Portal:Islands

Wake Island (Marshallese: Ānen Kio, lit. 'island of the kio flower'; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets and a reef surrounding a lagoon. The nearest inhabited island is Utirik Atoll in the Marshall Islands, located 592 miles (953 kilometers) to the southeast. The United States administers Wake Island as an unorganized and unincorporated territory, and it is one of the nine insular areas that comprise the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The Marshall Islands also claim Wake Island.

Wake Island was probably discovered by prehistoric Austronesian mariners before Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira made the first recorded discovery in 1568. European and American ships visited the atoll in the 19th century, before the United States claimed the atoll in 1899. The island had little development until 1935, when Pan American Airways constructed an airfield and hotel to serve as a waypoint for trans-Pacific flying boats. Japan seized the island at the outset of World War II in December 1941; it remained under Japanese occupation until the end of the war in September 1945. (Full article...)

Caribbean cuisine is a fusion of West African, Creole, Amerindian, European, Latin American, Indian/South Asian, North American, Middle Eastern, and Chinese. These traditions were brought from many countries when they moved to the Caribbean. In addition, the population has created styles that are unique to the region. (Full article...)

• ... that black rails live on Tule Island?
• ... that Leskov Island is probably inaccessible for penguins?
• ... that after decades of being a central hub for river dredging operations, Stony Island's population was reduced to a caretaker and his two dogs?
• ... that Brown Lake is of cultural and spiritual significance to the Quandamooka people?
• ... that Pitcairn was named after the midshipman on HMS Swallow who first spotted the island?
• ... that the New Zealand tree tarahinau has evolved to develop thinner leaves as it matures, probably as a result of the high winds of the Chatham Islands?

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