Howland is an island in the central Pacific Ocean, an unincorporated unorganized territory of the United States (i.e., not formally part of the United States, but is its possession).
It was discovered in the early 19th century. Since 1857 officially belongs to the USA.
The island has an elongated shape and is surrounded by a coral reef. Its width – no more than 800 meters, length – 2.5 kilometers. Length of the coastline – 6.4 kilometers. The highest height – 3 meters. On the island is the lighthouse Earhart.
Sometimes included in the Phoenix Islands, along with Baker Island, lying 70 kilometers to the south.
The total area is 1.62 km².
Climate
The climate on Howland Island is typical equatorial. Throughout the year, it is quite windy. Winds often bring storms to the coast of the island, which are accompanied by brief but heavy rains. The air temperature throughout the year is constant without significant variations. The average temperature is around 30 degrees and the relative humidity is over 90%. Tropical cyclones sometimes strike the island, but are rarely severe.
Population
At present, Howland Island is uninhabited, and the village on it, named Itascatown, has been completely destroyed, as have the airfield airstrips. Of the man-made structures on the island, only the Earhart Lighthouse, which now remains in a dilapidated state.
Nature
Flora on Howland Island is quite poor and consists mostly of herbaceous plants, dominated by pisonia (Pisonia siphonocarpa) and wild creeping grapes. Previously, the island was home to a few stunted trees, but naturalists who visited the island in 2000 testified that there are no more woody plants on the island.
The animal world also does not grace the island with a variety of species and is represented only by birds. Man-introduced mammals black rats and cats, which went feral, were exterminated around 1965.
Nesting waders, stoneflies, petrels, and sandpipers, which are especially abundant here during reproductive periods, are found on the island.
The island’s coastal waters and coral reef are home to many tropical fish and green turtles, which come ashore to lay their eggs.
Howland Island lies halfway between Hawaii and Australia, about fifty miles north of the equator. Like most small Pacific islands, it was used by the United States for guano. There was also an attempt at colonization, interrupted by World War II, when Howland was attacked by Japanese terrorists. This happened the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. All attempts at colonization ceased immediately after the war. Howland is now a nature preserve, known primarily for the fact that it was supposed to be a stopover during Emilia Earhart’s round-the-world flight. Her plane disappeared somewhere near the island, and the details of her disappearance are still undisclosed.