Mejit ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is an island in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the

Ratak Chain The Ratak Chain ( Marshallese: , ) is a chain of islands within the island nation of the Marshall Islands. Ratak means "sunrise". It lies to the east of the country's other island chain, the Ralik Chain. In 1999 the total population of the Rata ...

of the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Intern ...

. Unlike most of the other islands of the Marshall Islands, Mejit is a stony island rather than a

coral atoll Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...

, although it is surrounded by a fringing

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

enclosing a narrow lagoon. It is located east of the main line of the Ratak chain, approximately northeast from

Wotje Wotje Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 75 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Geography Wotje's land area of is one of the largest in the Marshall Islands, and en ...

. With an estimated population of 348 people, the island is lush in pandanus, breadfruit and

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afri ...

. To the residents, this island is known as 'Paradise". It has a freshwater lake (rare in the Marshall Islands) with indigenous ducks. Mejit is famous for its pandanus leaf mats. An airstrip,

Mejit Airport Mejit Airport is a public use airstrip on Mejit Island, Marshall Islands. This airstrip is assigned the location identifier Q30 by the FAA and MJB by the IATA. Facilities Mejit Airport is at an elevation of 5 feet (2.5 m) above mean sea level. ...

, bisects the island. It is served by Air Marshall Islands.

History

First recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi on 9 January 1565. It was charted as ''Los Barbudos'' (The Bearded in Spanish) because of the long beards of its inhabitants. Its sighting was also recorded by the Spanish expedition of

Ruy López de Villalobos Ruy López de Villalobos (; ca. 1500 – April 4, 1546) was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portugal a ...

on December 1542. The German navigator

Otto von Kotzebue Otto von Kotzebue (russian: О́тто Евста́фьевич Коцебу́, tr. ; – ) was a Russian officer and navigator in the Imperial Russian Navy. He was born in Reval. He was known for his explorations of Oceania. Early life ...

, sailing in Russian service, made landfall at Mejit Island on January 1, 1817, and named it New Year's Island. In 1884 Mejit was claimed by the

Empire of Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

along with the rest of the Marshall Islands, and the Germans established a trading outpost. After World War I, the island came under the South Seas Mandate 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 ...

. Following the end of World War II, it came under the control of the United States 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 ...

until the independence of the Marshall Islands in 1986.

Education

Marshall Islands Public School System Republic of Marshall Islands Public School System (PSS) is the public school system of the Marshall Islands, headquartered in Majuro. It was established in November 2013 by Public Law 2013-23. It is a part of the Ministry of Education, Sports an ...

operates Mejit Elementary School.

Northern Islands High School Northern Islands High School (NIHS) is a secondary school in Wotje, Marshall Islands. It is a part of the Marshall Islands Public School System. The school serves the following atolls and islands in the north of the country: Wotje, Ailuk, Aur, ...

serves the community.Annual Report 2011-2012
"

Ministry of Education (Marshall Islands) Ministry of Education, or the MOE, is a government branch in the Marshall Islands that controls and takes care of education, as well as all public schools in the Marshall Islands. The Minister of the MOE is one of the senators of the Marshall Is ...

. Retrieved on February 22, 2018. p. 54 (PDF p. 55/118). "Northern Islands High School takes students from the Ratak Ean zone including schools in Aur, Maloelap, Wotje, Ailuk, Utrik, Likiep and Mejit."

Notes

External links

Marshall Islands site
* {{Authority control Ratak Chain Municipalities of the Marshall Islands