14 Facts About Swains Island

Swains Island is a remote coral atoll in the Tokelau Islands in the South Pacific Ocean.

Swains Island claimed to have learned about the island's location from a certain Captain Swain of Nantucket, and after concluding that it did not match the description by Queiros, resolved to call it Swain's Island :.

Swains Island has been recognised as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding population of white terns.

Swains Island first appeared in the U S census in 1930, following its annexation to American Samoa in 1925.

Swains Island named it Swain's Island after a certain Captain Swain, from whom he had learned about the island's location.

Related searches

On 13 October 1856, Swains became a semi-independent proprietary settlement of the Jennings family, a status it would retain for approximately seventy years.

In 1907, the Resident Commissioner of the British Gilbert and Ellice Islands claimed that Swains belonged to the United Kingdom, demanding payment of a tax of US$85.

The British government furthermore conceded that Swains Island was an American possession.

Tokelau's claim to Swains is generally comparable to the Marshall Islands' claim to Wake Island .

Swains Island was first "discovered" as a possible amateur radio "entity" for American Radio Relay League Award purposes by Kan Mizoguchi JA1BK in 2005.

Swains Island led a ham radio DXpedition there in 2005 the ARRL did not accept it for credit.

Swains Island officials have the same rights, duties, and qualifications as in all the other villages of American Samoa.

Every two years, Swains Island sends one non-voting delegate to the American Samoan territorial legislature.

The 90-minute documentary is directed and narrated by Jean-Michel Cousteau, and showcases the ecological and cultural aspects of Swains Island, including the coral reef, the tapua, the lagoon, and village.