Jarvis Island

Jarvis Island (formerly also known as Bunker Island ) is an uninhabited coral island located in the South  at, about one-half of the way from  to the. It is one of the, in the central part of the group. It is an unincorporated territory of the, administered from by the  of the  as part of the  system.

There are no ports or harbors, but there are offshore anchorage spots. There is one boat landing area in the middle of the west coast and another near the southwest corner of the. A is near the middle of the west coast.

The climate is tropical, with scant rainfall, constant wind, and strong sun. Varying from sea level to seven meters (23 feet), the terrain is sandy, and the island is surrounded by a narrow fringing. Its sparse, s, and low-growing shrubs are primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife.

The island has no natural.

For statistical purposes, Jarvis Island is grouped as one of the.

History
The island was discovered on, by the  ship Eliza Francis, (or Eliza Frances), owned by Edward, Thomas, and William Jarvis  and named by her commander, one Captain Brown. The uninhabited island was claimed for the United States under the in March 1857 and formally annexed by the U.S. on. The guano was to be sent back to the United States for use as fertilizer. For the next twenty one years Jarvis Island was mined continuously for guano. American business interests abandoned the island in after tons of  had been removed.

The annexed the island on , but never carried out plans for further exploitation. The guano deposits are not known to have been mined during this period.

U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt put the U.S. Department of the Interior in charge of the island on, a situation that lasted until.

It was colonized by the U.S.  –   under authority of the two consecutive Heads of the Baker, Howland and Jarvis Colonization Scheme (see ). A submarine surfaced off the west coast of the Island at the beginning of. Thinking it was a submarine that was coming to remove them, the remaining colonists rushed to the shore. The colonists were ; but no one was hurt. The colonists were evacuated in February 1942.

The Millersville settlement on the western side of the island was the location of several dwellings and a weather station from, the year it was colonised, until , when it was abandoned; it was reoccupied in during the  by scientists, and shortly had its only proper local authority, Station Chief for IGY  Homung (d. 1958) 1957 – Nov 1958, but was again abandoned in.

Since  Jarvis Island has been administered by the  as  the Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge (one of the ). Public entry to Jarvis Island requires a special-use permit and is generally restricted to scientists and educators only. The island is visited approximately annually by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the.