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Canton Island (also known as Kanton or Abariringa), previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and , the sole inhabited island of the
Phoenix Islands The Phoenix Islands, or Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. They are part of the Republic of Kirib ...
, in the Republic of
Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...
. It is an
atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gro ...
located in the South Pacific Ocean roughly halfway between
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is ...
and
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
. The island is a narrow ribbon of land around a lagoon; an area of . Canton's closest neighbour is the uninhabited
Enderbury Island Enderbury Island, also known as Ederbury Island or Guano Island, is a small, uninhabited atoll 63 km ESE of Kanton Island in the Pacific Ocean at . It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) wide and 3 miles (4.8 km) long, with a reef stretchi ...
, west-southwest. The capital of Kiribati,
South Tarawa South Tarawa ( gil, Tarawa Teinainano) is the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati and home to more than half of Kiribati's population. The South Tarawa population centre consists of all the small islets from Betio in the west to Bonri ...
, lies to the west. , the population was 20, down from 61 in 2000. The island's sole village is called Tebaronga. Kiribati declared the
Phoenix Islands Protected Area The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is located in the Republic of Kiribati, an ocean nation in the central Pacific approximately midway between Australia and Hawaii. PIPA constitutes 11.34% of Kiribati's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and ...
in 2006, with the park being expanded in 2008. The marine reserve contains eight coral atolls, including Canton. Because it is inhabited, management of Canton Island is described in the Canton Resource Use Sustainability Plan (KRUSP), which covers a radius around the atoll. Over 50% of the island and lagoon are protected in a conservation zone.


Discovery and toponymy of Canton Island

On 5 August 1824, the whaler ''Phœnix'' of London (master John Palmer) in the company of whaler ''Mary'' of London, came to a low and barren island with a spacious lagoon, in latitude 2° 48ʹ S and longitude 172° 10ʹ W, and it was named "''Mary Ballcotts Island".'' H.E. Maude and Niel Gunson both assumed this to be the whaler ''Mary,'' owned by John Lydekker (1778–1832), and that her captain Edward Reed Lacy had reported the island. The entry for 5 August 1824 of that ''Mary's'' logbook, however, mentions no discovery, nor a ship ''Phœnix''. The ship ''Mary'' truly there that day (her master presumably Abijah Lock) was another whaler from London, owned by ''Hill, Boulcott & Hill'', a firm consisting of the two brothers James & Amon Hill and their brother-in-law John Ellerker Boulcott. The latter was married to a Mary Boulcott, née Hill, and it was she for whom this island was named. Ever since it was incorrectly penned down as "Mary Ballcotts Island" in William Dalton's journal, it has appeared with deviated spelling in books and on charts as Mary-Bulrock, Mary Balcout, Marie Ballcout, etc. Modern Canton derives its name from the New Bedford whaler ''Canton'', which was wrecked on its outer shore in early March 1854. Captain Andrew Johnson Wing (1820–1897) and his full crew managed to save not only themselves but also four small whaleboats and scanty provisions. In late March, the 31 men tried their luck by putting to sea in the four open boats and made their way northwest for 49 days straight when finally they reached safety in
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 ...
, 2,900 nautical miles from where they had started. Kanton is spelled with a K in the
Gilbertese language Gilbertese or taetae ni Kiribati, also Kiribati (sometimes ''Kiribatese''), is an Austronesian language spoken mainly in Kiribati. It belongs to the Micronesian branch of the Oceanic languages. The word ''Kiribati'', the current name of the i ...
, which has no letter C. The two versions of the name exist in the Constitution of 1979.


