This page has been validated.

Defense Forces


Branches: Army, Air Force, Navy, Civil Armed Forces, National Guard

Military manpower: males 15-49, 26,215,898; 16,080,545 fit for military service; 1,282,294 reach military age (17) annually

Defense expenditures: 5.6% of GNP, or $2.4 billion (1989 est.)


Palmyra Atoll (territory of the US)


See regional map X



Geography


Total area: 11.9 km²; land area: 11.9 km²

Comparative area: about 20 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 14.5 km

Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 12 nm
Continental shelf: 200 m
Extended economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: equatorial, hot, and very rainy

Terrain: low, with maximum elevations of about 2 meters

Natural resources: none

Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 100% forest and woodland; 0% other

Environment: about 50 islets covered with dense vegetation, coconut trees, and balsa-like trees up to 30 meters tall

Note: located 1,600 km south-southwest of Honolulu in the North Pacific Ocean, almost halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa


People


Population: uninhabited


Government


Long-form name: none

Type: unincorporated territory of the US; privately owned, but administered by the Office of Territorial and International Affairs, US Department of the Interior


Economy


Overview: no economic activity


Communications


Ports: none; offshore anchorage in West Lagoon

Airports: 1 with permanent-surface runway 1,220-2,439 m


Defense Forces


Note: defense is the responsibility of the US

243