Sorol

Sorol

NASA picture of Sorol Atoll
Geography
Location	North Pacific
Coordinates	8°08′N 140°25′E / 8.133°N 140.417°E / 8.133; 140.417
Archipelago	Caroline
Total islands	9
Area	0.934 km2 (0.361 sq mi)
Highest elevation	2 m (7 ft)
Administration
Federated States of Micronesia
Demographics
Population	0 (2010)
Ethnic groups	Micronesian

Sorol is a coral atoll of nine islands in the central Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. Sorol is located approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) south of Ulithi and 250 kilometres (160 mi) southeast of the island of Yap. Sorol has been uninhabited since the early 1980s.^[1] Sorol is a municipality with the state of Yap.^[2]

Geography[]

Sorol

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Location of Sorol in the Pacific Ocean

The atoll is 12.5 kilometres (7.8 mi) long east–west, and up to 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) wide. The northern rim of the atoll consists of a reef with several islets. Its total land area is only 0.934 square kilometres (0.361 sq mi), but it encloses a 45 metres (148 ft) deep lagoon of 7.1 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi). The shorter southern rim is less well-developed and narrower than the northern rim, with two small passages into the lagoon. Only the four largest islets are vegetated.^[3]

Among the individual islets are the following:

• Bigelimol (northwesternmost)
• Bigeliwol (northwest)
• Bigelor (southeasternmost)
• Birara (south)
• Falewaidid (north)
• Sorol (southeast)

History[]

First recorded sighting of Sorol Island was by the Spanish navigator Alonso de Arellano on 22 January 1565 on board of the patache San Lucas.^[4]

As with all of the Caroline Islands, they were sold by Spain to the Empire of Germany in 1899. The island came under the control of the Empire of Japan after World War I, and was subsequently administered under the South Seas Mandate. Following World War II. The island came under the control of the United States of America and was administered as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1947, and became part of the Federated States of Micronesia from 1979.

References[]

• Columbia Gazetteer of the World. Vol. 1, p. 900

External links[]

• Entry at Oceandots.com at the Wayback Machine (archived December 23, 2010)

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