Clipperton Island

Clipperton

Native name: La Passion–Clipperton (French)
Clipperton Atoll with lagoon with depths (metres)
Location of Clipperton Island
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	10°18′N 109°13′W / 10.300°N 109.217°W / 10.300; -109.217[1]
Archipelago	Lagoon
Area	8.9 km2 (3.4 sq mi)[2]
Length	3 km (1.9 mi)
Width	4 km (2.5 mi)
Coastline	11.1 km (6.9 mi)
Highest elevation	29 m (95 ft)
Highest point	Clipperton Rock
Administration
France
State private property	Île de Clipperton
Demographics
Population	0 (1945)
Additional information
Time zone	CIST[3] (UTC-8)
Postal code	98799[a]
INSEE code: 989 EEZ: 431,273 km2 (166,515 sq mi)

Clipperton Island (French: La Passion–Clipperton [la pasjɔ̃ klipœʁtɔn]; Spanish: Isla de la Pasión), also known as Clipperton Atoll^[5] and previously as Clipperton's Rock,^[6] is an 8.9 km² (3.4 sq mi) uninhabited French coral atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The only French territory in the North Pacific, Clipperton is 10,675 km (6,633 mi) from Paris, France; 5,400 km (2,900 nmi) from Papeete, French Polynesia; and 1,280 km (690 nmi) from Acapulco, Mexico.

Clipperton was documented by French merchant-explorers in 1711 and formally claimed as part of the French protectorate of Tahiti in 1858. Despite this, American guano miners began working the island in the early 1890s. As interest in the island grew, Mexico asserted a claim to the island based upon Spanish records from the 1520s that may have identified the island. Mexico established a small military colony on the island in 1905, but during the Mexican Revolution contact with the mainland became infrequent, most of the colonists died, and lighthouse keeper Victoriano Álvarez instituted a short, brutal reign as "king" of the island. Eleven survivors were rescued in 1917 and Clipperton was abandoned.

The dispute between Mexico and France over Clipperton was taken to binding international arbitration in 1909. Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy, was chosen as arbitrator and decided in 1931 that the island was French territory. Despite the ruling, Clipperton remained largely uninhabited until 1944 when the U.S. Navy established a weather station on the island to support its war efforts in the Pacific. France protested and as concerns about Japanese activity in the eastern Pacific waned the U.S. abandoned the site in late 1945.

Since the end of World War II, Clipperton has primarily been the site for scientific expeditions to study the island's wildlife and marine life, including its significant masked and brown booby colonies. It has also hosted climate scientists and amateur radio DX-peditions. Plans to develop the island for trade and tourism have been considered, but none have been enacted and the island remains mostly uninhabited with periodic visits from the French navy.

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