1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
Territories of the United States
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Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions directly overseen by the United States federal government. These territories are classified by whether they are incorporated and whether they have a government through an Organic Act passed by the U. S. Congress. Currently, the United States has sixteen territories, five of which are inhabited, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U. S. Virgin Islands. They are classified as unincorporated territories and they are organized, self-governing territories with locally elected governors and territorial legislatures. Each also elects a member to the U. S. House of Representatives. Eleven territories are small islands, atolls and reefs, spread across the Caribbean and Pacific, the status of some are disputed by Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, and the Marshall Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the territory currently incorporated. Historically, territories were created to govern newly acquired land while the borders of the United States were still evolving, other territories administered by the United States went on to become independent countries, such as the Philippines, Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau. Many organized incorporated territories of the United States existed from 1789 to 1959, currently, the United States has sixteen territories, five of which are permanently inhabited, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, United States Virgin Islands and American Samoa. The 11 uninhabited territories administered by the Interior Department are Palmyra Atoll, Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, while claimed by the US, Navassa Island, Wake Island, Serranilla Bank and Bajo Nuevo Bank are disputed. Territories have always been a part of the United States, by Act of Congress, the term United States, when used in a geographical sense, means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands of the United States. Since political union with the Northern Mariana Islands in 1986, they too are treated as a part of the U. S, an Executive Order in 2007 includes American Samoa as U. S. geographical extent duly reflected in U. S. State Department documents. Approximately 4 million islanders are U. S. citizens, about 32,000 U. S. non-citizen nationals live in American Samoa, under current law among the territories, only persons born in American Samoa and Swains Island are non-citizen U. S. nationals. American Samoans are under the protection of the U. S. with freedom of U. S. travel without visas. The five inhabited U. S. territories have local voting rights and protections under U. S. courts, pay some U. S. taxes, depending on the congress, they may also vote on the floor in the House Committee of the Whole. S. Every four years, the Democratic and Republican political parties nominate their candidates at conventions which include delegates from the five major territories. The citizens there, however, do not vote in the election for U. S. President. S. Incorporated territories are considered a part of the United States
3.
United States Constitution
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The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government, Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure used by the thirteen States to ratify it. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty, the majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures, Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. All four pages of the original U. S, according to the United States Senate, The Constitutions first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. From September 5,1774 to March 1,1781, the Continental Congress functioned as the government of the United States. The process of selecting the delegates for the First and Second Continental Congresses underscores the revolutionary role of the people of the colonies in establishing a governing body. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States and it was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late-1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, the governments power was quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked enforcement powers, implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures. The Continental Congress could print money but the currency was worthless, Congress could borrow money, but couldnt pay it back. No state paid all their U. S. taxes, some paid nothing, some few paid an amount equal to interest on the national debt owed to their citizens, but no more. No interest was paid on debt owed foreign governments, by 1786, the United States would default on outstanding debts as their dates came due. Internationally, the Articles of Confederation did little to enhance the United States ability to defend its sovereignty, most of the troops in the 625-man United States Army were deployed facing – but not threatening – British forts on American soil. They had not been paid, some were deserting and others threatening mutiny, spain closed New Orleans to American commerce, U. S. officials protested, but to no effect. Barbary pirates began seizing American ships of commerce, the Treasury had no funds to pay their ransom, if any military crisis required action, the Congress had no credit or taxing power to finance a response. Domestically, the Articles of Confederation was failing to bring unity to the sentiments and interests of the various states
4.
