Geography of the Pitcairn Islands
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The Pitcairn Islands consist of five islands: Pitcairn Island, Sandy Island, Oeno Island, Henderson Island, and Ducie Island.
Pitcairn Island is a volcanic high island. Henderson Island is an uplifted coral island. Ducie and Oeno are coral atolls. Sandy Island is located in the same atoll as Oeno.
The only inhabited island, Pitcairn, has an area of 5 kmē and a population density of 10/kmē; it is only accessible by boat through Bounty Bay.
The other islands are at a distance of more than 100 km.
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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.
Area
Total:
47 kmē
Land:
47 kmē
Water:
0 kmē
Area - comparative
About 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries
0 km
Coastline
51 km
Maritime claims
Exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
Territorial sea:
3 nm
Climate
Tropical, hot, humid; modified by southeast trade winds; rainy season (November to March)
Terrain
Geodesy_Collection_Pitcairn_Island.jpg
Rugged volcanic formation; rocky coastline with cliffs
Elevation extremes
Lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m
Highest point:
Pawala Valley Ridge 347 m
Natural resources
Miro trees (used for handicrafts), fish
Note:
manganese, iron, copper, gold, silver, and zinc have been discovered offshore
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)
See also
Map references
These 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. See also map showing location of the Pitcairn Islands with respect to other island groups and to continents (http://www.mc-monaco.com/geovoyages/r_zones/ocpacif/opac_map.jpg)
For the location with respect to French Polynesia, see the inset of Image:French Polynesia map.jpg.
Note: Mapquest 6 and 7 wrongly label Pitcairn island "French Polynesia".