Eniwetok
Eniwetok, Republic of the Marshall Islands, a coral atoll in the Ralik Chain in the west-central Pacific. Eniwetok is about 2,700 miles (4,300 km) west-southwest of Hawaii. The 40 coral islets of the atoll form a circle about 80 miles (130 km) in circumference. The total land area is about two square miles (5 km2).
As part of the Marshall Islands, Eniwetok was mandated to Japan by the League of Nations in 1920. It was taken by American forces in 1944 during World War II, and it came under United States administration in 1947 as part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In 1948, after the relocation of its few inhabitants, Eniwetok became a test site for American nuclear weapons. Testing ended in the mid-1950's; the islanders were returned in 1980. The Marshall Islands were granted independence in 1986.