Caribbean Sea
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The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the islands of the West Indies. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas and has an area of about 2,754,000 km2, the seas deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 m below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays, the Gulf of Gonâve, Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, Gulf of Paria, the Caribbean Sea has the worlds second biggest barrier reef, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. It runs 1,000 km along the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, the name Caribbean derives from the Caribs, one of the regions dominant Native American groups at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. During the first century of development, Spanish dominance in the region remained undisputed, from the 16th century, Europeans visiting the Caribbean region identified the South Sea as opposed to the North Sea. The Caribbean Sea had been unknown to the populations of Eurasia until 1492, at that time the Western Hemisphere in general was unknown to Europeans. Following the discovery of the islands by Columbus, the area was colonised by several Western cultures. As of 2015 the area is home to 22 island territories, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Caribbean Sea as follows, On the North. In the Windward Channel – a line joining Caleta Point and Pearl Point in Haïti, in the Mona Passage – a line joining Cape Engano and the extreme of Agujereada in Puerto Rico. From Galera Point through Trinidad to Galeota Point and thence to Baja Point in Venezuela, note that, although Barbados is an island on the same continental shelf, it is considered to be in the Atlantic Ocean rather than the Caribbean Sea. The Caribbean Sea is an oceanic sea largely situated on the Caribbean Plate, the Caribbean Sea is separated from the ocean by several island arcs of various ages. The youngest stretches from the Lesser Antilles to the Virgin Islands to the north east of Trinidad, the larger islands in the northern part of the sea Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico lie on an older island arc. The geological age of the Caribbean Sea is estimated to be between 160 and 180 million years and was formed by a fracture that split the supercontinent called Pangea in the Mesozoic Era. It is assumed the proto-caribbean basin existed in the Devonian period, in the early Carboniferous movement of Gondwana to the north and its convergence with the Euramerica basin decreased in size. The next stage of the Caribbean Seas formation began in the Triassic, powerful rifting led to the formation of narrow troughs, stretching from modern Newfoundland to the west coast of the Gulf of Mexico which formed siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. In the early Jurassic due to powerful marine transgression, water broke into the present area of the Gulf of Mexico creating a vast shallow pool, the emergence of deep basins in the Caribbean occurred during the Middle Jurassic rifting. The emergence of these marked the beginning of the Atlantic Ocean
5.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
6.
American Samoa
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American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Samoa. American Samoa consists of five islands and two coral atolls. The largest and most populous island is Tutuila, with the Manuʻa Islands, Rose Atoll, All islands except for Swains Island are part of the Samoan Islands, located west of the Cook Islands, north of Tonga, and some 300 miles south of Tokelau. To the west are the islands of the Wallis and Futuna group, the 2010 census showed a total population of 55,519 people. The total land area is 199 square kilometers, slightly more than Washington, American Samoa is the southernmost territory of the U. S. and one of two U. S. territories south of the Equator, along with the uninhabited Jarvis Island. Tuna products are the exports, and the main trading partner is the United States. American Samoa is noted for having the highest rate of enlistment of any U. S. state or territory. Most American Samoans are bilingual and can speak English and Samoan fluently, Samoan is the same language spoken in neighboring independent Samoa. Contact with Europeans began in the early 18th century, dutchman Jacob Roggeveen was the first known European to sight the Samoan Islands in 1722. This visit was followed by French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville who named them the Navigator Islands in 1768, contact was limited before the 1830s, when English missionaries and traders began arriving. The site of battle is called Massacre Bay. Mission work in the Samoas had begun in late 1830 when John Williams of the London Missionary Society arrived from the Cook Islands, by that time, the Samoans had gained a reputation for being savage and warlike, as violent altercations had occurred between natives and European visitors. In March 1889, an Imperial German naval force entered a village on Samoa, three American warships then entered the Apia harbor and prepared to engage the three German warships found there. Before any shots were fired, a typhoon wrecked both the American and German ships, a compulsory armistice was then called because of the lack of any warships. Forerunners to the Tripartite Convention of 1899 were the Washington Conference of 1887, the Treaty of Berlin of 1889, the following year, the USA formally occupied its portion, a smaller group of eastern islands, one of which contains the noted harbor of Pago Pago. The Navy secured a Deed of Cession of Tutuila in 1900, the territory became known as the US Naval Station Tutuila. On July 17,1911, the US Naval Station Tutuila, in 1918 during the final stages of World War I, the flu pandemic had taken its toll, spreading rapidly from country to country. The result of Poyers quick actions earned him the Navy Cross from the US Navy, with this distinction, American Samoans regarded Poyer as their hero for what he had done to prevent the deadly disease
7.
