Many of the roads and causeways on the atoll were built during World War II. Defense is the responsibility of the United States.įor statistical purposes, Palmyra is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands.There is no current economic activity on the island. The surrounding waters, out to the 12-mile (22.2 km) limit, were transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and designated as the Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in 2001. by the Office of Insular Affairs, United States Department of the Interior.

It is privately owned by The Nature Conservancy and managed as a nature reserve, but administered from Washington, D.C. It remains therefore currently the only 'unorganized' incorporated U.S. The issue of Palmyra's governance is generally a moot point, as there is no indigenous population remaining nor any reason to think that there will be one in the future. 411, attached as a note to former sections 491 to 636 of Title 48, United States Code. However, it is also an unorganized territory as there is no Congressional act specifying how it should be governed the only relevant law simply gives the President the discretion to administer the island as best seen fit (see Section 48 of the Hawaii Omnibus Act, Pub. Palmyra is an incorporated territory of the United States, meaning that it is subject to all provisions contained in the United States Constitution and is permanently under U.S. Daytime temperatures average 85☏ (29☌) year round. Average annual rainfall is approximately 175 inches (4,445 mm) per year. The northern arch of islets is formed by Strawn Island, Cooper Island, Aviation Island, Quail Island, Whippoorwill Island, followed in the East by Eastern Island, Papala Island, and Pelican Island, and in the South by Bird Island, Holei Island, Engineer Island, Tanager Island, Marine Island, Kaula Island, Paradise Island, and Home Island (clockwise). The largest island is Cooper Island in the North, followed by Kaula Island in the South.

The islets of the atoll are all connected, except Sand Island in the West and Barren Island in the East. It consists of an extensive reef, two shallow lagoons, and some 50 sand and reef-rock islets and bars covered with vegetation-mostly coconut trees, 'Scaevola', and tall 'Pisonia' trees. Its 9 miles (14.5 km) of coastline has one anchorage known as West Lagoon. Geographically, Palmyra is one of the Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati Line Islands), located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa. The atoll is 4.6 square miles (12 km²), and it is located in the Northern Pacific Ocean at coord|5|53|N|162|5|W|. Palmyra Atoll is an incorporated atoll administered by the United States government.

Palmyra atoll murders