World · permanent entity record · QW
Wake Island
Thirty-second orientation
Wake Island at a glance
- Population
- total: no permanent inhabitants note: personnel maintain and operate the airfield and weather station
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of 2025-12-23
- Area
- total : 7 sq km land: 6.5 sq km water: 0 sq km
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of 2025-12-23
Claims are attributed · classifications are dated
Claims and contested status
Maintained classification
Dependency or area of special sovereignty
United States
U.S. Department of State, Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty · as of 2026-03-31A claim’s appearance records that the cited source reports it. It does not constitute an Almanac ruling on sovereignty.
Maintained profile
- Classification
- Dependency or area of special sovereignty
- U.S. Department of State, Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty · Federal classification and wording follow the current State Department register.
- Sovereignty or administration
- United States
- U.S. Department of State, Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty ·
- Administrative center
- Administered from Washington, D.C.
- U.S. Department of State, Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty ·
Preserved public-domain record · not maintained current data
Final CIA World Factbook profile
This is the preserved historical baseline from the Factbook’s final public snapshot. It is presented as the CIA stated it, not as a current Standard American Almanac finding. Current, independently maintained facts appear above when available.
CIA World Factbook historical record · final public snapshot · profile updated · pinned source record · commit d81154954b8b
Introduction1 fields
- Background
- Early Micronesian and Polynesian settlers probably visited Wake Island, and oral legends tell of periodic voyages to the islands by people from the Marshall Islands. Wake Island was uninhabited when Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana de NEYRA became the first European to see it in 1568 and still had no inhabitants when English captain Samuel WAKE sailed by it in 1796. The United States Exploring Expedition visited the island in 1841, and the US annexed it in 1899 to use as a cable and refueling station for its newly acquired Pacific territories of Hawaii, the Philippines, and Guam. In the 1930s, Pan American Airways built facilities on Wake Island so that it could be used as a stopover for flights from the US to China. In 1941, the US began to install military assets on Wake Island, and Japan then captured the island and held it until the end of World War II. In 1946, commercial airlines resumed using Wake Island as a refueling stop. In 1973, the Marshall Islands claimed Wake Island, based on the oral legends, although the US has not recognized these claims. In 1974, the US military took exclusive control of the island’s airstrip and restricted visitors. In 1978, Bikini Islanders from the Marshall Islands, who were evacuated in the 1950s and 1960s because of US nuclear tests, considered rehoming on Wake Island, but the US military rejected that plan. Since the 1970s, the island has been important for missile defense testing. In 2009, Wake Island was included in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
Geography16 fields
- Location
- Oceania, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to the Northern Mariana Islands
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
- Area
- total : 7 sq km land: 6.5 sq km water: 0 sq km
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
- Area - comparative
- about 11 times the size of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
- Maritime claims
- territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
- Terrain
- atoll of three low coral islands, Peale, Wake, and Wilkes, built up on an underwater volcano; central lagoon is former crater, islands are part of the rim
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
- Elevation
- highest point: unnamed location 8 m lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
- Land use
- agricultural land: 0% (2018 est.) other: 100% (2018 est.)
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
- Geography - note
- strategic location in the North Pacific Ocean
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
People and Society1 fields
- Population
- total: no permanent inhabitants note: personnel maintain and operate the airfield and weather station
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
Environment4 fields
- Environmental issues
- limited potable water; hazardous waste disposal
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
- Land use
- agricultural land: 0% (2018 est.) other: 100% (2018 est.)
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
- Carbon dioxide emissions
- 1.214 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.) from petroleum and other liquids: 1.214 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
Government6 fields
- Country name
- conventional long form: none conventional short form: Wake Island etymology: the name comes from one of two explorers who sighted the islands in the late 1700s; British Captain William WAKE visited in 1792, as did his relative, British Captain Samuel WAKE, in 1796, and sources disagree on which captain claimed the honor of naming the island
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
- Dependency status
- unincorporated, unorganized territory of the US; administered by the Department of the Interior; the 11th US Air Force currently conducts activities on the atoll, and it is managed from Pacific Air Force Support Center
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
Energy2 fields
Communications1 fields
- Broadcast media
- US Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) provides satellite radio/TV broadcasts (2018)
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
Transportation2 fields
- Ports
- total ports: 1 (2024) large: 0 medium: 0 small: 0 very small: 1 ports with oil terminals: 1 key ports: Wake Island
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
Military and Security1 fields
- Military - note
- defense is the responsibility of the US; the island serves as a trans-Pacific refueling stop for military aircraft and supports US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) testing activities; Wake is managed by the US Air Force (2025)
- CIA World Factbook historical record · as of · source
The underlying United States government material is public domain. The Almanac’s reuse terms do not change the legal status of this preserved source layer.