Income tax in the United States
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In the United States, a tax is imposed on income by the federal government, most state governments, and many local governments. The income tax is determined by applying a tax rate, which may increase as income increases, Individuals and corporations are directly taxable, and estates and trusts may be taxable on undistributed income. In the United States, the payroll tax usually refers to FICA taxes that pay into Social Security and Medicare, while income tax refers to taxes that pay into state. Partnerships are not taxed, but their partners are taxed on their shares of partnership income, residents and citizens are taxed on worldwide income, while nonresidents are taxed only on income within the jurisdiction. Several types of credits reduce tax, and some types of credits may exceed tax before credits, an alternative tax applies at the federal and some state levels. Taxable income is total income less allowable deductions, Individuals may also deduct a personal allowance and certain personal expenses, including home mortgage interest, state taxes, contributions to charity, and some other items. Some deductions are subject to limits, Capital gains are taxable, and capital losses reduce taxable income to the extent of gains. Individuals currently pay a rate of tax on capital gains. Taxpayers generally must self assess income tax by filing tax returns, advance payments of tax are required in the form of withholding tax or estimated tax payments. Taxes are determined separately by each jurisdiction imposing tax, due dates and other administrative procedures vary by jurisdiction. April 15 following the tax year is the last day for individuals to file tax returns for federal and many state, Tax as determined by the taxpayer may be adjusted by the taxing jurisdiction. A tax is imposed on net income in the United States by the federal, most state. Income tax is imposed on individuals, corporations, estates, the definition of net taxable income for most sub-federal jurisdictions mostly follows the federal definition. The rate of tax at the level is graduated, that is. Some states and localities impose a tax at a graduated rate. Federal tax rates in 2013 varied from 10% to 39. 6%, Individuals are eligible for a reduced rate of federal income tax on capital gains and qualifying dividends. The tax rate and some deductions are different for individuals depending on filing status, married individuals may compute tax as a couple or separately. Single individuals may be eligible for reduced tax rates if they are head of a household in which live with a dependent
8.
Social Security (United States)
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In the United States, Social Security is the commonly used term for the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program. Social Security is funded primarily through taxes called Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax or Self Employed Contributions Act Tax. With a few exceptions, all salaried income, up to an amount specifically determined by law, is subject to the Social Security payroll tax, all income over said amount is not taxed. In 2017, the amount of taxable earnings was $127,200. With few exceptions, all legal residents working in the United States now have an individual Social Security number. Indeed, nearly all working residents since Social Securitys 1935 inception have had a Social Security number because it is required to do a range of things, e. g. paying the IRS. In 2015, Social Security expenditures totaled $750.5 billion for OASDI, Social Security Timeline 1935 The 37-page Social Security Act signed August 14 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Landmark U. S. Supreme Court ruling that gave Congress the power to amend, the Court also ruled that recipients have no contractual right to receive payments. 1961 Early retirement age lowered to age 62 at reduced benefits 1965 Medicare health care benefits added to Social security—20 million joined in three years 1966 Medicare tax of 0, the Earnings limit doubled exemption amount for retired Social Security beneficiaries. The Act was an attempt to limit unforeseen and unprepared for dangers in the life, including old age, disability, poverty, unemployment. Opponents, however, decried the proposal as socialism, in a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Senator Thomas Gore asked Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, Isnt this socialism. She said that it was not, but he continued, Isnt this a bit of socialism. By 1950, debates moved away from which occupational groups should be included to get enough taxpayers to fund Social Security to how to provide more benefits, changes in Social Security have reflected a balance between promoting equality and efforts to provide adequate and affordable protection for low wage workers. These retirement benefits are a form of insurance that is heavily biased toward lower paid workers to make sure they do not have to retire in relative poverty. The OASI accounts plus trust funds are the only Social Security funding source that brings in more than it sends out, Social Security revenues exceeded expenditures, between 1983 and 2009. The disability insurance taxes of 1. 4% are included in the OASDI rate of 6. 2% for workers and employers or 12. 4% for the self-employed, the additional retirees expected under the baby boom bulge will hasten this trust fund depletion. Medicare expenses, tied to medical costs growth rates, have traditionally increased much faster than GDP growth rates, for workers the Social Security tax rate is 6. 2% on income under $127,200 through the end of 2017. The worker Medicare tax rate is 1. 45% of all income—employers pay another 1. 45%, employers pay 6. 2% up to the wage ceiling and the Medicare tax of 1.45 percent on all income
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Internal Revenue Service
