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Geography of the Pitcairn Islands

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Geography of the Pitcairn Islands

The Pitcairn Islands consist of four islands: Pitcairn Island, Oeno Island, Henderson Island and Ducie Island:

Contents

Pitcairn Islands as a group of islands (25°04′00″S 130°05′00″W)

  • Pitcairn Island (main island) (25°04′S 130°06′W)
  • Henderson Island (24°22′01″S 128°18′57″W)
  • Ducie Island (24°40′09″S 124°47′11″W)
  • Oeno Island (23°55′26″S 130°44′03″W)
  • Pitcairn Island is a volcanic high island. Henderson Island is an uplifted coral island. Ducie and Oeno are coral atolls.

    The only inhabited island, Pitcairn, has an area of 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi) 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 (62 mi). Wikimedia Atlas of the Pitcairn Islands

    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.

    The inhabited island, Pitcairn, is at 25.04 south, 130.06 west. Pitcairn is about 2,170 kilometres (1,350 mi) southeast of Tahiti, 5,310 kilometres (3,300 mi) from Auckland, New Zealand, and over 6,600 kilometres (4,100 mi) from Panama.

    Area

    Total: 47 km²
    Land: 47 km²
    Water: 0 km²

    Pitcairn Island is about 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) long and 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) wide.

    Area - comparative

    About 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC

    Land boundaries

    0 km

    Coastline

    51 km

    Maritime claims

    Exclusive economic zone: 836,000 sq kilometres
    Territorial sea: 3 nmi

    Climate

    Tropical, hot, humid; modified by southeast trade winds; rainy season (November to March)

    Terrain

    Rugged volcanic formation; rocky coastline with cliffs

    Elevation extremes

    Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
    Highest point: Pawala Valley Ridge 347 m (1,138 ft)

    Natural hazards

    Typhoons (especially November to March)

    Environment - current issues

    Deforestation (only a small portion of the original forest remains because of burning and clearing for settlement)

    Maps

    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.

    For the location with respect to French Polynesia, see the inset of Image:French Polynesia map.jpg.

    References

    Geography of the Pitcairn Islands Wikipedia