View source for Howland Island

{{Short description|US-controlled coral island in the central Pacific Ocean}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox islands
| name                          = Howland Island
| native_name                   = <!-- or |local_name= -->
| native_name_link              = 
| native_name_lang              = 
| sobriquet                     = 
| image_name                    = howland island nasa.jpg
| image_size                    = 300
| image_caption                 = Howland Island seen from space in December 2004
| image_alt                     = 
| map                           = Oceania
| map_caption                   = Location of Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean
| location                      = North Pacific Ocean
| coordinates                   = {{coord|0|48|25.84|N|176|36|59.48|W|type:isle_scale:30000_region:UM-84|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago                   = Phoenix Islands
| waterbody                     = 
| total_islands                 = 
| major_islands                 = 
| area_km2                      = 2.6
| area_footnotes                = <ref name="CIA-website">{{cite web |title=United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states-pacific-island-wildlife-refuges/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126065143/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states-pacific-island-wildlife-refuges/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |website=World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=25 June 2019}}</ref>
| area_note                     = 
| area_water_percent            = 
| area_rank                     = 
<!-- square miles -->
| area_total_km2                = 
| country_area_km2              = 
| rank                          = 
| length_km                     = 2.25
| length_footnotes              = 
| width_km                      = 0.89
| width_footnotes               = 
| coastline_km                  = 6.4
| coastline_footnotes           = 
| elevation_m                   = 3
| highest_mount                 = 
| country                       = United States
| country_admin_divisions_title = Status
| country_admin_divisions       = [[Territories of the United States#Minor Outlying Islands|Unincorporated, unorganized territory]] ([[United States Minor Outlying Islands]])
| demonym                       = 
| population                    = 0 (2000)
| elevation_footnotes           = 
| ethnic_groups                 = 
| timezone1                     = International Date Line West
| utc_offset1                   = −12:00
| timezone1_DST                 = 
| utc_offset1_DST               = 
| additional_info               = 
<!--
| established_title             = Claimed by U.S
| established_date              = August 28, 1867-->
| website                       = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| module                        = {{Infobox protected area
 | alt_name   = '''Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge'''
 | iucn_category = Ia
 | designated = 1974
 | child = yes
 | website = {{url|www.fws.gov/refuge/howland-island}}}}
}}

'''Howland Island''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|aʊ|l|ə|n|d}}) is a [[coral island]] and [[strict nature reserve]] located just north of the [[equator]] in the central Pacific Ocean, about {{convert|1700|nmi|km|lk=on}} southwest of [[Honolulu]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Howland Island |url=https://dlab.epfl.ch/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/h/Howland_Island.htm |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=dlab.epfl.ch}}</ref> The island lies almost halfway between [[Hawaii]] and Australia and is an [[Territories of the United States#Minor Outlying Islands|unincorporated, unorganized territory]] of the United States. 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]].<ref>{{cite gnis| id=1393033 |name=Howland Island|access-date= February 24, 2009}}</ref> The island has an elongated [[cucumber]]-shape on a north–south axis, {{convert|1.40 x 0.55|mi|km}}, and covers {{convert|1|mi2|acre km2|sp=us}}.<ref name="CIA-website" />

Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of the entire island and the surrounding {{convert|32074|acre|km2}} of submerged land. The island is managed by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]] as an [[insular area]] under the [[United States Department of the Interior|U.S. Department of the Interior]]. It is part of the [[Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument]].

The atoll currently has no [[Economy|economic activity]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=CIA - The World Factbook -- Howland Island |url=https://user.iiasa.ac.at/~marek/fbook/03/print/hq.html |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=user.iiasa.ac.at}}</ref> It is managed as a nature reserve. It is best known as the island [[Amelia Earhart]] and [[Fred Noonan]] were striving for but failed to reach when they and their airplane disappeared on {{nowrap|July 2, 1937}}, during their planned round-the-world flight. Airstrips constructed to accommodate their planned stopover were subsequently damaged in [[World War II]], not maintained, and gradually disappeared. There are no harbors or docks. The [[fringing reef]]s may pose a maritime hazard. There is a boat landing area along the middle of the sandy beach on the west coast and a crumbling [[day beacon]]. The island is visited every two years by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.<ref name="fws visiting">{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=12512 |title=Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge |access-date=2019-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602155151/https://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=12512 |archive-date=2015-06-02}}</ref> It was mined for [[guano]] in the 19th century, and in the 1930s it was colonized by the [[American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project]]. In modern times, it is a nature reserve, and there are some historical remains from the colony and a stone tower called Earhart Light.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Black |first=Annetta |title=Earhart Light |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/earhart-light-howland-island |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref>