Geography, flora and fauna


Canton's flora and fauna

Canton has been described as being shaped like a large pork chop. From its northwest to southeast points is a distance of , while the land rim varies in width from and in elevation. The southeast corner of the island is known as "Pyramid Point." The sole entrances to the lagoon are on the west side, with the main channel exhibiting currents of . The lagoon itself is filled with marine life, holding 153 different species of fish, including
tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...
,
shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimor ...
s,
stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...
s and
eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s. An unpaved road runs around the island, though its current state of repair is uncertain.
Canton Island Airport Canton Island Airport is an airport located on Canton Island, a sparsely populated island in the Phoenix Islands of the Republic of Kiribati. It has a single asphalt runway measuring in length. Once a major stop on commercial trans-Pacific airl ...
(
IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
: CIS,
ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
: PCIS) lies at the northwest corner of the island, but it currently lacks any commercial scheduled service. The World Port Index number of Canton Island is 56025. Much of Canton's land surface is bare coral, sparsely covered with
herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...
and low
bunch grass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...
; trees and bushes are found near the village site. According to Edwin H. Bryan's ''American Polynesia and the Hawaiian Chain'', Canton possessed in 1941 a total of twelve native species of vegetation, including low herbs and bunch grass, a thick stand of '' Scaevola'' shrubs on the island's south side ( high), some '' Suriana maritima'' shrubs near the lagoon entrance, heliotrope (''
Heliotropium foertherianum ''Heliotropium arboreum'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It is native to tropical Asia including southern China, Madagascar, northern Australia, and most of the atolls and high islands of Micronesia and Polyn ...
'') and kou ('' Cordia subcordata'') trees, and
coconut 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 ...
palms. Geoffrey Buddle of the New Zealand solar eclipse expedition of 1937 reported 23 bird species on Canton, together with
Polynesian rat The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), known to the Māori as ''kiore'', is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. The Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asia, an ...
s,
lizard Lizards are a widespread group of Squamata, squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbae ...
s,
hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an a ...
s and
turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
s. Two species of spiders were found on the island. There is no fresh water on Canton, which is a problem for settlers. Rainwater is caught in cisterns; Pan American had a large
distillation Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heating ...
plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
on the island when it operated there during the 1940s and 50s. Rainfall is sparse, averaging between 1938 and 1953, though later reports suggest a wetter climate in recent years.


Canton's reefs

The 2000 surveys (Obura, et al.) identified that at the entrance to the lagoon very strong tidal flows pass through with extensive coral gardens extending for a radius of approximately from the channel. At about inside of the channel, the lagoon is crossed by four north–south reef ledges, which reduce water flow and suppress coral growth. The coral gardens zone contains '' Acropora'' tables and '' Acroporidae'' (staghorn corals), growing over a sandy bottom. Coral communities were more highly developed on the Kanton reefs than on other islands in the Phoenix Group. The high end LCC for some sites was greater than 50% and approaching 100% on some small patch reefs. The average conditions with 30-40% LCC, with a relatively high abundance of coral rubble, sand, with turf and fleshy algae. Coralline algae and ''Halimeda'' were less abundant than at Nikumaroro or McKean. The most abundant coral species at Kanton included: '' Acroporidae'' (staghorn corals), '' Acropora cytherea'', ''
Montipora ''Montipora'' is a genus of Scleractinian corals in the phylum Cnidaria. Members of the genus ''Montipora'' may exhibit many different growth morphologies. With eighty five known species, ''Montipora'' is the second most species rich coral genus ...
efflorescens'', '' Goniastrea stelligera'', ''
Echinopora ''Echinopora'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Species The following species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A sp ...
lamellosa'', ''
Leptastrea ''Leptastrea'' is a genus of massive reef building stony corals known primarily from the Indo-Pacific. Although previously assigned to Faviidae Mussidae is a family of stony coral in the order Scleractinia. Following a taxonomic revision i ...
purpurea'', ''
Pocillopora verrucosa ''Pocillopora verrucosa'', commonly known as cauliflower coral, rasp coral, or knob-horned coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It is native to tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Descrip ...
'', '' Millepora platyphylla'', '' Pavona explanulata'' and ''Pavona varians''.


History


British claims

The
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
laid claim to Canton Island during the 1850s. The official British claim was formally reasserted on 6 August 1936, and an
order in council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' K ...
issued in March 1937 including Canton and other
Phoenix Islands The Phoenix Islands, or Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. They are part of the Republic of Kirib ...
in the
Gilbert and Ellice Islands The Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony w ...
Colony, with the British making several visits to the island culminating in the placement of two radio operators on Canton on 31 August 1937.


