Uninhabited US Territories

Podcast Transcript

In 1856, the United States passed a law allowing American citizens to claim islands in the country’s name, provided that no other country claimed them and that no one lived there.

The result was a host of scattered islands with zero population becoming part of the country.

Today, these islands are still US territories, and the vast majority of American citizens have absolutely no clue they are a part of the country.

Learn more about uninhabited US Territories and their odd histories on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Several years ago, I did an episode on American territories, focusing on the populated territories most of you have heard of: Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

In this episode, I want to focus on the parts that most of you probably aren’t familiar with. These are small, often extremely small, islands in the Pacific and Caribbean with no permanent population, no native peoples, and for all practical purposes, no resources.

So, the first question is: why and how did these remote islands become part of the United States?

It all has to do with bird poop.

In 1856, the United States passed the Guano Islands Act, which allowed American citizens to take possession of unclaimed islands containing deposits of guano, layers of bird manure that had accumulated over tens of thousands of years. It was a highly valuable fertilizer and key ingredient in gunpowder at the time.

If a US citizen discovered such an island and it was not already under another country’s control, and there were no native inhabitants, the United States could recognize it as a U.S. possession and protect the claim, including with military force if necessary.

The law effectively enabled a wave of American expansion across the Pacific and Caribbean, leading to the claim of many of small islands.

Overall, the policy was picking up low-hanging fruit. The government itself didn’t have to spend any money, as it allowed private citizens to do the work. They didn’t have to start conflicts with other countries because only unclaimed islands were allowed. They also didn’t have to deal with native people, because the islands had to be uninhabited.

Guano, however, is a very finite resource. If you remember my episode on Nauru, it was a guano island and was very briefly the wealthiest country in the world in the 1980s…until it wasn’t.

The act had long-term geopolitical consequences as the islands remained a part of the US long after the guano deposits were exhausted.

By the 1930s, concern grew over claims to these islands. The Franklin Roosevelt administration launched a quiet effort known as the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project to establish a human presence on these remote islands.

The goal wasn’t traditional settlement. They weren’t trying to bring families to the islands to establish communities. It was about strengthening U.S. territorial claims, especially as rival powers like Japan were expanding in the Pacific.

Young American men, mostly from Hawaii, were sent to live on these islands in small groups. They built simple camps, raised flags, recorded weather data, and maintained a continuous occupation to demonstrate sovereignty.

Conditions were harsh with extreme isolation, limited supplies, and no fresh water sources beyond what they could collect.

The project ended abruptly in 1942 after Japanese air attacks during the Second World War, which killed some of the colonists and forced evacuation. After that, the U.S. never again seriously attempted permanent civilian settlement.

So, what and where are these islands?

Let’s start with the Caribbean because there are fewer of them. The only real island the United States controls is Navassa Island. Located between Haiti and Jamaica, Navassa Island was claimed in 1857 for guano mining. It briefly supported a mining community, but harsh conditions led to unrest, including a violent labor rebellion in 1889.

The island was later abandoned, and today it is an uninhabited wildlife refuge. Haiti still disputes U.S. ownership, but they have never taken any steps to enforce its claims.

The US also claims two other reefs in the Caribbean that are largely unrecognized and that it does not control. The Bajo Nuevo Bank and the Serranilla Bank are both small reefs in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, both claimed by Colombia and Jamaica.

The International Court of Justice has ruled in favor of Colombia’s control of both reefs, although neither the US nor Jamaica recognizes the ruling. Colombia also has a small naval garrison on the Serranilla Bank.

All of the rest of the Uninhabited US Territories can be found in the Pacific. There are a couple island that you might be familiar with.

Wake Island is a remote Pacific atoll first sighted by Europeans in the 16th century and formally claimed by the United States in 1899. Its real importance emerged in the 20th century as a refueling stop for transpacific cables and aircraft, and later as a strategic military outpost.

PanAm Airlines once had a refueling base there for its transpacific flights.

In December 1941, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces assaulted Wake Island. U.S. Marines and personnel mounted a fierce defense for over two weeks before being overwhelmed, making it one of the first early battles of World War II. The Japanese occupied the island until 1945.

After the war, Wake became a key Cold War military installation, supporting missile tests and air operations. Today, it remains under U.S. control as a highly restricted military base with only temporary personnel and no permanent civilian population.

I actually tried to visit Wake Island once, and the trip totally fell apart because they couldn’t get military approval.

The other island you might have heard of is Midway Atoll. Midway was annexed by the United States in 1867, making it one of the earliest U.S. possessions in the Pacific. Its location roughly halfway between North America and Asia made it strategically valuable, first as a cable station and later as a naval and air base.

It is the last island in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain of islands, and it is the only island in the chain that is not part of the state of Hawaii.