==Flora and fauna==
The climate is equatorial, characterised by intense sunshine and low rainfall, with temperatures moderated by easterly trade winds. The terrain is low-lying and sandy, consisting of a coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing [[reef]] with a slightly raised central area. The highest point is approximately {{convert|20|ft}} above [[sea level]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge |publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/howland-island |access-date=19 January 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Howland Island |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |url=https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=138:3:::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:1663670,Howland%20Island |access-date=19 January 2026}}</ref>

There are no natural [[freshwater|fresh water]] resources.<ref name="CIA">{{Cite web |title=United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states-pacific-island-wildlife-refuges/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126065143/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states-pacific-island-wildlife-refuges/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |website=CIA: The World Factbook |date=October 18, 2024 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |issn=1553-8133}}</ref> The landscape features scattered grasses along with prostrate vines and low-growing [[pisonia]] trees and shrubs. A 1942 eyewitness description spoke of "a low grove of dead and decaying [[Cordia subcordata|kou trees]]" on a very shallow hill at the island's center. In 2000, a visitor accompanying a scientific expedition reported seeing "a flat bulldozed plain of coral sand, without a single tree" and some traces of buildings from colonization or World War II building efforts, all wood and stone ruins overgrown by vegetation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Payne |first=Roger |date=December 4, 2000 |title=At Howland Island |url=https://www.pbs.org/odyssey/odyssey/20001204_log_transcript.html |website=[[PBS]]}}</ref>

Howland is primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife. The island, with its surrounding marine waters, has been recognized as an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]] because it supports [[seabird]] [[bird colony|colonies]] of [[lesser frigatebird]]s, [[masked booby|masked boobies]], [[red-tailed tropicbird]]s and [[sooty tern]]s, as well as serving as a migratory stopover for [[bristle-thighed curlew]]s.<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/howland-island-iba-united-states-minor-outlying-islands-(to-usa)|title= Howland Island|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 23 January 2021}}</ref>

== Economics ==
[[File:Howland Island.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Map of Howland Island]]
[[File:Howland Island Locator1.png|thumb|[[Orthographic projection (cartography)|Orthographic projection]] centered over Howland Island]]
[[File:Map of Kiribati CIA WFB.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Map of the central Pacific Ocean showing Howland Island and nearby [[Baker Island]] just north of the [[Equator]] and east of [[Tarawa]]]]

The U.S. claims an [[Exclusive Economic Zone]] of {{convert|200|nmi|km}} and a [[Territorial waters|territorial sea]] of {{convert|12|nmi|km}} around the island.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Song |first=Yann-huei |date=2016-03-24 |title=Will Others Respect Precedent Set in the Philippines’ Case? |url=https://amti.csis.org/will-others-respect-precedent-set-philippines-case/ |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Baker and Howland Info |url=https://www.qsl.net/dl7cx/DXCCINFO/INFO/Baker%20Howland/baker%20howland.html |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=www.qsl.net}}</ref>

== Time zone ==
Since Howland Island is uninhabited, no time zone is specified. It lies within a [[Time zone#Nautical time zones|nautical time zone]], which is 12 hours behind [[UTC]], named International Date Line West ([[UTC−12:00|IDLW]]). Howland Island and [[Baker Island]] are the only places on Earth observing this time zone. This time zone is also called AoE, [[Anywhere on Earth]], a calendar designation indicating that a period expires when the date passes everywhere on Earth.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boyd |first=Milo |date=2024-01-03 |title=Desolate island sits 'outside time' near where Amelia Earhart disappeared |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/usa-canada/desolate-island-sits-outside-time-31790358 |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=Daily Mirror |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Howland sign.jpg|thumb|left|Howland Island sign, and in the background, the repaired Day Beacon tower]]
Howland Island was claimed by the United States in 1857 under the [[Guano Islands Act|1856 Guano Islands Act]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge {{!}} About Us {{!}} U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/howland-island |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=www.fws.gov |language=en}}</ref> and was mined for [[guano]] later that century. In the 1930s, economic activity on the island began with a few people, several buildings, a day beacon, and a cleared landing strip. This was the island Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were going to land on when they were not heard from again on their long flight. The day after Pearl Harbor, the island was bombed and attacked several more times, which damaged the day beacon and killed two people, finally leading to the island's evacuation. After the war, the day beacon was repaired, and the island became a nature reserve. It has been the subject of visits to honor or look for the lost aviator, Earhart.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chasing Amelia Earhart Tour |url=https://worldwidenavigators.com/trips/chasing-amelia-earhart-tour-following-the-trail-of-a-trailblazer/ |access-date=2025-09-27 |website=Worldwide Navigators |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Prehistoric settlement===
Sparse remnants of trails and other surface features indicate a possible early [[Polynesian culture|Polynesian]] presence, including excavations and mounds, stacked rocks, and a footpath made of long, flat stones. In the 1860s, [[James Duncan Hague]] noted discovering the remains of a hut, canoe fragments, a blue bead, and a human skeleton buried in the sand. However, the perishable nature of the wooden materials and the lack of beadwork in Polynesia suggests these materials are historical.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hague |first=James D. |url=http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/35160 |title=On the Phosphatic Guano Islands of the Pacific Ocean. |date=1862 |publisher=The American Journal of Science and Arts, Vol. XXXIV |pages=18–19 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.35160}}</ref> The presence of the kou tree (''[[Cordia subcordata]]'') and [[Polynesian rat]]s (''Rattus exulans'') on the island is also considered a possible indicator of early Polynesian visits to Howland.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rauzon|first1=M.J.|last2=Forsell|first2=D.J.|last3=Flint|first3=E.M.|last4=Gove|first4=J.M.|chapter=Howland, Baker and Jarvis Islands 25 Years After Cat Eradication: The Recovery of Seabirds in a Biogeographical Context|pages=345–349|editor-last1=Veitch|editor-first1=C.R.|editor-last2=Clout|editor-first2=M.N.|editor-last3=Towns|editor-first3=D.R.|title=Island Invasives: Eradication and Management: Proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives |date=2011 |publisher=IUCN |isbn=978-2-8317-1291-8 |location=Gland, Switzerland |citeseerx=10.1.1.692.5572 |oclc=770307954}}</ref>

