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In accordance with the convention of April 21, 1906, commissioners were appointed under whose direction the 141st meridian has been established and intervisible marks placed along the line from the Arctic Ocean to Mount St. Elias, a distance of about 647 miles, the fieldwork having been completed in 1913. (See fig. 6.) The final report of the commissioners, dated December 15, 1918, was published in 1919 and is accompanied by an atlas containing 38 maps. The report is entitled "Joint report upon the survey and demarcation of the international boundary between the United States and Canada along the one hundred and forty-first meridian from the Arctic Ocean to Mount St. Elias." This report contains copies of treaties and historical data relating to the location of the boundary. (Foster, 1899, 1904; Riggs, 1909.) A report of the Boundary Commission (Special Rept. 4), to be published this year (1965), will give the 1927 N.A.D. adjusted values of markers on this line, with ties to primary triangulation, and information on the maintenance of the boundary line.

The only part of the boundary not defined at present is that through Dixon Entrance between Cape Muzon and the entrance to Tongass Passage. Agreement between the United States and Canada for this section has not been finalized.

By Article XXVI of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain of May 8, 1871, the navigation of the Yukon, Porcupine, and Stikine Rivers, Alaska, was declared free for the purpose of commerce to the citizens of both nations.

It is an interesting fact that the area of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, if superimposed on the conterminous United States in true north-south position so as to touch the Canadian boundary a short distance west of the Lake of the Woods, would reach the Atlantic Ocean near the line between Georgia and South Carolina, cross the Mexican boundary in southwestern New Mexico, and touch the Pacific Ocean in southern California. (See fig. 7.)

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

The Hawaiian Government in 1851 seriously considered the transfer of sovereignty of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, but the plan was for the time being laid aside. Annexation to the United States was authorized by the Hawaiian Constitution of 1852, "if indispensable to free it from insults and oppression of any foreign powers." Annexation was again under consideration in 1854, and a draft of a treaty was prepared whereby the islands would be ceded to the United States, but the suddden illness and death on December 15, 1854, of King Kamehameha III, who had favored the treaty, put an end to the negotiations.44

44 This information is taken from an address presented by Prof. W. D. Alexander before the Hawaiian Historical Society on July 2, 1897 (Hawaiian Hist. Soc. Papers, No. 9).

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FIGURE 7.-Relative size of Alaska and the conterminous United States.

The Republic of Hawaii was formally annexed to the United States by the voluntary action of its citizens and a joint resolution of Congress approved July 7, 1898. The transfer of sovereignty took place August 12, 1898. The area was constituted a Territory by act of April 30, 1900, effective June 14, 1900.45

The Hawaiian Islands and adjacent islets are scattered over a considerable area which extends nearly 2,000 miles in a general northwestsoutheast direction and has a width of about 150 miles. (See fig. 5.) The eight inhabited islands, which lie between 19°00' and 22°15′ N., long 155°00′ and 162°00′ W., have a total area of 6,412 square miles and a total coast line of 957 miles, as follows:

Hawaii: greatest length, 89 miles; greatest width, 72 miles; area, 4,021 square miles; highest point, Mauna Kea, 13,796 feet above sea level.

Maui: about 48 miles long and 26 miles wide; area, 728 square miles; highest point, 10,023 feet above sea level.

Oahu: about 43 miles long and 30 miles wide; area, 602 square miles; highest point, 4,040 feet.

Kauai: nearly circular, about 26 miles in diameter; area, 553 square miles; highest point, 5,240 feet.

Molokai: about 38 miles long and 9 miles wide; area, 259 square miles; highest point, 4,970 feet.

45 31 Stat. L. 141. For a summary of legislative acts relating to this transfer, see Moore (1906, p. 475-520).

Lanai: about 18 miles long and 12 miles wide; area, 141 square miles; highest point, 3,370 feet.

Niihau: about 18 miles long and 3 to 6 miles wide; area, 72 square

miles; highest point, 1,281 feet.

Kahoolawe: about 11 miles long and 6 miles wide; area, 45 square miles; highest point, 1,477 feet.

More than 100 smaller islands are included in the group. Among the larger of these are:

Nihoa or Bird Island: lat 23°06′ N., long 161°58′ W.; about threequarters of a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide; area, 166 acres; highest point, 910 feet.

Gardner Island: lat 25°01' N., long 167°59′ W.; an inaccessible rock 190 feet high and about 600 feet in diameter.