It became famous during the Second World War as the site of the Battle of Midway in June 1942, a U.S. victory that turned the tide of the war in the Pacific against Japan.

After the war, Midway continued as a military base during the Cold War before being decommissioned in the 1990s. Today, it is a protected wildlife refuge, best known for its vast seabird populations, with only temporary staff and researchers present.

I have also tried to visit Midway, and it is almost as hard as visiting Wake Island.

Another island that used to be more important than it is today is Johnston Atoll.

Johnston Atoll was first claimed by the United States in 1858 under the Guano Islands Act, though early commercial use was limited. Its importance grew dramatically in the 20th century due to its isolated location in the central Pacific, which made it ideal for sensitive military activities.

During World War II, the atoll was expanded into an airbase and refueling point supporting operations across the Pacific. In the early Cold War, it became a major testing site for nuclear weapons.

Most notably, in 1962, the Starfish Prime test detonated a nuclear device high above the Earth, producing an artificial aurora and knocking out satellites and electrical systems as far away as Hawaii.

In the decades that followed, Johnston Atoll was used to store and ultimately destroy chemical weapons under the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System, one of the most advanced facilities of its kind.

This work continued through the 1990s, making the atoll one of the most tightly controlled locations in the U.S. military system.

Military operations ceased in 2004, after which the atoll was closed and transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Today, it is uninhabited and part of a national wildlife refuge, though access remains highly restricted due to lingering environmental concerns.

Palmyra Atoll was first sighted by Westerners in 1798 and formally annexed by the United States in 1898 during the same wave of expansion that brought Hawaii into U.S. control.

Unlike every other island in this episode, Palmyra was designated as an incorporated territory, meaning the full U.S. Constitution applies there.

In the early 20th century, it passed through private ownership, and during World War II, the U.S. Navy developed it into a base with airstrips and infrastructure.

After the war, it was largely abandoned, and much of the land eventually came under The Nature Conservancy’s ownership, which now manages it for scientific research and conservation. Today, it has no permanent residents, only rotating researchers and staff.

The reason Palmyra was not included in the state of Hawaii in 1959 is its unique legal and ownership status. At the time Hawaii became a state, Palmyra was privately owned and legally classified as a separate incorporated territory rather than as part of the Territory of Hawaii.

Congress deliberately excluded it from the statehood act, in part to preserve federal control and flexibility over the atoll. As a result, Palmyra remains the only incorporated uninhabited U.S. territory and is administered separately from Hawaii to this day.

Kingman Reef is one of the most remote and least developed U.S. territories. It was first claimed in 1860, although it had almost no guano.

The reef is mostly submerged, with only a small strip of land occasionally above water, which made permanent settlement impossible. In the early 20th century, it was occasionally used as a maritime and aviation waypoint, but it never developed infrastructure or a resident population.

Today, Kingman Reef is part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and is valued for its nearly pristine marine ecosystem. It remains completely uninhabited and is rarely visited except for scientific research.

Jarvis Island was claimed in 1857 under the Guano Islands Act and briefly mined for fertilizer. It is one of the most remote and least known territories, located roughly halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands.

American companies soon began guano mining operations after it was claimed. However, by the late 19th century, the deposits were largely exhausted, and the island was abandoned.

Americans attempted settlement there in the 1930s, and it was abandoned in 1942 after Japanese attacks during World War II. Since then, Jarvis has remained uninhabited and is now protected as part of a national wildlife refuge.

Baker Island’s story is almost identical to that of Jarvis Island. It was claimed in 1857 and briefly mined for guano. Attempts at settlement in the 19th century failed due to its extreme isolation and lack of fresh water.

In 1935, it was reoccupied, but abandoned in 1942 after Japanese attack.

Since then, Baker Island has remained uninhabited and is now managed as a protected wildlife refuge.

Our final remote island is Howland Island. It was claimed in 1857 and briefly exploited for its guano deposits. Its greatest historical significance came in the 1930s, when it was developed as a refueling stop for transpacific aviation.

In 1937, it was the intended destination for Amelia Earhart during her round-the-world flight, but she never arrived, making the island central to one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.

Today, Howland Island is uninhabited and protected as a wildlife refuge.

With the exception of Wake Island, which still has a small military presence, none of these islands has any real value. Living on them is next to impossible. They have no resources that can be extracted. They have no fresh water.

They aren’t necessary for long-haul flights anymore, and they have no military importance.

All of these islands, save for Wake Island, are just nature preserves today, either formally or informally.

What little infrastructure that was built has been falling into ruin for decades.

Yet, despite being remote, totally uninhabited, and mostly unknown, these specks of land are all a part of the United States.

The Executive Producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The Associate Producers are Austin Oetken and Cameron Kieffer.

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