However, the only modern archaeological survey of Howland, conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1987, found no evidence of prehistoric settlement or use of the island. Still, sub-surface testing was limited in scope due to time constraints. Additionally, the USACE survey failed to locate the architectural features described by Hague. However, they concede this may be due to the destruction of these features later during the construction of an airstrip.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shun |first=Kanalei |title=Archaeological Reconnaissance, Site Survey, and Limited Sub-Surface Testing of Baker and Howland Islands Final Report |publisher=US Army Corps of Engineers |year=1987 |location=Honolulu}}</ref> A later conservation plan by the US Fish and Wildlife Service suggests that Howland was likely used as a stopover or meeting point as opposed to being permanently occupied.<ref>{{Cite book |last=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |title=Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge: Comprehensive Conservation Plan |publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |year=2008 |location=Honolulu, HI}}</ref>

===Sightings by whalers===
Captain George B. Worth of the [[Nantucket]] whaler ''[[Oeno (ship)|Oeno]]'' sighted Howland around 1822 and called it '''Worth Island'''.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|p=210}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bryan|1942|pp=38–41}}</ref> Daniel MacKenzie of the American whaler ''Minerva Smith'' was unaware of Worth's sighting when he charted the island in 1828 and named it after his ship's owners<ref>{{harvnb|Maude|1968|p=130}}</ref> on {{nowrap|December 1, 1828}}. Howland Island was at last named on {{nowrap|September 9, 1842}} after a lookout who sighted it from the whaleship ''Isabella'' under Captain Geo. E. Netcher of [[New Bedford, Massachusetts|New Bedford]].{{citation needed|date = July 2025}}

[[Captain William Bligh]] of ''[[HMS Bounty]]'', in his diary after the [[Mutiny on the Bounty|mutiny]], described stopping at the island shortly after being set adrift by the mutineers in April 1789. He had 18 crew members who scoured the island for sustenance, such as oysters, water, and birds. Bligh was unsure of the island's name, but apparently, it was known to cartographers.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} &nbsp;Bligh's account on Howland Island is open to question since his route in the boat began between [[Tonga]] and [[Tofua]] and ran more or less west directly to [[Timor]].<ref>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8631607.stm| title = BBC News – Recreating Capt Bligh's famous Bounty mutiny sea voyage| date = April 20, 2010}}</ref>

===U.S. possession and guano mining===
Howland Island was uninhabited when the United States took possession of it under the [[Guano Islands Act]] of 1856. The island was a known navigation hazard for decades, and several ships were wrecked there. Its [[guano]] deposits were mined by American companies from about 1857 until October{{spaces}}1878, although there was a dispute between mining companies.

