Background: The United States and the Hawaiian Kingdom jointly annexed Johnston Atoll in 1858, then it passed to the United States, since in the late 1880s. there began to develop deposits of guano. According to Countries Index, the US Navy began using the atoll in 1934, and in 1948 control passed to the US Air Force. The site was used for high-altitude nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s, and until the end of 2000, the atoll was used to store and destroy chemical weapons. Destruction of military stockpiles has now been completed and site cleanup and site closure activities are ongoing. Geography

Geography

Location: Oceania, an atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about one-third of the way from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands.
Geographic coordinates: 16° ​​45′ N. latitude, 169° 30′ W
Reference map: Oceania.
Area: total: 2.8 km2; land surface area: 2.8 km2; water surface area: 0 km2
Comparative area: Approximately 4.7 square meters of Mall Park in Washington, DC.
Land borders: 0 km.
Coastline: 10 km.
Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles; territorial waters: 12 nautical miles.
Climate: tropical but mostly dry; constant northeasterly winds with little seasonal temperature variation.
Terrain: mostly flat.
Maximum and minimum heights: lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m; highest point: Summit Peak 5 m
Natural resources: NA; guano deposits were exploited until they were depleted in 1890.
Land use: arable land: 0%; cultivated land: 0%; pasture: 0%; forests and plantations: 0%; others: 100%.
Irrigated land: 0 sq. km. (1998).
Natural hazards: no data available.
Current environmental issues: there are no natural sources of fresh water. <Geography> Note: Strategic location in the North Pacific; Johnston Atoll and Sand Island are natural islands that have been expanded by coral mounds; North Island (Akau) and East Island (Hikina) are artificial islands; closed to visitors; former US nuclear weapons test site; location of the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS); some low growing vegetation.
International agreements on environmental protection:
Note to the section “Geography”:

Population

Population: no local residents; note: there are approximately 1,100 US civilian and military personnel on the island; as of 1 October 2000, the number of personnel had been reduced to approximately 970 as the chemical weapons storage base was closed (January 2001 est.).

Politics

Common long form: no;
Common short form: Johnston Atoll. Dependency Status: Territory not included in the US; operated from Washington DC by the Pacific Air Force, Hickam Air Force Base, and the US Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the National Wildlife Conservation System.

Economics

Economic Overview: Economic activity is limited to providing services to US military and civilian personnel stationed on the island. All food and manufactured goods are imported.

Telecommunications

Telecommunications Telephone lines:
Mobile cellular telephones:
Telephone system: 13 outgoing and 10 incoming commercial lines; satisfactory telecommunications; internal: 60-channel submarine cable, 22 DIMS network circuits via satellite, standard Autodin network remote terminal, digital telephone exchange, Joint Military Radio System (MARS) station, UHF/VHF air-to-ground radio, connection with Pacific United Telecommunications Network satellite (Pacific Consolidated Telecommunications Network); international: no data.
Broadcasting stations: no data.
Radio receivers:
Television broadcast stations: commercial satellite television system with 16 channels (1997).

Transport

Transport Railways:
Roads:
Ports and harbors: Johnston Island.
Merchant fleet:
Airports: 1; note – six flights per week (three commercial, three military) (2001 est.).
Airports with paved runways: total: 1; from 2438 to 3047 m: 1 (2000 est.). Armed Forces Armed Forces – Note: Defense is the responsibility of the United States.