Americans arrive

On 8 June 1937, Canton was the site of a total
solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...
and the island was occupied briefly by American and New Zealand scientists, members of an expedition organized by the
National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...
, and led by the
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either obse ...
Samuel Alfred Mitchell Samuel Alfred Mitchell (April 29, 1874 – February 22, 1960) was a Canadian-American astronomer who studied solar eclipses and set up a program to use photographic techniques to determine the distance to stars at McCormick Observatory, where ...
. During this time, the American party claimed the island for the United States, erecting a small monument with two American flags. According to one account, the British warship HMS ''Wellington'' fired a shot across the bow of the USS ''Avocet'', when the latter refused to cede the choicest anchorage spot to the British vessel. The American ship allegedly responded in kind, following which both captains agreed to "cease fire" until instructions could be received from their respective governments. Washington and
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
quickly ordered no further escalation, and both parties observed the solar eclipse together, "though officially a bit cool." In response to the British reoccupation of Canton in August 1937, seven Americans from the
American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project The American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project was a plan initiated in 1935 by the U.S. Department of Commerce to place citizens of the United States on uninhabited Howland, Baker and Jarvis islands in the central Pacific Ocean so that wea ...
landed on the island on 7 March 1938. Although the British ambassador to the United States requested removal of markers claiming U.S. sovereignty, President
Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
had formally placed the island under control of the U.S. Interior department on 3 March 1938. Both parties continued to press their competing claims until 6 April 1939, when the U.S. and Britain agreed to hold Canton under joint control for the next fifty years as the
Canton and Enderbury Islands The Canton and Enderbury Islands consist of the coral atolls of Canton Island (also Kanton) and Enderbury in the northeastern part of the Phoenix Islands, about 1,850 miles (3,000 km) south of Hawaii in the central Pacific Ocean. History Th ...
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
. The U.S./U.K. tenure proved cordial and cooperative thereafter, with each party enjoying the other's hospitality and working together to ensure smooth operation of island facilities. A United States office was open between 1940 and 1965 and from 1970. Canton Island Post Office opened on 25 January 1941 and closed around February 1968.


Airplane oasis

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...
(Pan Am) arrived on Canton on 18 May 1939, to build facilities for their planned New Zealand flying boat service. Service commenced on 12 July 1940 with the Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat aircraft. On 4 December 1941, the Pacific Clipper departed Kanton for
New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
as the final civilian flight before the United States joined the war.


World War II

During World War II the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
built a
airstrip An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
at (now known as
Canton Island Airport Canton Island Airport is an airport located on Canton Island, a sparsely populated island in the Phoenix Islands of the Republic of Kiribati. It has a single asphalt runway measuring in length. Once a major stop on commercial trans-Pacific airl ...
(
IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
: CIS,
ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
: PCIS)). Kanton became a stopover point for the Navy Air Transport Service flights to Australia and New Zealand as well as a staging point for attacks on the
Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...
, then held by Japan. The was grounded and abandoned near the island on 14 February 1942 when disembarking troops. It was shelled three times in late 1942 by Japanese submarines, and bombed once on 25 March 1943. Damage was reported as "slight". The island was defended by approximately 1,200 combat troops and support personnel, but was never attacked by Japanese forces. It was the site of at least two airplane crashes during the war: on 19 July 1944 and 5 December 1945. After the war moved west, it became the homebase for the Roman Catholic chaplain in this area of the Pacific.


Post War Administration and international airline service

In November 1946,
Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
resumed service to Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand via Canton with
Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 19 ...
aircraft. British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA), Australia's first trans-Pacific airline, served the island via a cooperative agreement with
Australian National Airways Australian National Airways (ANA) was Australia's predominant aerial carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. The Holyman's Airways period On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk. ...
(ANA) initially with Douglas DC-4's on a routing of Sydney - Auckland - Fiji - Canton Island - Honolulu - San Francisco - Vancouver, with the inaugural flight departing Australia on 15 September 1946. BCPA then began flying luxurious
Douglas DC-6B The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...
s on the Sydney to Vancouver route.
Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...
took over this service shortly thereafter as BCPA subsequently ceased all operations and went out of business.
Canadian Pacific Airlines Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, it served domestic Canadian ...
also used the island as well for its Douglas DC-4 service between Vancouver and the southern hemisphere. A full-scale community was established to support these airline operations, including an electrical power station, a hotel for the airline passengers' use, a medical dispensary, school for dependent children of station personnel, and other necessary facilities. The island was jointly administered by the United Kingdom and the United States, and the British and American post offices were both operated from a single building. The American administrator, who was an employee of the Civil Aeronautics Administration (predecessor to the
FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
) and island manager for that agency, also served as the U.S. resident administrator under the Department of the Interior and as a U.S. special deputy marshal under the Department of Justice. William J. Evans held this position from 1952 to 1955, during which time a crew from ''
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' magazine visited the island and highlighted it in the magazine's January 1955 issue. Vice-president
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
and his wife visited the island in October 1953, en route to New Zealand, where they stayed overnight and were interviewed by Fred Carpenter for the local radio station KIBS. By 1956, Pan Am was operating a
Boeing 377 Stratocruiser The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a large long-range airliner developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, itself a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. The Stratocruiser's first flight was on July 8, 1947. Its design was advance ...
service into the airport from Los Angeles and San Francisco, via a stop in Honolulu, with these flights continuing on to
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...
with a stop at
Nadi Airport Nadi International Airport is the main international airport of Fiji as well as an important regional hub for the South Pacific islands, located by the coast on the western side of the main island Viti Levu. Owned and operated by Fiji Airports ...
in
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
. Ultimately, the introduction of long-range jet aircraft spelled the end of Canton's usefulness as an aircraft refueling station, and all airlines ended their operations there by the late 1950s—except for Pan Am, which continued a monthly service with Douglas DC-7C prop aircraft via Auckland, Nadi, Pago Pago, Kanton, Honolulu and return. This service was conducted using the outbased DC-7C aircraft N743PA and N744PA, which provided feeder service from Auckland to three points on the jet service schedules. The last Pan Am flight was in November 1965 when the final DC-7C returned to Miami after the opening of a new airport in Auckland, enabling New Zealand to be added to Pan Am's
Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first ...
jet routes. Canton's airport remained operational, however, as an emergency landing field.