Captain Geo. E. Netcher of the ''Isabella'' informed Captain Taylor of its discovery. As Taylor had discovered another guano island in the Indian Ocean, they agreed to share the benefits of the guano on the two islands. Taylor put Netcher in communication with Alfred G. Benson, president of the American Guano Company, which was incorporated in 1857.<ref name="New York Times">{{Cite web |date=May 3, 1865 |title=The Guano Companies in Litigation – A Case of Interest to Stockholders |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1865/05/03/archives/the-guano-companies-in-litigationa-case-of-interest-to-stockholders.html |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Other entrepreneurs were approached as George and Matthew Howland, who later became United States Guano Company members, engaged Mr. Stetson to visit the island on the ship ''Rousseau'' under Captain Pope. Mr. Stetson arrived on the island in 1854 and described it as being occupied by birds and a plague of rats.<ref name="LH">{{Cite journal |last=Howland |first=Llewellyn |date=April 1955 |title=Howland Island, Its Birds and Rats, as Observed by a Certain Mr. Stetson in 1854 |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/0f382672-d122-4564-8ebe-a6892b01d2f0/content |journal=[[Pacific Science]] |volume=IX |pages=95–106}}</ref>

The American Guano Company established claims with respect to [[Baker Island]] and [[Jarvis Island]], which were recognized under the U.S. Guano Islands Act of 1856. Benson tried to interest the American Guano Company in the Howland Island deposits; however, the company directors considered they already had sufficient deposits. In October{{spaces}}1857, the American Guano Company sent Benson's son Arthur to Baker and Jarvis Islands to survey the guano deposits. He also visited Howland Island and took samples of the guano. Subsequently, Alfred G. Benson resigned from the American Guano Company. Netcher, Taylor, and George W. Benson formed the United States Guano Company to exploit the guano on Howland Island, with this claim recognized under the U.S. Guano Islands Act of 1856.<ref name="New York Times" />
[[File:PacificGuanoWorks WoodsHole bySSKilburn ca1865.png|thumb|[[Pacific Guano Company]]]]
However, when the United States Guano Company dispatched a vessel in 1859 to mine the guano, they found that Howland Island was already occupied by men sent there by the American Guano Company. The companies ended up in New York state court,{{refn|1=''American Guano Co. v. U.S. Guano Co.'', 44 <abbr title="Barbour's Supreme Court Reports">Barb</abbr>. 23 (N.Y. 1865).|group=Note}} with the American Guano Company arguing that the United States Guano Company had, in effect, abandoned the island since the continual possession and actual occupation required for ownership by the Guano Islands Act did not occur. The result was that both companies were allowed to mine the guano deposits, which were substantially depleted by October{{spaces}}1878.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-OGC-98-5 |title=GAO/OGC-98-5 - U.S. Insular Areas: Application of the U.S. Constitution |date=November 7, 1997 |publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]]}}</ref> Laborers for the mining operations came from around the Pacific, including from Hawai{{okina}}i; the Hawaiian laborers named Howland Island {{lang|haw|Ulukou}} ('kou tree grove').<ref>{{cite report|title=Early Cultural and Historical Seascape of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument: Archival and Literary Research Report|first1=Jesi|last1=Quan Bautista|first2=Savannah|last2=Smith|date=2018|number=SP-19-005|publisher=NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center|doi=10.25923/fb5w-jw23|page=3}}</ref> Established in 1861, the [[Pacific Guano Company]] purchased Howland Island to provide a source of guano for its fertilizer plant.<ref name="GoodeAtwater1880">{{cite book |last1=Goode |first1=G. Brown (George Brown) |last2=Atwater |first2=W. O. (Wilbur Olin) |title=American fisheries: a history of the menhaden |date=1880 |publisher=Orange Judd |location=New York |pages=487–90 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/americanfisherie00good/page/487 |access-date=9 November 2024 |language=en |chapter=A Description of the factory of the Pacific Guano Company, at Wood’s Holl, Mass., by Messrs. Crowell and Shiverick, of the Pacific Guano Company, and short-hand notes taken by Mr. H. A. Gill.}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> 

In the late 19th century, British claims were made on the island, and attempts were made to set up mining. [[John T. Arundel]] and Company, a British firm using laborers from the [[Cook Islands]] and [[Niue]], occupied the island from 1886 to 1891.<ref>{{harvnb|Bryan|1942}}</ref>

Executive Order 7368 was issued on {{nowrap|May 13, 1936}} to clarify American sovereignty.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://att.net/~higley.family/HullMemo.htm
 |title        = Memorandum of Secretary of State Cordell Hull to the President, February 18, 1936. ''Presidential Private File, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.''
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20100311031926/http://home.att.net/~higley.family/HullMemo.htm
 |archive-date = March 11, 2010
 |url-status   = dead
 |df           = mdy-all
}}</ref>

===Itascatown (1935–1942)===
{{Main|American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project}}
[[File:View of Camp on Howland Island - 80-CF-79868-7 (1937-01-23).jpg|thumb|View of the settlement on the island, 1937]]

