing. No one lives on them.

Answer 2

Kingman Reef is a one square-kilometer tropical coral reef located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa at 6°24′N 162°24′W. It is the northernmost of the Northern Line Islands and represents unincorporated territory of the United States, administered from Washington, DC by the U.S. Navy. The reef is closed to the public.

The reef was found in 1789 by Captain Edmund Fanning of the ship Betsey. Captain W.E. Kingman described it in 1853. It was formally annexed to the United States on May 10, 1922 when Lorrin A. Thurston read this declaration on shore, "Be it known to all people: That on the tenth of May, A.D. 1922, the undersigned agent of the Island of Palmyra Copra Co., Ltd., landed from the motorship Palmyra doth, on this tenth day of May, A.D. 1922, take formal possession of this island, called Kingman Reef, situated in longitude 162 degrees 18' west and 6 degrees 23' north, on behalf of the United States of America and claim the same for said company."

Kingman is about 920 nautical miles south of Honolulu. At times, its shoreline might reach three kilometers in circumference, but the highest point on the reef is about one meter above sea level and wetted or awash most of the time, making Kingman Reef a maritime hazard. It has no natural resources, is uninhabited, and supports no economic activity. The reef partly encloses a deep interior lagoon that was used in 1937 and 1938 as a halfway station between Hawai'i and American Samoa by Pan American Airways flying boats. In 1937, Pan Am had plans to anchor the ship North Wind as a floating tanker at Kingman and use the reef as a stopover for its flying boats on the route to New Zealand but Pan Am abandoned the idea finding the costs of supporting a mostly idle tanker ship prohibitive. There were also concerns that comfortable overnight accommodations would not be available in the event of a mechanical breakdown. As a result, Pan Am switched to Canton Island on May 18, 1939 and began service to New Zealand on July 12, 1940.

Insular areas American Samoa | Guam | Northern Mariana Islands | Puerto Rico | Virgin Islands
Minor outlying islands Baker Island | Howland Island | Jarvis Island | Johnston Atoll | Kingman Reef | Midway Atoll | Navassa Island | Palmyra Atoll | Wake Island

MOST WERE NOT USED FOR NUCLEAR TESTING.

Answer 3

I'm scratching my head about this one. To be blunt, I really have no explanation for your ignorance of geography. How could I?

I'm sure all the information you'd ever want on these places is easily available through a search engine.

Answer 4

They appear to be nothing more than sandbars in the middle of the pacific ocean. But...They are our sandbars. Kind of cool reading about them though.