Midway

MIDWAY

An atoll in Oceania, in the central part of the Pacific Ocean, in the northwestern group of the Hawaiian Islands, consists of the islands Eastern and Sand. Total area - 5.2 km². Population - about 40 people (2005), mainly employees of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Under U.S. ownership since 1867. Until 1903, when Americans established a trans-Pacific telegraph service station on the islands, they were uninhabited. The Navy command named the atoll Midway ("middle of the way") because it is located halfway between California and Japan. An airfield was built in 1935. From 1941 to 1996, it was a U.S. Navy base. On June 4-6, 1942, one of the most important battles of World War II in the Pacific took place here, resulting in the destruction of most of the Japanese fleet. The success of the battle allowed the American armed forces to go on the offensive. In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a decree transferring the atoll from the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy Department to the management of the U.S. Department of the Interior, simultaneously declaring Midway a National Wildlife Refuge.