Is Wake Island independent?

Wake Island is an unorganized, unincorporated territory (possession) of the United States, part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior (Aaron 2008b and Aaron 2008: 1-1 ).



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The island is an unorganized unincorporated territory belonging to the United States. It was claimed by the United States in 1899 until it was lost to Japan in the Battle of Wake Island in the December 1941, but returned after WW2. Wake island was the site of prisoner of war massacre during WW2.

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Access to Wake Atoll is strictly regulated, and an unauthorized visit without proper permission is firmly prohibited. One may contact the atoll's administration directly by telephone at (808) 424-2222 or (808) 424-2101. Although located in Wake, these two numbers are in the Pearl Harbor (Honolulu, Hawaii) exchange.

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The U.S. Navy began reducing its facilities on the islands in 1978, and all remaining military operations were shut down in 1993. In 1996 the islands were proclaimed Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge; formal transfer of jurisdiction took place in 1997.

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How deep is the water? The depth of the cable wakeboarding lake is anywhere from 5-7 feet. The depth of the AQUA PARK lake ranges from 6-12 feet.

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The atoll is home to multiple species of land crabs, with Coenobita perlatus being especially abundant. The atoll, with its surrounding marine waters, has been recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for its sooty tern colony, with some 200,000 individual birds estimated in 1999.

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After the war, Wake Island once again retreated into solitude and isolation. It was used as a fueling stop by American forces during the Vietnam War, and in 2006, it was hit by a fierce typhoon that caused major damage to the surviving infrastructure on the island.

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Today, roughly 40 refuge staff members, contractors and volunteers live there at any given time.

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Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are two Caribbean countries that do not require a passport for American citizens when traveling by air or sea. Essentially, these countries are regarded as domestic travel within the United States.

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