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Rongerik
Rongerik Atoll or Rongdrik Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is an unpopulated coral atoll of 17 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and is located in the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands, approximately east of Bikini Atoll. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon of . In 1946, Rongerik was briefly inhabited by Bikini Islanders who, working with United States Navy moved here temporarily, when Bikini was used for conducting nuclear tests. However, the islanders could not get enough food to support the population, so after two years they had to relocate again, choosing Kili Island. Politically it was annexed by the German Empire in 1885, then seized by the Japanese in WW1, then the United States took it during WW2. After WW2, it was part of a United Nations trust territory, eventually it became part of the Marshall Islands, an island nation founded in 1986, but with a compact of association with the United States. History Rongerik Atoll was claimed by the German Empire along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese language, Marshallese: , , ), known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 19th century and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. The atoll is at the northern end of the Ralik Chain, approximately northwest of the capital Majuro. After the Second World War, the atoll was chosen by the United States as a nuclear weapon testing site. It would be the site of the fourth nuclear bomb detonation and would go on to be the site of many more tests. The people that lived on Bikini—all 167 of the atoll's inhabitants—agreed to relocate after being informed of the plan to test then-new nuclear weapons, of great importance to humankind, though it is sometimes considered a forced relocation. In 1946 they moved to Rongerik, a small island east of Bikini Atoll, but it turned out to have inadequate resources to support the population. The islanders began experiencing starvation by early 1948, and they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castle Bravo
Castle Bravo was the first in a series of high-yield thermonuclear weapon design tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, as part of ''Operation Castle''. Detonated on 1 March 1954, the device remains the most powerful nuclear weapon, nuclear device ever detonated by the United States and the first lithium deuteride-fueled thermonuclear weapon tested using the Teller–Ulam design. Castle Bravo's Nuclear weapon yield, yield was , 2.5 times the predicted , due to unforeseen additional reactions involving Isotopes of lithium, lithium-7, which led to radioactive contamination in the surrounding area. Radioactive nuclear fallout, the heaviest of which was in the form of pulverized surface coral from the detonation, fell on residents of Rongelap Atoll, Rongelap and Utirik Atoll, Utirik atolls, while the more particulate and gaseous fallout spread around the world. The inhabitants of the islands were evacuated three days later and suffered radiation sickn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity on July 16, 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships. The Crossroads tests were the first of many nuclear tests held in the Marshall Islands and the first to be publicly announced beforehand and observed by an invited audience, including a large press corps. They were conducted by Joint Army/Navy Task Force One, headed by Vice Admiral William H. P. Blandy rather than by the Manhattan Project, which had developed nuclear weapons during World War II. A fleet of 95 target ships was assembled in Bikini Lagoon and hit with two detonations of Fat Man plutonium implosion-type nuclear weapons of the kind dropped on Nagasaki in 1945, each with a yield of . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshallese Language
Marshallese ( or ), also known as Ebon, is a Micronesian language spoken in the Marshall Islands. The language of the Marshallese people, it is spoken by nearly all of the country's population of 59,000, making it the principal language. There are also roughly 27,000 Marshallese citizens residing in the United States, nearly all of whom speak Marshallese, as well as residents in other countries such as Nauru and Kiribati. There are two major dialects, the western Ralik Chain, Rālik and the eastern Ratak Chain, Ratak. Classification Marshallese, a Micronesian languages, Micronesian language, is a member of the Eastern Oceanic languages, Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian languages. The closest linguistic relatives of Marshallese are the other Micronesian languages, including Gilbertese language, Gilbertese, Nauruan language, Nauruan, Pohnpeian language, Pohnpeian, Mokilese language, Mokilese, Chuukese language, Chuukese, Carolinian people, Refaluwasch, and Kosraean language ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German–Spanish Treaty (1899)
The German–Spanish Treaty of 1899, (; ) signed by the German Empire and the Kingdom of Spain, involved Spain selling the majority of its Pacific possessions not lost in the Spanish–American War to Germany for 25 million pesetas (equivalent to 17 million Marks) History During the 19th century, the Spanish Empire lost most of its colonies to independence movements. Then came the Spanish–American War in 1898, in which Spain lost most of its remaining colonies. Cuba became independent while the United States took possession of Puerto Rico along with the Philippines and Guam from Spain's Pacific Ocean colonies, the Spanish East Indies. This left Spain with only its African possessions of Spanish Sahara, Ifni, and Spanish Guinea, and with about 6,000 tiny, sparsely populated, and not very productive Pacific islands. The latter were both ungovernable, after the loss of the administrative center of Manila, and indefensible, after the destruction of two Spanish fleets in the Span ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 coral atolls and five main islands as well as 1,220 other very small ones, divided across two Archipelago, island chains: Ratak in the east and Ralik in the west. 97.87% of its territory is water, the largest proportion of water to land of any sovereign state. The country shares Maritime boundary, maritime boundaries with Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the southeast, Nauru to the south, and the Federated States of Micronesia to the west. The capital city, capital and largest city is Majuro, home to approximately half of the country's population. The Marshall Islands are one of only four atoll based nations in the entire world. Austronesian settlers reached the Marshall Islands as early as the 2nd millennium BC and introduced Southeas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utirik Atoll
