PALMYRA ATOLL

formerly Samarang, coral atoll, unincorporated territory of the United States, in the Northern Line Islands in the west-central Pacific Ocean, 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southwest of Honolulu. It comprises 50 islets with a combined area of 4 square miles (10 square km) and an average height of only 6 feet (2 m) above sea level. Sighted in 1802 by the American ship Palmyra, the island was annexed by the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1862 and by Britain in 1889. By an act of the U.S. Congress in 1898, Palmyra was included with the Hawaiian Islands and was then annexed to them in 1912. During World War II the atoll's central lagoon and joined islets were used as landing strips. When Hawaii became a state in 1959, Palmyra was not included. The atoll, once a producer of copra, is now privately owned but is under the administration of the U.S. Department of the Interior. There are no permanent inhabitants.