In 1935, colonists from the [[American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project]] arrived on the island to establish a permanent U.S. presence in the Central Pacific. It began with a rotating group of four alumni and students from the [[Kamehameha Schools|Kamehameha School]] for Boys, a private school in [[Honolulu]]. Although the recruits had signed on as part of a scientific expedition and expected to spend their three-month assignment collecting botanical and biological samples, once out to sea, they were told, according to one of the Jarvis Island colonists, George West, "Your names will go down in history" and that the islands would become "famous air bases in a route that will connect Australia with California".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Horner |first=Dave |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lo2EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT47 |title=The Earhart Enigma: Retracing Amelia's Last Flight |date=2013 |publisher=The Pelican Publishing Co. |isbn=978-1-4556-1781-4 |location=Gretna, Louisiana |chapter=Clandestine Colonization: Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands |oclc=805655042}}</ref>
[[File:Government House on Howland Island (80-CF-79868-11).jpg|thumb|left|Government House, 1937]]
The settlement was named '''Itascatown''' after the USCGC [[USCGC Itasca (1929)|''Itasca'']] that brought the colonists to Howland and made regular cruises between the other equatorial islands during that era. Itascatown was a line of a half-dozen small wood-framed structures and tents near the beach on the island's western side. The fledgling colonists were given large stocks of canned food, water, and other supplies, including a gasoline-powered refrigerator, radio equipment, medical kits, and (characteristic of that era) vast quantities of cigarettes. Fishing provided variety in their diet. Most of the colonists' endeavors involved making hourly weather observations and constructing rudimentary infrastructure on the island, including clearing a landing strip for airplanes. During this period, the island was on Hawaii time, which was then 10.5{{spaces}}hours behind [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]].{{refn|Quote: Thursday, July 1, 1937... Howland Island was using the 10+30 hour time zone — the same as Hawaii standard time..."<ref>{{harvnb|Long|Long|1999|p=206}}</ref>|group=Note}} Similar colonization projects were started on nearby [[Baker Island]] and [[Jarvis Island]], as well as [[Canton Island]] and [[Enderbury Island|Enderbury]] in the [[Phoenix Islands]], which later became part of [[Kiribati]].<ref name="house.gov">{{cite web|url=http://docs.house.gov/meetings/II/II00/20160614/105081/HMKP-114-II00-20160614-SD003.pdf|title=H. Res. 169 (Rep. Mark Takai) Acknowledging and honoring brave young men from Hawaii who enabled the United States to establish and maintain jurisdiction in remote equatorial islands as prolonged conflict in the Pacific lead to World War II|website=Docs.house.gov|access-date=6 October 2017}}</ref> According to the [[1940 U.S. census]], Howland Island had a population of four people on April 1, 1940.<ref>{{cite United States census|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1940/population-volume-1/33973538v1ch11.pdf|title = Sixteenth Census of the United States: Population, Volume I, Number of Inhabitants, Hawaii (Table 4)|year=1940|location=Washington, D.C.|page=1211|access-date=October 29, 2021}}</ref>

===Kamakaiwi Field===
{{further|Amelia Earhart#World flight in 1937}}
[[File:Amelia Earhart flight route.svg|right|thumb|The planned flight route of Amelia Earhart across the Pacific]]
[[File:Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.jpg|thumb|Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan]]
Ground was cleared for a rudimentary aircraft landing area during the mid-1930s in anticipation that the island might eventually become a stopover for commercial trans-Pacific air routes and also to further U.S. territorial claims in the region against rival claims from Great Britain. Howland Island was designated as a scheduled refueling stop for American pilot [[Amelia Earhart]] and navigator [[Fred Noonan]] on their [[Amelia Earhart#World flight in 1937|round-the-world flight]] in 1937. [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA) funds were used by the [[United States government role in civil aviation|Bureau of Air Commerce]] to construct three graded, unpaved runways meant to accommodate Earhart's twin-engined [[Lockheed Model 10 Electra]].{{citation needed|date = July 2025}}

The facility was named ''Kamakaiwi Field'' after James Kamakaiwi, a young Hawaiian who arrived with the first group of four colonists. He was selected as the group's leader and spent more than three years on Howland, far longer than the average recruit. It has also been referred to as ''WPA Howland Airport'' (the WPA contributed about 20 percent of the $12,000 cost). {{citation needed|date = July 2025}}