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The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The IRS is responsible for collecting taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code and its duty to maximize tax revenue entails providing tax assistance to taxpayers, as well as pursuing and resolving instances of erroneous or fraudulent tax filings. The IRS has also overseen various benefits programs, and enforces portions of the Affordable Care Act. The IRS originated with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, an office created in 1862 to assess the nations first income tax. The temporary measure provided over a fifth of the Unions war expenses and was allowed to expire a decade later, in 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was ratified authorizing Congress to impose a tax on income, in the 1950s, the agency was renamed the Internal Revenue Service and significantly reorganized. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 modernized the IRS and restructured it along a private sector model, in the 2015 fiscal year, the IRS processed almost 240 million returns and collected approximately $3.3 trillion in revenue, spending 35¢ for every $100 it collected. The Revenue Act of 1862 was passed as an emergency and temporary war-time tax and it copied a relatively new British system of income taxation, instead of trade and property taxation. The first income tax was passed in 1862, The initial rate was 3% on income over $800, in 1862 the rate was 3% on income between $600 and $10,000, and 5% on income over $10,000. In 1864 the rate was 5% on income between $600 and $5,000,7. 5% on income $5, 000–10,000, and 10% on income $10,000 and above. By the end of the war, 10% of Union households had paid some form of tax. After the Civil War, Reconstruction, railroads, and transforming the North and South war machines towards peacetime required public funding, however, in 1872, seven years after the war, lawmakers allowed the temporary Civil War income tax to expire. Income taxes evolved, but in 1894 the Supreme Court declared the Income Tax of 1894 unconstitutional in Pollock v. Farmers Loan & Trust Co. a decision that contradicted Hylton v. United States, the federal government scrambled to raise money. In 1906, with the election of President Theodore Roosevelt, and later his successor William Howard Taft, by February 1913,36 states had ratified the change to the Constitution. It was further ratified by six states by March. Of the 48 states at the time,42 ratified it, connecticut, Rhode Island, and Utah rejected the amendment, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Florida did not take up the issue. A copy of the very first IRS1040 form, dated 1913, in the first year after ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment, no taxes were collected—instead, taxpayers simply completed the form and the IRS checked it for accuracy. The IRSs workload jumped by ten-fold, triggering a massive restructuring, professional tax collectors began to replace a system of patronage appointments
10.
Howland Island
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Howland Island /ˈhaʊlənd/ is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about 1,700 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States, geographically, together with Baker Island it forms part of the Phoenix Islands. For statistical purposes, Howland is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands, Howland is located at 0°48′24″N 176°36′59″W. It covers 1,112 acres, with 4 miles of coastline, the island has an elongated plantain-shape on a north-south axis. Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of the island and the surrounding 32,074 acres of submerged land. The island is managed by the U. S. Fish, the atoll has no economic activity. It is perhaps best known as the island Amelia Earhart was searching for but never reached when her airplane disappeared on July 2,1937, airstrips constructed to accommodate her planned stopover were subsequently damaged, were not maintained and gradually disappeared. There are no harbors or docks, the fringing reefs may pose a maritime hazard. There is a landing area along the middle of the sandy beach on the west coast. The island is visited every two years by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the climate is equatorial, with little rainfall and intense sunshine. Temperatures are moderated somewhat by a constant wind from the east, the terrain is low-lying and sandy, a coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef with a slightly raised central area. The highest point is about six meters above sea level, there are no natural fresh water resources. The landscape features scattered grasses along with prostrate vines and low-growing pisonia trees, a 1942 eyewitness description spoke of a low grove of dead and decaying kou trees on a very shallow hill at the islands center. Howland is primarily a nesting, roosting and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, the U. S. claims an Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nautical miles and a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles around the island. Since Howland Island is uninhabited, no time zone is specified and it lies within a nautical time zone which is 12 hours behind UTC. Sparse remnants of trails and other artifacts indicate a sporadic early Polynesian presence, a canoe, a blue bead, pieces of bamboo, and other relics of early settlers have been found. Emery, an ethnologist for Honolulus Bernice P, Worth of the Nantucket whaler Oeno sighted Howland around 1822 and called it Worth Island. Daniel MacKenzie of the American whaler Minerva Smith was unaware of Worths sighting when he charted the island in 1828, Howland Island was at last named on September 9,1842 after a lookout who sighted it from the whaleship Isabella under Captain Geo
11.
