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Minami Torishima
(南鳥島) or
Marcus Island is a very small isolated island in the
northwestern
Pacific Ocean, located at latitude 24'18" N and longitude 153'58" E. It
is only 1 sq km in size. It is the easternmost territory belonging to
Japan, some 1,900 km SE of
Tokyo, and nearly on a straight line between Tokyo and
Wake Island.
The island is first mentioned in
1864, given a position by a
US survey ship in
1874, and first landed on by
Kiozaemon Saito in
1879. Japan officially claimed the island
July 19,
1898.
In
World War II there were over 4,000 Japanese soldiers stationed on the
island, and the
US Navy attacked it in
1943, but never attempted to capture it.
The island is presently used for weather observation and
has a radio station, but little else. Because of its isolation, it is of
some interest to
DXers.
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