Total area: 6.5 km2
land area: 6.5 km2

Comparative area: about 11 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 19.3 km

Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 12 nm;

Continental shelf: 200 m;

Extended economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: claimed by the Republic of the Marshall Islands

Climate: tropical

Terrain: atoll of three coral islands built up on an underwater volcano; central lagoon is former crater, islands are part of the rim; average elevation less than four meters

Natural resources: none

Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other

Environment: subject to occasional typhoons

Note: strategic location 3,700 km west of Honolulu in the North Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way between Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands; emergency landing location for transpacific flights

NOTE: The information regarding Wake Island on this page is re-published from the 1990 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Wake Island Geography 1990 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Wake Island Geography 1990 should be addressed to the CIA.