威克岛

发布时间：2024-06-20    来源：

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威克岛
Wake Island
威克岛面积约8平方公里，由威克、威尔克斯和皮尔三个小礁岛组成，位于太平洋中被海水淹没的火山岛群中，地处夏威夷至香港的直线上，东距夏威夷3200公里，西距关岛2060公里，战略地位重要，被称为“太平洋的踏脚石”。为美国无建制领土之一。威克岛暂住人口包括美空军、文职人员及泰国承包商，约2000人（1988年）。威克岛的食品和工业品完全依靠进口。岛上原无居民，1568年一支西班牙探险队首次发现该岛。1796年，英国船长威廉·威克正式注明此岛，并以他的名字命名该岛。此后该岛一度湮没无闻，也无人重建直到1841年美国海军在原岛重新修建。1899年美国政府正式将该岛占为己有。1935年威克岛划归美国海军管辖并在岛上建立商用水上飞机基地，为横跨太平洋的客机提供服务。二战期间威克岛被日本占领。1962年美在岛上建成了现代化机场并转交内政部管辖，但实际上是由美空军管辖。1964年完成了新的海底电缆的铺设。该岛还是檀香山和关岛海底电缆的连结点。1972年，该岛由美国防部空军部管辖，民事方面授权美空军总律师管辖，并由威克岛驻军司令作为他的代理人。1974年用作导弹试验基地。70年代中期至今，威克岛一直是美空军紧急降落基地，也是美民航和军用飞机从檀香山到东京和关岛的加油站。1990年美国国会提出一项立法，建议将该岛置于关岛管辖范围内。同年马绍尔群岛共和国对被密克罗尼西亚人称作埃能丘的珊瑚提出主权要求，马绍尔总统卡布阿称威克岛是马绍尔重要的举行传统礼仪的地方。他还说签于马绍尔已在一定程度上从美国独立，就应该收回这块土地。
Wake Island: Wake Island is a coral atoll consisting of three islets Wake, Wilkes and Peale. The atoll, situated on a submerged volcanolies in the Pacific on the direct route from Hawaii to Hong Kongabout 3,200 km west of Hawaii and 2,060 km east of Guam. The group is 7.2 km long and 2.4 km wide, and covers less than 8 sq. km (3 sq. miles). Wake Island may have been sighted by a Spanish expedition in 1568, but, following its formal discovery by a British vessel (commanded by Capt. William Wake, for whom the island isnamed) in 1796, its exact location was lost and not re-established until 1841 by a US naval expedition. The US Government took formal possession in 1899. In 1935 Wake Island was placed under the control of the US Department of the Navy, and in the same year a commercial seaplane base was established to service trans-Pacific passenger flights. The island was occupied by Japanese forces during the Second World War. Administrative responsibility passed to the US Department of the Interior in 1962, but the territory is actually administered by the US Air Force. In 1972 the responsibility for civil administration was delegated to the General Counsel of the Air Force, the agent being the Military Commander of Wake Island. In 1983 the population was 1,600, and in 1988 was estimated to be almost 2,000. These numbers have declined in recent years. In 1990 legislation before the US Congress proposed the inclusion of Wake Island within the boundaries of the territory of Guam. However, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, some 500 km to the south of Wake, then decided to exert its claim to the atoll, known as Enenkio to the Micronesians. President Amata Kabua of the Marshall declared that Wake Island was a site of great importance to the traditional chiefly rituals of his islands and that the Marshall Islands, having achieved a measure of independence from the USA, could now claim the territory. The group is administered by the US Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force (Pacific/East Asia Division), The Pentagon, Washington, DC 20380; tel. (202)694-8010.