About Wake Island

Wake Island is a small coral atoll in the western North Pacific, roughly 2,300 miles west of Honolulu and 600 miles north of Kwajalein. It consists of three low-lying islands, Wake, Wilkes, and Peale, arranged in a horseshoe shape around a central lagoon. The total land area is about 2.85 square miles, making it one of the larger U.S. minor outlying islands, though it rises no more than 21 feet above the sea.

Wake holds a place in American military memory unlike almost any other piece of territory its size. In December 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, a small garrison of U.S. Marines held off a vastly superior Japanese force for 16 days, sinking two destroyers in the process. Their defiance became a rallying symbol for a nation in shock. After the garrison finally surrendered, Wake endured a brutal Japanese occupation that ended with the execution of 98 American civilian prisoners in 1943.

Today Wake remains the only U.S. minor territory still under active military administration. The U.S. Air Force and Army manage it as a strategic reserve airfield and missile defense test site. No civilian visits are permitted, and the island continues its long role as an American military outpost in the western Pacific.

Wake Island vs. a U.S. State