A Geographic Portrait of The Marshall Islands with emphasis on Bikini Atoll

Pacific Realm 1 Location Bikini Atoll 11 degrees 30 seconds North 165 degrees 25 seconds East 2 2

Bikini Atoll 3

4 Place: Pacific Ocean comprises one third of the earth’s surface Only 192,200 square miles of land area Over 90% of the land area is one island New Guinea Many of the islands are volcanic island chains formed above “hot spots” Also atolls formed by coral reefs around a volcanic islands that sunk 5 5 Atoll

Bikini Atoll 6

Movement: Migration of People People of Indonesia 1000s of years ago fled from Malay warriors of Asia to Australia and New Guinea Island by island they settled eastward Arriving in the Marshall Islands between 500 and 2000 BC. 7 7

Map of Migration

Mode of Transportation The Outrigger Canoe 8

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Navigation 10

Temperature and Average Rainfall of Bikini Atoll 11 Climate Air temperature is between degrees all year. There is a rainy season from June until December and a dry season from January until May During the dry season there is more wind also 12 12

People

Clothing

Housing Process of constructing housing

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Meeting House 2425

Economy Fishing

Agriculture Coconuts Taro 29 30

“The Bomb” by Theodore Taylor An historical novel

Human-Environment Interaction On a Sunday morning in February of 1946 Commodore Ben H. Wyatt, the military governor of the Marshals spoke to the Bikians asking them to allow the U.S.A. to test nuclear weapons on their island for, “the good of mankind and to end all world wars.” The Bikinian people were told that if they aloud they U.S.A. to use their island they could return in two years to their island just as they had left it. After much confusion and sorrowful deliberation, King Juda announced, “We will go believing that everything is in the hands of God.” The United States of America used the Marshall Islands to test 67 nuclear weapons from 1946 to

Nuclear Testing on Bikini Atoll Able BombBaker Bomb “As soon as the war ended, we located the one spot on earth that hadn’t been touched by war and blew it to hell” --Comedian Bob Hope commenting on Operation Crossroads 34 34

U.S. Nuclear Tests in the Marshall Islands 36 The United States tested 67 nuclear weapons on and around Bikini Atoll between 1946 and 1958, of which the comparison of the yields of all the tests conducted are in the chart to the left 35 35

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life.csu.edu.au/marshall/html/atolls/bikini.html 33 Rmiembassyus.org 4 4 Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page 703.

16 16 Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Page

Bibliography life.csu.edu.au/marshall/html/atolls/bikini.html rmiembassyus.org Boyer, David S.(May 1967) Micronesia-Americanization of Eden, National Geographic, Vol. 131, No. 5, Pages