Utirik Atoll or Utrik Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 10 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area of . It is located approximately east of Ujae Atoll. The population of Utirik Atoll was 264 at the 2021 census. It is one of the northernmost Marshall Islands with permanent habitation. The larger islets are: * Utirik () * Aon () * Bikrak () * Pike () * Āllok () * Nalap () History Historical artifacts have been unearthed on the Atoll which date back to ca. 380 C.E., including tools likely used by early Micronesian peoples. Its first recorded sighting was by the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra on board the ship ''Florida'' on 29 December 1527. Together with Rongelap, Ailinginae and Toke atolls, they were charted as ''Islas de los Reyes'' (Islands of the Three Wise Kings in Spanish) due to the proximity of Epiphany. Utirik A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naval Base Marshall Islands
Naval Base Marshall Islands were United States Navy advance bases built on the Marshall Islands during World War II to support the Pacific War efforts. The bases were built by US Navy after the Marshall Islands campaign that captured the islands from the Empire of Japan. By February 1944 the United States Armed Forces had captured the islands. Most of the airfields and other facilities Japan had built were destroyed in Allied leaders of World War II, allied bombing raids and naval bombardment. US Navy Seabee Construction Battalions arrived as soon as the area was secured and remove the debris. The Seabees quickly repaired, built and improved the airfield/runways and seaport. Seabees often worked around the clock to get airfields operational so that fighter aircraft and bombers could start operating. The bases were used for staging upcoming campaigns and for repair. History At the start of World War I, Japan took control of the Marshall Islands from the German Empire. Japan built ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rongelap Atoll
Rongelap Atoll ( ; , ) is an uninhabited coral atoll of 61 islands (or motus) in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is . It encloses a lagoon with an area of . It is historically notable for its close proximity to US hydrogen bomb tests in 1954, and was particularly devastated by fallout from the Castle Bravo test. The population asked the US (several times) to move them from Rongelap following the test due to high radiation levels, but with no success; so they asked global environmental group Greenpeace to help. The Rainbow Warrior made three trips moving the islanders, their possessions and over 100 tons of building materials to the island of Mejato in the Kwajalein Atoll, 180 kilometers away. History The Marshall Islands, of which Rongelap Atoll is a part, were first settled by Micronesians. The first sighting recorded by Europeans was by Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra on 1 Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mapia Atoll
Mapia Atoll (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Mapia''), historically known as the Freewill Islands or San David, is an atoll in the Pacific Ocean. It is located in Papua (province), Papua province of Indonesia, approximately 190 kilometers north of the city of Manokwari and 630 kilometers from the islands of Palau. It consists of two main islands, Bras Island, Bras (Berasi) and Pegun Island, Pegun (Mapia), the smaller Fanildo Island, Fanildo, and two minor islands, Bras Kecil (Little Bras) and Fanildo Kecil (Little Fanildo). The islands constitute a part of West Supiori District within Supiori Regency, Papua. The population at the 2020 Census was 199. The atoll was once part of the Spanish Empire under the name of ''Güedes''. According to Spanish researcher Emilio Pastor in a paper submitted to his government in 1948, a number of small islands in Micronesia (Kapingamarangi or ''Coroa'', Mapia or ''Güedes'', Kiritimati, Ocea (now Kiritimati) or ''Matador'', and R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Castle
Operation Castle was a United States series of high-yield (high-energy) nuclear tests by Joint Task Force 7 (JTF-7) at Bikini Atoll beginning in March 1954. It followed ''Operation Upshot–Knothole'' and preceded '' Operation Teapot''. Conducted as a joint venture between the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Department of Defense (DoD), the ultimate objective of the operation was to test designs for an aircraft-deliverable thermonuclear weapon. All the devices tested, which ranged in weight from , were built to be dropped from aircraft. However, ballistic casings, fins and fusing systems would have to be attached. Operation Castle was considered by government officials to be a success as it proved the feasibility of deployable "dry" fuel designs for thermonuclear weapons. There were technical difficulties with some of the tests: one device had a yield much lower than predicted (a " fizzle"), while two other bombs detonated with over twice their predicted yields. One ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kili Island
Kili Island or Kili Atoll (Marshallese language, Marshallese: , ) is a small, () island located in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, 415 people lived on the island, many of whom were descended from islanders who originally lived on Bikini Atoll. They were relocated when they agreed to let the U.S. government temporarily use Bikini for nuclear testing in 1945, which they were told was of great importance to humankind, though it is sometimes considered a forced relocation. Kili Island became their home after two prior relocations failed. The island does not have a natural lagoon and cannot produce enough food to enable the islanders to be self-sufficient. It is part of the legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. The island is approximately southwest of Jaluit Atoll, Jaluit. It is a good sized island for the Marshall Islands, but it is not an atoll with a lagoon. History Captain Thomas Dennet of the British vessel ''Britannia'' sighted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
