Asuncion (from
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
meaning "ascension" in reference to the Spanish explorers belief in the "Asuncion" of the Holy Virgin Mary) is the third northernmost island in the
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
chain in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
. The island is uninhabited. Asuncion is situated northwest of
Agrihan
Agrihan (also spelled Agrigan) is an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The island is currently uninhabited. Agrihan is located to the north of Pagan.
History
The first European to discover the island was Gonzalo GÃ ...
and southeast of the
Maug Islands
Maug (from the Chamorro name for the islands, Ma'ok, meaning "steadfast" or "everlasting") consists of a group of three small uninhabited islands. This island group is part of the Northern Islands Municipality of the Commonwealth of the Northern ...
.
History
From a European perspective Asuncion was discovered in 1669 by the Spanish missionary
Diego Luis de San Vitores who gave it its present name (
Assumption of Mary
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows:
We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...
in Spanish). It is likely that it was previously visited in 1522 by the Spanish sailor
Gonzalo de Vigo, deserter from the
Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...
expedition in 1521, and also the first European castaway in the history of the Pacific.
[Coello, Francisco "Conflicto hispano-alemán" ''BoletÃn de Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid'', t.XIX. 2º semestre 1885, Madrid, p.233,301.] In 1695, the native
Chamorros
The Chamorro people (; also CHamoru) are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, signif ...
were forcibly removed to
Saipan, and three years later to
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
.
Asuncion was ceded by Spain to Germany through the
German–Spanish Treaty (1899), toghether with the rest of the
Mariana Islands (except
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
). The formalities of cession were carried on November 17, 1899, in
Saipan, for all the
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
.
Following the sale of the Northern Marianas by Spain to the
German Empire in 1899, Asuncion was administered as part of
German New Guinea
German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...
. In 1903, the island was leased to a Japanese company, who hunted birds for feathers for export to
Japan, and from there to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. Six Japanese hunters died on the island in 1910 from illness.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Asuncion came under the control of the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...
and was subsequently administered as the
South Seas Mandate. Following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the island came under the control of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and was administered as part of the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994.
History
Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...
. Since 1978, the island has been part of the
Northern Islands Municipality
Northern Islands Municipality is one of the four main political divisions of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It consists of a long string of the northernmost islands of the Northern Marianas, including (from north to south) Far ...
of the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonwea ...
.
In 1985, per the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the island was designated as a wilderness area for the protection and conservation of natural resources. Since 2009, the island has been part of
Marianas Trench Marine National Monument
The Marianas Trench Marine National Monument is a United States National Monument created by President George W. Bush by the presidential proclamation no. 8335[United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...]
.
Geography
![Asuncion ISS014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Asuncion_ISS014.jpg)
Asuncion is a densely forested island, roughly elliptical in shape, with a length of and a width of and an area of . The entire island is a massive
stratovolcano which rises from the ocean floor to a height of above sea level,
which last erupted in 1906.
The volcano is asymmetrical, with steep northeast slopes terminating in high cliffs. The southwestern slopes are shallower and meet the sea in low cliffs. Coastlines are generally rocky.
Vegetation includes Swordgrass ''(
Miscanthus floridulus)'' grasslands on the upper slopes, forests of Coconut Palm ''(
Cocos nucifera
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...
),'' with some ''
Pandanus '' trees and Papaya ''(
Carica papaya
The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and C ...
)'' on the lower slopes, along with native ''
Pisonia
''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees o ...
''.
Important Bird Area
The island has been recognized as an
Important Bird Area (IBA) by
BirdLife International because it supports populations of
Micronesian megapode
The Micronesian megapode or Micronesian scrubfowl (''Megapodius laperouse'') is an endangered megapode which inhabits islands of the Western Pacific Ocean.
Description
The Micronesian megapode is a stocky medium-sized bird that is mostly dark b ...
s,
white-throated ground dove
The white-throated ground dove (''Pampusana xanthonura'') is a species of ground dove in the genus ''Gallicolumba''. It is classified as near-threatened.
This species was formerly in the genus ''Alopecoenas'' Sharpe, 1899, but the name of the ...
s,
Micronesian myzomela
The Micronesian myzomela (''Myzomela rubratra'') is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The species forms a superspecies with a number of related and similar looking island and mainland myzomelas across the Pacific and Austra ...
s and
Micronesian starling
The Micronesian starling (''Aplonis opaca'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tro ...
s.
[ ]
See also
*
List of stratovolcanoes
A list of stratovolcanoes follows below.
Africa
Cameroon
* Mount Cameroon
Democratic Republic of Congo
* Mount Nyiragongo, Goma; designated as a Decade Volcano
** It contains an active lava lake inside its crater which overflowed due t ...
References
External links
*
UN earthwatch info on island*
{{Northern Mariana Islands
Former German colonies
Uninhabited islands of the Northern Mariana Islands
Stratovolcanoes of the United States
Volcanoes of the Northern Mariana Islands
Agrihan
Agrihan (also spelled Agrigan) is an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The island is currently uninhabited. Agrihan is located to the north of Pagan.
History
The first European to discover the island was Gonzalo GÃ ...
Active volcanoes
Important Bird Areas of the Northern Mariana Islands
Holocene stratovolcanoes