Earhart and Noonan took off from [[Lae]], [[Territory of New Guinea|New Guinea]], and their radio transmissions were picked up near the island when their aircraft reached the vicinity, but they failed to arrive. It is known that they must have gotten within the radio range of Howland due to the strength of the final radio communications that morning, despite some problems with radio communication and radio direction finding. In some of the last messages recorded from them on 2 July 1937, 7:42&nbsp;am, Earhart reported, "We must be on you, but cannot see you – but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet."<ref name="sunline">{{cite journal |title=We are on the line 157 337 ... |journal=TIGHAR Tracks |volume=18 |issue=2 |date=March 2002 |url=https://tighar.org/Publications/TTracks/2002Vol_18/line.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170821002848/http://tighar.org/Publications/TTracks/2002Vol_18/line.pdf |archive-date = August 21, 2017 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>{{refn|At an altitude of 1,000 feet, the plane would be able to see about 38 miles in clear weather.<ref>[http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/hdist.htm Distance to Horizon Calculator]</ref>|group=Note}} At 8:43&nbsp;am, Earhart reported, "We are on the line 157 337. We will repeat this message. We will repeat this on 6210 kilocycles. Wait."<ref name="sunline" /> Between Earhart's low-on-fuel message at 7:42&nbsp;am and her last confirmed message at 8:43, her signal strength remained consistent, indicating that she never left the immediate Howland area as she ran low on fuel. The U.S. Coast Guard determined this by tracking her signal strength as she approached the island, noting signal levels from her reports of 200 and 100 miles out. These reports were roughly 30 minutes apart, providing vital ground-speed clues.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/305240 |title=U. S. Navy Report of the Search for Amelia Earhart, July 2–18, 1937. |last=Department of the Navy. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Intelligence Division. Office of Naval Records and Library. (1922 – 10/10/1945) |date=1937-07-31 |series=Series: World War II Action and Operational Reports, 1875 – 2006 |access-date=December 13, 2019 |archive-date=December 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208214050/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/305240 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

After the largest search and rescue attempt in history up to that time, the U.S. Navy concluded that the Electra had run out of fuel, and Earhart and Noonan ditched at sea and perished. Based on the strength of the transmission signals from Earhart, the Coast Guard concluded that the plane ran out of fuel north of Howland.<ref name=":3" /> Many later studies came to the same conclusion; however, an alternative hypothesis that Earhart and Noonan may have landed the plane on Gardner Island (now called [[Nikumaroro]]) and died as castaways has been considered.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-29 |title=What Happened to Amelia Earhart? – Disappearance, Found & New Evidence |url=https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/what-happened-to-amelia-earhart |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref>

===Japanese attacks during World War II===
A [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]ese air attack on {{nowrap|December 8, 1941}}, by 14 twin-engined [[Mitsubishi G3M]] "Nell" bombers of [[Chitose Air Group|Chitose Kōkūtai]], from Kwajalein islands, killed colonists Richard "Dicky" Kanani Whaley and Joseph Kealoha Keliʻihananui.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hirsh |first=Heidi |title=The Hui Panalāʻau Story of the Equatorial Pacific Islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis: 1935–1942 |url=https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1705/background/jarvis/welcome.html |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=NOAA Ocean Exploration |language=EN-US}}</ref> The raid came one day after the Japanese attack on [[Pearl Harbor]]. It damaged the three airstrips of Kamakaiwi Field. Two days later, shelling from a Japanese submarine destroyed what was left of the colony's buildings.<ref>{{harvnb|Butler|1997|p=419}}</ref> A single bomber returned twice during the following weeks and dropped more bombs on the rubble. The two survivors were finally evacuated by the {{USS|Helm|DD-388|6}}, a U.S. Navy destroyer, on {{nowrap|January 31, 1942}}. Thomas Bederman, one of the two survivors, later recounted his experience during the incident in a {{nowrap|March 9, 1942}} edition of ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ck4EAAAAMBAJ&q=thomas+bederman+howland+island&pg=PA54|title=LIFE |date=1942-03-09|publisher=Time Inc|language=en}}</ref> Howland was occupied by a [[battalion]] of the [[United States Marine Corps]] in September{{spaces}}1943 and was known as Howland Naval Air Station until May{{spaces}}1944.<ref>{{cite report |title=Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Report for the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, 2000–2017 |chapter=Chapter 7: Howland Island |publisher=NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center |year=2019 |type=PIFSC Special Publication SP-19-006g |last1=Brainard |first1=Russell E. |last2=Acoba |first2=Tomoko |last3=Asher |first3=Megan A.M. |last4=Asher |first4=Jacob M. |last5=Ayotte |first5=Paula M. |last6=Barkley |first6=Hannah C. |last7=DesRochers |first7=Annette |last8=Dove |first8=Dayton |last9=Halperin |first9=Ariel A. |last10=Huntington |first10=Brittany |last11=Kindinger |first11=Tye L. |last12=Lichowski |first12=Frances |last13=Lino |first13=Kevin C. |last14=McCoy |first14=Kaylyn S. |last15=Oliver |first15=Thomas |last16=Pomeroy |first16=Noah |last17=Suka |first17=Rhonda |last18=Timmers |first18=Molly |last19=Vargas-Ángel |first19=Bernardo |last20=Venegas |first20=Roberto M. |last21=Wegley Kelly |first21=Linda |last22=Williams |first22=Ivor D. |last23=Winston |first23=Morgan |last24=Young |first24=Charles W. |last25=Zamzow |first25=Jill |display-authors=3 |page=13 |doi=10.25923/7k72-t460}}</ref>

