Kwajalein Atoll
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Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is also named Kwajalein, with about 1000 residents, mostly U.S. military personnel. 13,500 Marshall Islanders live on the rest of the atoll, mostly on Ebeye Island. The total land area of the atoll amounts to just over 16 square miles (41 km2).
Kwajalein is one of the world's largest coral atolls as measured by area of enclosed water. Comprising 97 islands and islets, it has a land area of 16.4 km² (6.33 mi²), and surrounds one of the largest lagoons in the world, with an area of 2174 km² (839 mi²). The average height above sea level for all the islands is about 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in).
Since 1944, when American forces captured the atoll from the Japanese in the Battle of Kwajalein, it has been used for military purposes by the U.S., while escaping the fates of the nearby atolls of Bikini, Rongelap and Enewetak as the atoll has never been a site for nuclear detonations or covered with any significant nuclear fallout from the tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy during the 1940s and 1950s. Eleven of the 97 islands are leased by the United States and are part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS), formerly known as Kwajalein Missile Range. RTS includes radar installations, optics, telemetry, and communications equipment which are used for ballistic missile and missile interceptor testing and space operations support. Kwajalein hosts one of three ground antennas (others are on Diego Garcia and Ascension Island) that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational system. More recently, the extensive infrastructure has attracted SpaceX, which built a commercial launch site on Omelek Island for its Falcon 1 and Falcon 5 rockets. The U.S. Army makes some of its technology available for commercial endeavors in exchange for range fees.
Kwajalein is one of the world's largest coral atolls as measured by area of enclosed water. Comprising 97 islands and islets, it has a land area of 16.4 km² (6.33 mi²), and surrounds one of the largest lagoons in the world, with an area of 2174 km² (839 mi²). The average height above sea level for all the islands is about 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in).
Since 1944, when American forces captured the atoll from the Japanese in the Battle of Kwajalein, it has been used for military purposes by the U.S., while escaping the fates of the nearby atolls of Bikini, Rongelap and Enewetak as the atoll has never been a site for nuclear detonations or covered with any significant nuclear fallout from the tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy during the 1940s and 1950s. Eleven of the 97 islands are leased by the United States and are part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS), formerly known as Kwajalein Missile Range. RTS includes radar installations, optics, telemetry, and communications equipment which are used for ballistic missile and missile interceptor testing and space operations support. Kwajalein hosts one of three ground antennas (others are on Diego Garcia and Ascension Island) that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational system. More recently, the extensive infrastructure has attracted SpaceX, which built a commercial launch site on Omelek Island for its Falcon 1 and Falcon 5 rockets. The U.S. Army makes some of its technology available for commercial endeavors in exchange for range fees.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwajalein_Atoll
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 9°3'39"N 167°18'1"E
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