Ducie_island

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NASA picture of Ducie Island.

Map of Pitcairn Islands, with inset of Ducie Island.

Ducie Island, a rarely visited island atoll, has been part of the Pitcairn Islands since 1902. There are no permanent inhabitants.

The atoll is located 540 km (336 mi) east of Pitcairn at 24°40′09″S, 124°47′11″W and has a total area, including the lagoon, of 3.9 km² (1.5 sq mi). It is 2.4 km (1.5 miles) long, northeast to southwest, and about 1.6 km (one mile) wide. There are four islets on the rim of the atoll:

1. Acadia Islet (largest islet, along the north and east rim)
2. Pandora Islet (second largest, in the south)
3. Edwards Islet (immediately east of Pandora Islet)
4. Westward Islet (smallest, west of Pandora Islet)

The land area is 0.7 km² (about 170 acres). The maximum elevation is 4 m (13 ft). Seventy percent of the land is forested with Tournefortia Argentea (a common tree throughout much of the Pacific Ocean), which grows to a height of 6 m (20 ft). Two other plant species were reported in 1971 but were not found in 1987^{[citation needed]}. The lagoon is deep and noted for its poisonous fish and dangerous sharks^{[citation needed]}.

History

Portuguese sailor Pedro Fernandes de Queirós discovered Ducie on January 26, 1606 and named it La Encarnación. It was later rediscovered by the British in 1791 by Captain Edward Edwards who commanded the Pandora while searching for the mutineers from the Bounty. Ducie Island is named after Baron Francis Ducie, a captain in the Royal Navy.

The island was claimed in 1867 for the United States under the Guano Islands Act and the UK annexed the island in 1902.

For the purposes of amateur radio, Ducie became a DXCC country on November 16th 2001 and the first expedition was led by Kan Mizoguchi, JA1BK, in March 2002 using the VP6DI callsign.

In 2003, Canadian amateur radio operators launched a DXpedition on Ducie Island using the callsign VP6DIA.

In February, 2008, an international group of amateur radio operators visited Ducie for a DXpedition using the callsign VP6DX. They made 183,686 contacts, setting a new record for DXpeditions.

External links

• Ducie at WikiMapia

Coordinates: 24°41′S, 124°47′W

• A visit to Ducie Island (April 1998) with some photos
• Map of Ducie Island
• VP6DXpedition 2008

v • d • e Outlying territories of European countries
Territories under European sovereignty but closer to or on continents other than Europe (see inclusion criteria for further information)
Denmark	Greenland
France	Clipperton Island · French Guiana · French Polynesia · French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Amsterdam • Saint-Paul • Crozet • Kerguelen • Adélie Land • Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean:  Bassas da India • Europa Island • Glorioso Islands • Juan de Nova Island • Tromelin Island) · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Mayotte · New Caledonia · Réunion · Saint Barthélemy · Saint Martin · Saint Pierre and Miquelon · Wallis and Futuna
Italy	Pantelleria · Pelagie Islands (Lampedusa • Lampione • Linosa)
Netherlands	Aruba · Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire • Curaçao • Saba • Sint Maarten • Sint Eustatius)
Norway	Bouvet Island · Peter I Island · Queen Maud Land
Portugal	Azores Islands · Madeira Islands
Russia	Khabomai · Ratmanov Island · Shikotan
Spain	Canary Islands · Ceuta · Isla de Alborán · Isla Perejil · Islas Chafarinas · Melilla · Peñón de Alhucemas · Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera
United Kingdom	Anguilla · Ascension Island · Bermuda · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Falkland Islands · Montserrat · Saint Helena · Tristan da Cunha · Turks and Caicos Islands · British Antarctic Territory · British Indian Ocean Territory · Pitcairn Islands · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

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