Location:
Oceania

Baker Island: atoll in the North Pacific Ocean 3,390 km southwest of Honolulu, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia;

Howland Island: island in the North Pacific Ocean 3,360 km southwest of Honolulu, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia;

Jarvis Island: island in the South Pacific Ocean 2,415 km south of Honolulu, about halfway between Hawaii and Cook Islands;

Johnston Atoll: atoll in the North Pacific Ocean 1,330 km southwest of Honolulu, about one-third of the way from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands;

Kingman Reef: reef in the North Pacific Ocean 1,720 km south of Honolulu, about halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa;

Midway Islands: atoll in the North Pacific Ocean 2,335 km northwest of Honolulu near the end of the Hawaiian Archipelago, about one-third of the way from Honolulu to Tokyo;

Palmyra Atoll: atoll in the North Pacific Ocean 1,780 km south of Honolulu, about halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa

Geographic coordinates:
Baker Island: 0 13 N, 176 28 W;

Howland Island: 0 48 N, 176 38 W;

Jarvis Island: 0 23 S, 160 01 W;

Johnston Atoll: 16 45 N, 169 31 W;

Kingman Reef: 6 23 N, 162 25 W;

Midway Islands: 28 12 N, 177 22 W;

Palmyra Atoll: 5 53 N, 162 05 W

Map references:
Oceania

Area:
land: 6,959.41 sq km (emergent land - 22.41 sq km; submerged - 6,937 sq km)
Baker Island: total - 129.1 sq km; emergent land - 2.1 sq km; submerged - 127 sq km
Howland Island: total - 138.6 sq km; emergent land - 2.6 sq km; submerged - 136 sq km
Jarvis Island: total - 152 sq km; emergent land - 5 sq km; submerged - 147 sq km
Johnston Atoll: total - 276.6 sq km; emergent land - 2.6 sq km; submerged - 274 sq km
Kingman Reef: total - 1,958.01 sq km; emergent land - 0.01 sq km; submerged - 1,958 sq km
Midway Islands: total - 2,355.2 sq km; emergent land - 6.2 sq km; submerged - 2,349 sq km
Palmyra Atoll: total - 1,949.9 sq km; emergent land - 3.9 sq km; submerged - 1,946 sq km

Area - comparative:
Baker Island: about 2.5 times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC;

Howland Island: about three times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC;

Jarvis Island: about eight times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC;

Johnston Atoll: about 4.5 times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC;

Kingman Reef: a little more than 1.5 times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC;

Midway Islands: about nine times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC;

Palmyra Atoll: about 20 times the size of the National Mall in Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
Baker Island: 4.8 km
Howland Island: 6.4 km
Jarvis Island: 8 km
Johnston Atoll: 34 km
Kingman Reef: 3 km
Midway Islands: 15 km
Palmyra Atoll: 14.5 km
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
[see also: Maritime claims - territorial sea country ranks ]
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
[see also: Maritime claims - exclusive economic zone country ranks ]

Climate:
Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands: equatorial; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun;

Johnston Atoll and Kingman Reef: tropical, but generally dry; consistent northeast trade winds with little seasonal temperature variation;

Midway Islands: subtropical with cool, moist winters (December to February) and warm, dry summers (May to October); moderated by prevailing easterly winds; most of the 107 cm of annual rainfall occurs during the winter;

Palmyra Atoll: equatorial, hot; located within the low pressure area of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) where the northeast and southeast trade winds meet, it is extremely wet with between 400-500 cm of rainfall each year

Terrain:
low and nearly flat sandy coral islands with narrow fringing reefs that have developed at the top of submerged volcanic mountains, which in most cases rise steeply from the ocean floor

Elevation:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Baker Island, unnamed location 8 m; Howland Island, unnamed location 3 m; Jarvis Island, unnamed location 7 m; Johnston Atoll, Sand Island 10 m; Kingman Reef, unnamed location 2 m; Midway Islands, unnamed location less than 13 m; Palmyra Atoll, unnamed location 3 m

Natural resources:
terrestrial and aquatic wildlife

Land use:
agricultural land: 0% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - agricultural land country ranks ]
arable land: 0% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - arable land country ranks ]
permanent crops: 0% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - permanent crops country ranks ]
permanent pasture: 0% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - permanent pasture country ranks ]
forest: 0% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - forest country ranks ]
other: 100% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use country ranks ]

Natural hazards:
Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands: the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island poses a maritime hazard;

Kingman Reef: wet or awash most of the time, maximum elevation of less than 2 m makes Kingman Reef a maritime hazard;

Midway Islands, Johnston, and Palmyra Atolls: NA

Environment - current issues:
Baker Island: no natural freshwater resources; feral cats, introduced in 1937 during a short-lived colonization effort, ravaged the avian population and were eradicated in 1965

Howland Island: no natural freshwater resources; the island habitat has suffered from invasive exotic species; black rats, introduced in 1854, were eradicated by feral cats within a year of their introduction in 1937; the cats preyed on the bird population and were eliminated by 1985

Jarvis Island: no natural freshwater resources; feral cats, introduced in the 1930s during a short-lived colonization venture, were not completely removed until 1990

Johnston Atoll: no natural freshwater resources; the seven decades under US military administration (1934-2004) left the atoll environmentally degraded and required large-scale remediation efforts; a swarm of Anoplolepis (crazy) ants invaded the island in 2010 damaging native wildlife; eradication has been largely, but not completely, successful

Midway Islands:  many exotic species introduced, 75% of the roughly 200 plant species on the island are non-native; plastic pollution harms wildlife, via entanglement, ingestion, and toxic contamination

Kingman Reef: none

Palmyra Atoll: black rats, believed to have been introduced to the atoll during the US military occupation of the 1940s, severely degraded the ecosystem outcompeting native species (seabirds, crabs); following a successful rat removal project in 2011, native flora and fauna have begun to recover

Geography - note:
Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands: scattered vegetation consisting of grasses, prostrate vines, and low growing shrubs; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife; closed to the public;

Johnston Atoll: Johnston Island and Sand Island are natural islands, which have been expanded by coral dredging; North Island (Akau) and East Island (Hikina) are manmade islands formed from coral dredging; the egg-shaped reef is 34 km in circumference; closed to the public;

Kingman Reef: barren coral atoll with deep interior lagoon; closed to the public;

Midway Islands: a coral atoll managed as a National Wildlife Refuge and open to the public for wildlife-related recreation in the form of wildlife observation and photography;

Palmyra Atoll: the high rainfall and resulting lush vegetation make the environment of this atoll unique among the US Pacific Island territories; supports a large undisturbed stand of Pisonia beach forest