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.
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