Laysan Island: lat 25°42′ N., long 171°44′ W., 134 miles long and 1 mile wide; area, 1.56 square miles; highest point, 35 feet. Lisiansky Island: lat 26°00′ N., long 173°50′ W., about 1 mile long and half a mile wide; area, 378 acres; highest point, 20 feet. Kure Island: lat 28°25′ N., long 178°25′ W.; an atoll about 15 miles in circumference; area, 211 acres; highest point, 20 feet. Kaula: : a barren, rocky crescent-shaped island about 20 miles southwest of Niihau; area, about one-sixth of a square mile; highest point, 550 feet; set aside by the Territorial Governor in December 1924 as a site for a lighthouse.46

PALMYRA ISLAND 47

Palmyra Island, lat 5°52′ N., long 162°05′ W., is approximately 1,000 miles south of Honolulu. It was discovered in 1802 by Captain Sawle of the American ship Palmyra. It was annexed to Hawaii in 1862. When Hawaii became a State, Palmyra was excluded from its boundaries. An Executive order of October 10, 1961, placed administration of Palmyra under the Secretary of the Interior (table 1).

Reef rock has been piled up on the rim of Palmyra Island to form an airplane landing strip. The island is densely covered with coconut trees and with the balsalike personia grandis that grow to heights of 100 feet. Highest land elevation is about 30 feet; area is 3.8 square miles. (Rock, 1916.)

48 For reference to other islands belonging to this group, see U.S. Coast and Geod. Survey (1923); Moore (1898, p. 555); U.S. Cong. (1893; 1898b).

The source of information on areas and altitudes is "Research Report 15, Geographic Statistics for Hawaii" of the Dept. of Planning and Research, Hawaii.

47 Information on unincorporated territories and possessions of the United States is summarized in "United States and Outlying Areas," Geog. Rept. of the Geographer, U.S. Dept. of State (1963a).

The Office of Territories, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, publishes booklets entitled "Territorial Responsibilities" which give information on the islands under its administration. Some of this information is used in the pages which follow.

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Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States by Spain by the treaty of peace concluded December 10, 1898. (Malloy, 1910, v. 2, p. 1691.) Article 2 of that treaty is as follows:

Spain cedes to the United States the island of Puerto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and the island of Guam in the Mariana Islands or Ladrones.

Puerto Rico's area is 3,435 square miles, its extreme length is 109 miles, its width is 39 miles, and its greatest height is 4,390 feet. The largest of the other West Indian islands referred to is Vieques; others are Culebra, Mona, Muertos, and Desecheo. The total area of the smaller islands is 86 square miles. These islands, including Puerto Rico, all lie in the area between lat 17°42′ and 18°31′ N., and long 65°20′ and 67°55′ W. Possession was taken by the United States October 18, 1898.

Puerto Rico enjoys a new status since President Truman signed the Congressional Act of ratification of its new constitution on July 3, 1952. It was established as a "commonwealth" at that time, and has most of the powers and responsibilities of a State of the Union. Major exceptions are that Puerto Rico's residents are not subject to Federal taxation and do not have voting representation in the U.S. Congress nor the right to vote for President and Vice President of the United

49 For information on the insular possessions of the United States, see U.S. Cong. (1907; 1909; 1912; 1914).

States. Most of the activities of the Federal Government found in the States are also found in Puerto Rico. The Federal Government has in Puerto Rico the same authority that it has in a State of the Union. Puerto Ricans are liable for military service under the Selective Service Act. Immigration laws pertaining to the United States also apply to Puerto Rico. However, the Commonwealth regulates its own customs and collects its own import duties.

GUAM

The island of Guam is at lat 13°30′ N., long 144°45′ E. Its greatest length is 30 miles; width, 4 to 8 miles; area, 212 square miles; and highest point, 1,334 feet. It is the southernmost of the Mariana Islands. Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States and its relations with the Federal Government are under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior.

AMERICAN SAMOA 49

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States. It is administered by the Department of the Interior. It comprises the eastern islands of the Samoan group, and is in the southern Pacific Ocean, approximately 2,300 miles southwest of Hawaii and 1,600 miles northeast of the northern tip of New Zealand. The people are American Nationals and represent one of the few remaining societies of Polynesians retaining the major part of their traditional culture. The population has increased from some 5,700 in 1900 to more than 20,000 in 1960.

For several years the United States, Great Britain, and Germany exercised a joint protectorate over the Samoa Islands (Thorpe, 1909, v. 6, p. 3675). For various reasons it was deemed best to bring this situation to an end. England withdrew, and the islands were divided between Germany and the United States, the latter taking all the islands of the group lying east of longitude 171° west of Greenwich. This adjustment was reached by a convention between the United States, Germany, and Great Britain, concluded December 2, 1899, and proclaimed February 16, 1900.

The natives of Samoa had no part in this convention, but certain chiefs of islands in 1900 and 1904 made cessions to the United States which were accepted by the President but not ratified by the Senate. A bill to remedy this apparent oversight was introduced in the Senate April 5, 1926, but did not become a law until February 20, 1929.50

"For reference to legislative action leading to the acquisition of the Samoa group, see Moore (1906, p. 536-554) and Malloy (1910, v. 2, p. 1595).

50 U.S. 70th Cong., 2d sess., Pub. Res. 89. See Cong. Record, Apr. 10, 1926, p. 1952-1954, for historical description of this accession.

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