NASA image of Jaluit Atoll
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Geography | |
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Location | North Pacific |
Coordinates | 05°55′18″N 169°38′33″E / 5.92167°N 169.64250°E |
Archipelago | Ralik |
Total islands | 91 |
Area | 11.34 km2 (4.38 sq mi) |
Highest elevation | 3 m (10 ft) |
Administration | |
Demographics | |
Population | 1788 (2011) |
Ethnic groups | Marshallese |
Jaluit Atoll (Marshallese: Jālwōj, [tʲælʲo̯o͡etʲ], or Jālooj, [tʲælʲe͡oː͡etʲ]) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is 11.34 square kilometres (4.38 sq mi), and it encloses a lagoon with an area of 690 square kilometres (270 sq mi). Most of the land area is on the largest islet (motu) of Jaluit (10.4 km²). Jaluit is approximately 220 kilometres (140 mi) southwest of Majuro. Jaluit Atoll is a designated conservation area and Ramsar Wetland.
In 2011 the population of the islands of Jaluit Atoll was 1,788. It was the former administrative seat of the Marshall Islands.
The British merchant vessel Rolla sighted Jaluit in 1803. She had transported convicts from Britain to New South Wales and was on her way to China to find a cargo to take back to Britain.
The German Empire claimed Jaluit Atoll along with the rest of the Marshall Islands in 1884, and the Germans established a trading outpost. Jaluit became a German protectorate on 13 September 1886 and had several imperial commissars (Kaiserliche Kommissare):