Canton and Enderbury Islands
{{Short description|Former US-British territory in the Pacific}}
{{Infobox country
|native_name =
|conventional_long_name = Canton and Enderbury Islands
|common_name = Canton and Enderbury Islands
|era =
|status = Special territory
|government_type = Condominium under the administration of the United States and the United Kingdom
|
|event_start =
|year_start = 1939
|date_start = 6 April
|event_end = {{nowrap|UK cession/}}
{{nowrap|US evacuation}}
|year_end = 1979
|date_end = 12 July
|
|p1 = Gilbert and Ellice Islands
|flag_p1 = Flag of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (1937–1976).svg
|s1 = Kiribati
|flag_s1 = Flag of Kiribati.svg
|
|image_flag = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
|flag_alt = Flags of Canton and Enderbury Islands
|image_flag2 = Flag of the United States.svg
|flag_alt2 = Flags of Canton and Enderbury Islands
|coa_size = 140px
|symbol_type =
|symbol =
|image_map = LocationCantonIsl.png
|image_map_caption = Canton and Enderbury Islands
|
|capital = Tebaronga
|common_languages =
|currency =
|title_leader =
|leader1 =
|year_leader1 =
|title_representative =
|representative1 =
|year_representative1 =
|title_deputy =
|deputy1 =
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|stat_year1 =
|stat_area1 =
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|footnotes =
|demonym=|area_km2=|area_rank=|GDP_PPP=|GDP_PPP_year=|HDI=|HDI_year=|today=}}
The Canton and Enderbury Islands consist of the coral atolls of Canton Island (also Kanton) and Enderbury in the northeastern part of the Phoenix Islands, about 1,850 miles (3,000 km) south of Hawaii in the central Pacific Ocean.
History
The islands were vital naval and air bases on the route between the Americas and the Philippines and Australia and were claimed by both the United Kingdom and the United States.{{cite web|first=Jane|last=Resture|title=Canton Island (Kanton – Abariringa) Phoenix Group, Kiribati|date=|url=http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_phoenix_group/canton.htm|publisher=Jane Resture|accessdate=25 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405232339/http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_phoenix_group/canton.htm|archive-date=5 April 2015|url-status=dead}} From 1939 to 1979, they formed an Anglo–American condominium, with administration jointly exercised by the U.S. and the UK. This arrangement only covered Canton and Enderbury islands; the remaining Phoenix Islands were still claimed by the U.S. under the Guano Islands Act, but aside from Hull Island were either abandoned or remained under exclusive British control until 1979.
Both the UK and the U.S. claimed sovereignty over the islands from the mid–19th century. The official British claim was formally reasserted on 6 August 1936, and in March 1937 the islands were attached to its Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony; establishing a radio station on Canton on 31 August 1937.{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1937v02/d94|title=Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1937, The British Commonwealth, Europe, Near East and Africa, Volume II: 811.0141 Phoenix Group/16: Telegram|publisher=U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian|accessdate=24 October 2020}} In June 1937 a spat occurred at Canton between USS Avocet and HMS Wellington and their crews. In response, on 26 July President Roosevelt approved a U.S. Navy plan to occupy Canton,{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bSw8AQAAMAAJ&q=%22canton%22+%22USS+Avocet%22&pg=RA5-PA48|title=United States Congressional Serial Set, Serial Number 13515: Senate Executive Reports, Nos. 1–20|pages=47–49|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|date=1984|accessdate=24 October 2020}} and on 3 March 1938 formally reasserted the United States claim, placing Canton and Enderbury under the control of the Department of the Interior.{{cite web|url=https://protorp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Thesis_Strategic-significance-of-PICs.pdf|title=The Strategic Significance of the Pacific Islands in New Zealand's Defense Policy, 1935–1939|author=Felicity Caird|publisher=University of Canterbury|date=1987|accessdate=24 October 2020|pages=64–65}} Seven U.S. citizens from the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project landed on Canton on 7 March.{{cite web|url=https://epdf.pub/ernest-gruening-alaskas-greatest-governor.html|title=Ernest Gruening: Alaska's Greatest Governor|author=Claus–M. Naske|publisher=University of Alaska Press|date=2004|accessdate=24 October 2020}} To resolve these conflicting claims, the two governments signed an agreement on 6 April 1939 providing for joint administration over the islands without prejudice to the claims of either side.
The United States and the United Kingdom relinquished control over the islands to the government of newly independent Kiribati; U.S. personnel left the island on 12 July 1979, the date of Kiribati's independence.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zFiBcLO9yX4C&q=%22Canton+and+enderbury%22+%22carter%22+%221979%22&pg=PA783|title=Digest of United States Practice in International Law 1979|page=783|author=Marian Lloyd Nash|publisher=US Department of State Office of the Legal Advisor|date=December 1983|accessdate=24 October 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/21162/Ferris_1985.pdf|title=The Kamehameha / Kiribati Connection: Project Panala'au in 50–Year Perspective, 1935–1985|page=25|author=Peggy Ferris|publisher=University of Hawaii|date=29 May 1985|accessdate=24 October 2020|archive-date=15 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315002104/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/21162/Ferris_1985.pdf|url-status=dead}} The Treaty of Tarawa, signed on 20 September 1979 and ratified by the United States Senate on 21 June 1983 and entered into force on 23 September 1983, formally relinquished U.S. claims over the former Canton and Enderbury Islands Condominium.{{cite web| url= http://www.trussel.com/kir/treaty.htm| title= Treaty of friendship between the United States of America and the Republic of Kiribati| quote= Advise and consent to ratification by the Senate June 21, 1983;| accessdate = 2013-06-08}} In this treaty, the U.S. acknowledged Kiribati sovereignty over fourteen islands, but reserved the right to military bases.[https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1836.htm US Department of State Background Note] Today the islands form part of the Phoenix Islands administrative group within the Republic of Kiribati.
As of 2005, the population of Canton Island was 41, down from 61 in 2000.{{cite web|url= http://www.spc.int/prism/Country/KI/Stats/Census2005/Gen-pdf/GTAB-1.pdf |title=Kiribati 2005 Census of Population and Housing: Provisional Tables|date=2005|work=Government of Kiribati |publisher= |accessdate=9 May 2015 }} In May 2010 the population was reportedly 24, with 14 adults and 10 children.{{cite web |url=http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=413262&NewsAreaID=2 |title=Falmouth Coastguard helps starving remote islanders |date=9 May 2010 |work=National News |publisher=News Distribution Service |accessdate=9 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224072543/http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=413262&NewsAreaID=2 |archivedate=24 February 2012 }} The island's sole village is called Tebaronga. Enderbury is uninhabited.
In 2006, the government of Kiribati declared the islands, together with other Phoenix Islands, to be a marine protected area, to preserve the unique flora and fauna of the archipelago and its surrounding waters.{{cite web|title= Phoenix Islands Protected Area|date= |url= http://www.phoenixislands.org/|publisher= Government of Kiribati|accessdate= 25 January 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191203203818/http://www.phoenixislands.org/|archive-date= 3 December 2019|url-status= usurped}}
See also
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References
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{{Territories of the United States}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Canton And Enderbury Islands}}
Category:Phoenix Islands (Kiribati)
Category:Pacific islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act
Category:Condominia (international law)
Category:British Western Pacific Territories
Category:Former disputed islands