Swains Island
Swains Island
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 Swains Island
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | 11°03′20″S 171°04′40″W / 11.05556°S 171.07778°WCoordinates: 11°03′20″S 171°04′40″W / 11.05556°S 171.07778°W |
| Archipelago | Tokelau |
| Total islands | 2 (one very minor) |
| Major islands | Swains Island |
| Area | 150.8 ha (373 acres) |
| Administration | |
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United States
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| Territory | American Samoa |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 17 (2010) |
Swains Island (/ˈsweɪnz/; Samoan: Olosega) is an atoll in the Tokelau chain. Culturally a part of Tokelau, it is administered by the United States as part of American Samoa. Swains Island is also known as Olosenga Island or Olohega Island. Owned by the Jennings family and used as a copra plantation, Swains Island has a population of 17 Tokelauans, who harvest the island's coconuts. The land area is 1.5 km2.
Swains Island has also been known at various times as Olosenga Island, Olohega Island, Quiros Island, Gente Hermosa Island, and Jennings Island.
Swains Island has a total area of 460.9 acres (186.5 ha), of which 373 acres (150.8 ha) is land. The central lagoon accounts for 88 acres (35.8 ha). There is a small islet of 914 square yards (764 m2) in the eastern part of the lagoon.
The atoll is somewhat unusual, featuring an unbroken circle of land enclosing a formerly freshwater lagoon cut off from the sea. Recent U.S. Coast Guard visitors to Swains described its lagoon as "brackish" and a source for the plentiful numbers of mosquitoes which plague the island. In April 2007, a member of an amateur radio expedition confirmed that the lagoon water was fit only for bathing and washing, and that fresh water seemed to be in rather short supply on the island at the time. According to a United States Department of the Interior description of Swains Island, drinking water on Swains is derived entirely from rainfall collected in two large mahogany tanks near the island's copra shed.
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Wikipedia