_#_Climate: tropical; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun
_#_Terrain: sandy, coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef
_#_Natural resources: guano (deposits worked until late 1800s)
_#_Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 100%
_#_Environment: sparse bunch grass, prostrate vines, and low-growing
shrubs; lacks fresh water; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging
habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife; feral cats
_#_Note: 2,090 km south of Honolulu in the South Pacific Ocean, just
south of the Equator, about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands
_*_People
_#_Population: uninhabited
_#_Note: Millersville settlement on western side of island
occasionally used as a weather station from 1935 until World War II, when
it was abandoned; reoccupied in 1957 during the International Geophysical
Year by scientists who left in 1958; public entry is by special-use
permit only and generally restricted to scientists and educators
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: none (territory of the US)
_#_Type: unincorporated territory of the US administered by the Fish
and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the
National Wildlife Refuge System
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: no economic activity
_*_Communications
_#_Ports: none; offshore anchorage only--one boat landing area in the
middle of the west coast and another near the southwest corner of the
island
_#_Note: there is a day beacon near the middle of the west coast
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Note: defense is the responsibility of the US; visited annually
by the US Coast Guard
_%_
_@_Jersey
(British crown dependency)
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 117 km2; land area: 117 km2
_#_Comparative area: about 0.7 times the size of Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 70 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;