Geography of the Pitcairn Islands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pitcairn Islands consist of five islands: Pitcairn Island, Sandy Island, Oeno Island, Henderson Island and Ducie Island:
Pitcairn Islands as a group of islands ( )
- Pitcairn Island (main island) ()
- Henderson Island ( )
- Ducie Island ( )
- Oeno Island and its associated islands
- Oeno Island ( )
- Sandy Island ( )
Pitcairn Island is a volcanic high island. Henderson Island is an uplifted coral island. Ducie and Oeno are coral atolls. Sandy Island is located in the same atoll as Oeno.
The only inhabited island, Pitcairn, has an area of 5 km² and a population density of 10/km²; it is only accessible by boat through Bounty Bay.
The other islands are at a distance of more than 100 km.
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[edit] Location
Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Peru to New Zealand, one of the most remote sites of human habitation on Earth.
[edit] Area
Total: 47 km²
Land: 47 km²
Water: 0 km²
[edit] Area - comparative
About 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
[edit] Land boundaries
0 km
[edit] Coastline
51 km
[edit] Maritime claims
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi
Territorial sea: 3 nmi
[edit] Climate
Tropical, hot, humid; modified by southeast trade winds; rainy season (November to March)
[edit] Terrain
Rugged volcanic formation; rocky coastline with cliffs
[edit] Elevation extremes
Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
Highest point: Pawala Valley Ridge 347 m
[edit] Natural resources
Miro trees (used for handicrafts), fish
Note: manganese, iron, copper, gold, silver, and zinc have been discovered offshore
[edit] Natural hazards
Typhoons (especially November to March)
[edit] Environment - current issues
Deforestation (only a small portion of the original forest remains because of burning and clearing for settlement)
[edit] See also
[edit] Map references
- Geography of the Pitcairn Islands is at coordinates Coordinates:
These worldwide map services show very little detail of the islands, and are even of limited use to show the location of them with respect to each other and to other islands, because they are so small and far apart. However, Mapquest zoom level 1 is a suitable map to see the location between Peru and New Zealand. See also map showing location of the Pitcairn Islands with respect to other island groups and to continents
For the location with respect to French Polynesia, see the inset of Image:French Polynesia map.jpg.
Note: Mapquest 6 and 7 wrongly label Pitcairn island "French Polynesia".
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