All attempts at habitation were abandoned after 1944. Colonization projects on the other four islands, also disrupted by the war, were abandoned.<ref>[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/US_minor.html "Howland Island."] ''worldstatesmen.org.'' Retrieved: October 10, 2010.</ref> No aircraft is known to have landed on the island, though anchorages nearby were used by float planes and flying boats during World War II. For example, on {{nowrap|July 10, 1944}}, a U.S. Navy [[Martin PBM Mariner|Martin PBM-3-D Mariner]] flying boat (BuNo 48199), piloted by William Hines, had an engine fire and made a forced landing in the ocean off Howland. Hines beached the aircraft, and though it burned, the crew were unharmed, rescued by the {{USCGC|Balsam|WLB-62|6}}, transferred to a subchaser, and taken to Canton Island.<ref>[http://www.vpnavy.com/vp16_mishap.html "Report 48199."] ''vpnavy.org.'' Retrieved: October 10, 2010.</ref>

==National Wildlife Refuge==
[[File:Anglefish and Hump Coral - Howland Island NWR.jpg|thumb|[[Emperor Angelfish]] and hump coral – Howland Island NWR.]]
On June 27, 1974, Secretary of the Interior [[Rogers Morton]] created Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge, which was expanded in 2009 to add submerged lands within {{convert|12|nmi|km}} of the island. The refuge now includes {{convert|648|acre|km2}} of land and {{convert|410351|acre|km2}} of water.<ref>White, Susan. [http://www.fws.gov/howlandisland "Welcome to Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge."] ''U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,'' August 26, 2011. &nbsp;Retrieved: March 20, 2012.</ref> Along with six other islands, the island was administered by the [[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]] as part of the Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex. In January{{spaces}}2009, that entity was upgraded to the [[Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument]] by President [[George W. Bush]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bush |first=George W. |date=January 6, 2009 |title=Establishment of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2009/01/20090106-6.html |website=[[White House]]}}</ref>

Multiple [[Invasive species|invasive exotic]] species have affected the island habitat. [[Black rats]] were introduced in 1854 and eradicated in 1938 by [[feral cats]] introduced the year before. The cats proved destructive to bird species and were eliminated by 1985. [[Digitaria|Pacific crabgrass]] continues to compete with local plants.<ref name="Wildlife">{{Cite web |title=Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/howland-island |website=[[U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]]}}</ref>

Public entry to the island is allowed with a special use permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and it is generally restricted to scientists and educators. Representatives from the agency visit the island on average once every two years, often coordinating transportation with amateur radio operators or the [[United States Coast Guard|U.S. Coast Guard]] to defray the high cost of logistical support.<ref name="fws visiting" />

==Earhart Light==
{{Infobox lighthouse | qid = Q20932641
| shape = cylindrical tower, no lantern<ref>{{Cite rowlett|umi|access-date=2016-11-07}}</ref>
| marking = white and black horizontal bands (originally)
}}

Colonists sent to the island in the mid-1930s to establish possession by the United States, built the Earhart Light {{nowrap|({{Coord|0|48|20.48|N|176|37|8.55|W|type:landmark_region:UM-84_source:gnis-1393033|name=Earhart Light}})}}, named after [[Amelia Earhart]], as a [[day beacon]] or navigational landmark. It is shaped like a short [[lighthouse]]. It was constructed of white sandstone with painted black bands and a black top meant to be visible several miles out to sea during daylight hours. It is located near the boat landing in the middle of the west coast, near Itascatown. The beacon was partially destroyed early in World War II by Japanese attacks but was rebuilt in the early 1960s by men from the U.S. Coast Guard ship ''[[USCGC Blackhaw (WLB-390)|Blackhaw]]''.<ref>[http://www.uscg.mil/d14/units/kukui/Howland%20Island.htm "Voyage to Howland Island of the USCGC ''Kukui''."] ''US Coast Guard.'' Retrieved: October 10, 2010.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 17, 1963 |title=Earhart Beacon Shines From Lonely Island |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19630817&id=wpYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DOMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6634,3172509 |work=[[Eugene Register-Guard]] |pages=3B |via=[[Google News]]}}</ref> By 2000, the beacon was reported to be crumbling, and it had not been repainted in decades.<ref>{{cite uscghist|PACIFIC}}</ref>

[[Ann Pellegreno]] overflew the island in 1967, and [[Linda Finch]] did so in 1997 during memorial circumnavigation flights to commemorate Earhart's 1937 world flight. No landings were attempted, but Pellegreno and Finch flew low enough to drop a wreath on the island.<ref>{{harvnb|Safford|Warren|Payne|2003|pp=76–77}}</ref>

