Wotho Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is 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 secr ...

of 13 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the

Ralik Chain The Ralik Chain ( Marshallese: , ) is a chain of islands within the island nation of the Marshall Islands. Ralik means "sunset". It is west of the Ratak Chain. In 1999 the total population of the Ralik islands was 19,915. Christopher Loeak, who b ...

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 Inte ...

. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon of . The name "Wotho" means either "entrance through the reef", or "island far away" according to different sources. The population of Wotho Atoll was 97 in 2011.

History

First recorded sighting of Wotho Atoll by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of

Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as '' El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spaniard who, from the age of 26, lived and built a career in Mexico (then the Viceroyalty of New Spain) and, ...

on 12 January 1565. They were charted as ''Las Hermanas'' (The Sisters in Spanish). It is likely that it had been visited earlier, in between December 1542 and January 1543, 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 ...

. The atoll was later also known as Schantz Islands after

Johan Eberhard von Schantz Johan Eberhard von Schantz (russian: Иван Иванович фон Шанц; 29 October 1802 – 3 January 1880) was a Finnish-born admiral in the Russian Imperial Navy, ship designer and explorer. Life Schantz was born in the Western Finni ...

, who rediscovered the islands on his circumnavigation of the globe on the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...

ship ''America'' in 1835. Wotho Atoll 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 hereditar ...

along with the rest of the Marshall Islands in 1884. After World War I, the island came under the

South Seas Mandate The South Seas Mandate, officially the Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean Lying North of the Equator, was a League of Nations mandate in the " South Seas" given to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations following W ...

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 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

. At 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. Sunset Wotto Atoll

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 and ...

operates Wotho Elementary School.

Kwajalein Atoll High School Kwajalein Atoll High School is a secondary school in Kwajalein, Marshall Islands. It is a part of the Marshall Islands Public School System. The school serves the following atolls and islands: Kwajalein, Lae, Ujae Ujae Atoll ( Marshallese: or ...

Kwajalein Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...

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). "Kwajalein Atoll High School enrolls students from Kwajalein and the Kabinmeto zone including schools in Ujae, Lae, and Wotto."

References

External links

Marshall Islands site
* {{authority control Atolls of the Marshall Islands Ralik Chain Municipalities of the Marshall Islands