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The atoll consists of three islets, Wake islet, the largest, on the southwest, has the shape of a V, the arms of which are about two and three-quarters land miles long. Each arm is continued as a separate islet, there being a narrow channel between it and the end of the arms of the V. The western ends of the two islets are connected by a sweep of flat reef, which continues as a narrow border around the three islets.
Enclosed is a rectangular lagoon with depths up to fifteen feet. This measures about two and a half miles northwest -- southeast by one and a third miles wide. The southeastern portion of the lagoon becomes shallower until it ends in a large expanse of hard white sand which dries at low tide. The entire atoll measures about two and a half by five miles.
Wake Island, part of the United States is located in the Pacific Ocean and uninhabited. The fame of the small Atoll is mostly due to the role it played in WW II.
Wake Island was discovered by the Spanish in 1568, visited by the British in 1796 and named after Capt. William Wake, and annexed by the United States in 1898. The island became (1935) a commercial air base on the route to Asia and later served as a U.S. military base. In Dec., 1941, Wake Island was seized by the Japanese. U.S. forces bombed the island from 1942 until Japan's surrender in 1945.
Wake Island's flag is the flag of the United States.
Last edited by Gary (5:57, 23 June 2006)
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