After the airlines

In 1960 a tracking station for the
Mercury program Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...
was built on Canton, and used through November 1965. The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space and Missile Systems Organization continued to use the island for missile-tracking operations through 1976. That year marked the complete end of the American presence; the airfield was abandoned and all U.S. personnel were removed. The British closed their
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional servi ...
, ending their presence on Canton as well. With the independence of
Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...
from Britain in 1979, the Anglo-American condominium was formally terminated, and the island transferred to Kiribati sovereignty. Canton's post office was reopened by the Kiribati government, and the island was repopulated with a few people from the more crowded atolls of the
Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...
, who reside in several of the abandoned residences left over from the Anglo-American presence. Canton is occasionally visited by Republic of Kiribati vessels, the
U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
and various fishing boats. In 2008, Canton and the rest of the Phoenix Islands became the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), the world's largest marine protected area, covering a total area of of land and ocean. In 2007 it was submitted, together with the rest of the PIPA, as a UNESCO World Heritage site. A station of the Global Seismographic Network, IU KNTN, hosted by the Kiribati Weather Service was established in 2007 with current data shown as of August 2016. In 2010, a British yachtsman and his crew, who were sailing from Hawaii to Australia, stopped at Canton and discovered the 24 islanders (14 adults and 10 children) were dangerously short of food. An expected supply ship had not arrived and the islanders had been living on fish and coconuts for several months. The yacht crew contacted the UK Coastguard, who contacted the U.S. Coast Guard to arrange relief supplies.


See also

*
Canton and Enderbury Islands The Canton and Enderbury Islands consist of the coral atolls of Canton Island (also Kanton) and Enderbury in the northeastern part of the Phoenix Islands, about 1,850 miles (3,000 km) south of Hawaii in the central Pacific Ocean. History Th ...
*
Canton Island Airport Canton Island Airport is an airport located on Canton Island, a sparsely populated island in the Phoenix Islands of the Republic of Kiribati. It has a single asphalt runway measuring in length. Once a major stop on commercial trans-Pacific airl ...
*
List of Guano Island claims The United States claimed a number of islands as insular areas under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. Only the eight administered as the US Minor Islands and the ones part of Hawaii and American Samoa remain under the jurisdiction of the United Sta ...
* Treaty of Tarawa


Notes


References

* * * . * *


External links


History of the islandKanton Island Journey
Excellent photos from one woman's journey to Kanton and nearby islands in August 2008. Kanton photos start at the bottom of pg. 1, and continue on pg. 2.
Phoenix Islands Website
Contains information on Canton and the other Phoenix Islands.
The Phoenix Islands
''National Geographic'' article on the Phoenix Islands, including information on Kanton.

A HAM operator's trip to Kanton in 1999, including description of the island, village and islanders.
C-130 Aircraft Overfly and Landing
Brief footage from a C-130 flyover of Kanton in recent years, followed by an actual landing on its runway.
The Phoenix Islands: An Annotated Chronology
A chronological account of human activity in the Phoenix Islands, focusing especially on Kanton; includes several photos of the island, past and present. {{authority control Phoenix Islands (Kiribati) History of Kiribati Pacific islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act Atolls of Kiribati Former disputed islands