==Image gallery==
<gallery class="center" widths="180px" >
File:Plane wreckage on Howland Island.jpg|Aircraft wreckage on Howland
File:Howland Itascatown.jpg|Itascatown settlement remains
File:Groundcover.jpg|Howland Island flora
File:Howland Flora.jpg|Howland Island flora ([[leeward]])
File:Howland Fauna.JPG|Young [[masked booby|masked boobies]]
File:Howland Boobies.JPG|Masked boobies
File:Howland birds.JPG|[[Ruddy turnstone]]s
File:Earhart Light.jpg|Earhart Light, 2008
</gallery>

==See also==
{{stack|{{Portal|Oceania|Engineering}}}}
*[[List of lighthouses in United States Minor Outlying Islands]]
* [[Howland and Baker islands]], includes coverage of the Howland-Baker EEZ
* [[History of the Pacific Islands]]
* [[List of Guano Island claims]]
* [[Phoenix Islands]]

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{Cite book |last=Bryan |first=Edwin Horace |title=American Polynesia and the Hawaiian Chain |date=1942 |publisher=Tongg Publishing Company |location=Honolulu |oclc=1036237}}
* {{Cite book |last=Butler |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Butler (American writer) |title=East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart |date=1997 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn=978-0-201-31144-0 |location=Reading, Mass}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Grover |first=David H. |date=2001 |title=Question 40/99: USN Involvement with Amelia Earhart |journal=[[Warship International]] |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=339–340 |issn=0043-0374 |jstor=44895655}}
* [http://kapalama.ksbe.edu/archives/historical/huipanalaau/end.php "Eyewitness account of the Japanese raids on Howland Island (includes a grainy photo of Itascatown)."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205002823/http://kapalama.ksbe.edu/archives/historical/huipanalaau/end.php |date=February 5, 2015 }} ''ksbe.edu.'' Retrieved: October 10, 2010.
* {{Cite book |last=Irwin |first=Geoffrey |url=https://archive.org/details/prehistoricexplo0000irwi |title=The Prehistoric Exploration and Colonisation of the Pacific |date=1992 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-40371-9 |location=Cambridge}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Long |first1=Elgen M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gc1-98NLfEYC |title=Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved |last2=Long |first2=Marie K. |date=1999 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0-684-86005-3 |location=New York, NY}}
* {{Cite book |last=Maude |first=Henry Evans |author-link=Henry Evans Maude |title=Of Islands and Men: Studies in Pacific History |date=1968 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Melbourne |oclc=41781}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Safford |first1=Laurance F. |url=https://archive.org/details/earhartsflightin0000saff |title=Earhart's Flight Into Yesterday: The Facts Without the Fiction |last2=Warren |first2=Cameron A. |last3=Payne |first3=Robert R. |date=2003 |publisher=[[Paladwr Press]] |isbn=978-1-888962-20-8 |location=McLean, Va |oclc=ocm54092449}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sharp |first=Andrew |url=https://archive.org/details/discoveryofpacif0000shar |title=The Discovery of the Pacific Islands |date=1960 |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |location=Oxford |oclc=958963822}}
* {{Cite book |last=Suárez |first=Thomas |title=Early Mapping of the Pacific: The Epic Story of Seafarers, Adventurers and Cartographers Who Mapped the Earth's Greatest Ocean |date=2004 |publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing|Periplus]] |isbn=978-0-7946-0092-1 |location=Singapore}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Howland Island}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
*[https://www.fws.gov/refuge/howland_island/ Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge] – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140226053606/http://www.janeresture.com/howland/ Geography, history and nature on Howland Island]
*{{cite uscghist|PACIFIC}}
*[https://www.pbs.org/odyssey/odyssey/20001204_log_transcript.html 'Voyage of the Odyssey' – pictures and travelogue]
*[http://www.infoplease.com/spot/desertisland9.html Howland Island at Infoplease]
*[https://world-history-blog.blogspot.com/2006/12/howland-island-small-island-big-history.html Howland Island – Small Island, Big History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070402124900/http://world-history-blog.blogspot.com/2006/12/howland-island-small-island-big-history.html |date=April 2, 2007 }}

{{United States political divisions}}
{{Territories of the United States}}
{{Protected areas of the United States Minor Outlying Islands}}
{{National Wildlife Refuges of the United States}}

{{Authority control | additional=Q20932641}}

[[Category:Howland Island| ]]
[[Category:Coral islands]]
[[Category:Uninhabited Pacific islands of the United States]]
[[Category:Amelia Earhart]]
[[Category:Works Progress Administration]]
[[Category:National Wildlife Refuges in the United States insular areas]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of United States Minor Outlying Islands]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Oceania]]
[[Category:Seabird colonies]]