Baker Island
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Baker Island /ˈbeɪkər/ is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about 3,090 km southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia, the island covers 2.1 km2, with 4.8 km of coastline. The climate is equatorial, with rainfall, constant wind. The terrain is low-lying and sandy, an island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef with a depressed central area devoid of a lagoon with its highest point being 8 m above sea level. The island now forms the Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge and is an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the U. S. which vouches for its defense and it is visited annually by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For statistical purposes, Baker is grouped with the United States Minor Outlying Islands, Baker Island is also the last piece of land that experiences the New Year. A cemetery and rubble from earlier settlements are located near the middle of the west coast, there are no ports or harbors, with anchorage available only offshore. The narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard, bakers abandoned World War II runway,5,463 ft long, is completely covered with vegetation and is unserviceable. The United States claims an Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nautical miles, during a 1935–1942 colonization attempt, the island was most likely on Hawaii time, which was then 10.5 hours behind UTC. Since it is uninhabited the islands time zone is unspecified, Baker was discovered in 1818 by Captain Elisha Folger of the Nantucket whaling ship Equator, who called the island New Nantucket. In August 1825 Baker was sighted by Captain Obed Starbuck of the Loper, the island is named for Michael Baker, who visited the island in 1834. Other references state that he visited in 1832, and again on August 14,1839, in the whaler Gideon Howland, Captain Baker claimed the island in 1855, then he sold his interest to a group who later formed the American Guano Company. The United States took possession of the island in 1857, claiming it under the Guano Islands Act of 1856 and its guano deposits were mined by the American Guano Company from 1859 to 1878. On 7 December 1886, it all its rights to the British firm John T. Arundel and Company. Arundel applied in 1897 to the British Colonial Office for a licence to work the island on the presumption that the USA had abandoned their claim, the United Kingdom then considered Baker Island as a British territory, while never formally annexing it. This short-lived attempt at colonization begun when American colonists arrived aboard the USCGC Itasca and they built a lighthouse and substantial dwellings, and they attempted to grow various plants. The settlement was named Meyerton, after Captain H. A, meyer of the United States Army, who helped establish the camps in 1935. One sad-looking clump of coconut palms was jokingly called King-Doyle Park after two well-known citizens of Hawaii who visited on the Taney in 1938, King-Doyle Park was later adopted as a geographic name by the USGS
12.
Johnston Atoll
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Johnston Atoll, also known as Kalama Atoll to Native Hawaiians, is an unincorporated territory of the United States currently administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Public entry is only by special-use permit from the U. S. Fish, for nearly 70 years, the atoll was under the control of the American military. These activities left the area environmentally contaminated and remediation and monitoring continue, the Johnston Atoll is a deserted 1,300 ha atoll in the North Pacific Ocean located about 750 nmi southwest of the island of Hawaii and is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The atoll, which is located on a coral platform, has four islands. Johnston Island and Sand Island are both enlarged natural features, while Akau and Hikina are two artificial islands formed by coral dredging, the four islands compose a total land area of 2.67 square kilometres. Due to the tilt, much of the reef on the southeast portion has subsided. But even though it not have an encircling reef crest. The climate is tropical but generally dry, northeast trade winds are consistent and there is little seasonal temperature variation. With elevation ranging from sea level to 5 m at Summit Peak, the first Western record of the atoll was on September 2,1796 when the Boston-based American brig Sally accidentally grounded on a shoal near the islands. The ships captain, Joseph Pierpont, published his experience in several American newspapers the following year giving a position of Johnston. However, he did not name or lay claim to the area, the islands were not officially named until Captain Charles J. Johnston of the Royal Naval ship HMS Cornwallis sighted them on December 14,1807. In the following years, an occasional vessel stopped, but generally one look was enough. The Guano Islands Act, enacted on August 18,1856, was legislation passed by the U. S. Congress that enabled citizens of the U. S. to take possession of islands containing guano deposits. In 1858 William Parker and R. F. Ryan, chartered the schooner Palestine specifically to find Johnston Atoll and they located guano on the atoll in March 1858 and they proceeded to claim the island. By 1858, Johnston Atoll was claimed by both the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii, in June 1858, Samuel Allen, sailing on the Kalama, tore down the U. S. flag and raised the Hawaiian flag renaming the atoll Kalama. The larger island was renamed Kalama Island, and the smaller island was called Cornwallis. Returning on July 27,1858, the Captain of the Palestine again hoisted the American flag, the same day, the atoll was declared part of the domain of King Kamehameha IV. On this visit however the Palestine left two crew members on the island to gather phosphate, however, later that year King Kamehameha revoked the lease granted to Samuel Allen when the King learned that the atoll had been claimed previously by the United States
Palmyra Atoll The U.S. Territory of Palmyra Island (Mostly owned by the federal government and the Nature Conservancy; administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Guam (organized under the Guam Organic Act of 1950)
Northern Mariana Islands (Commonwealth, organized under 1975 covenant)
Puerto Rico (Commonwealth, organized under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950)
United States Virgin Islands (organized under the 1954 Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands)
American Samoa (Self-governing, even though officially unorganized; officially under authority of the U.S. Department of the Interior)
Navassa Island (disputed with Haiti)
Panama Canal Zone – acquired through the 1903 Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty; abolished October 1, 1979, as a term of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.[b]
Philippines – acquired through the 1898 Treaty of Paris; U.S. sovereignty relinquished and the independence of the Republic of the Philippines recognized July 4, 1946, through the Treaty of Manila.
