瓜加林環礁

维基百科，自由的百科全书

瓜加林環礁 馬紹爾語 |馬紹爾群島屬: 瓜加林[kʷuw.wɔ͡ɛt̪ʲ.l̪ʲɪn̪ʲ];普通英文[ˈkʷɒʤəˌlɪn], 美國居民常別稱瓜加 [kʷɒʤ] ) ，是馬紹爾群島共和國的一部分 (RMI)， 它在 Ralik 鏈子,夏威夷檀香山西南 2,100 海里(3900 公里) 在北緯8度43分，東經167度44分。瓜加林環礁 加上海水區域，經測量後，是世界的最大的珊瑚環礁的之一。 包括97 個小島, 土地面積16.4平方公里。圍攏著世界上最大的鹽水湖之一，面積為2174 平方公里。

美國在1944年以軍事力量從日本手中取得瓜加林環礁，當時美國以軍事目的為掠取目標，不像其他附近的環礁如比基尼環礁（Bikini Atoll）、羅格拉普環礁（Rongelar Atoll）、伊威提克環礁（Eneuetak Atoll）等，這些環礁在1940年代到1950年代都曾由美國能源部試爆核彈及輻射塵控制試驗，但瓜加林環礁則否，而未遭到毀滅。在九十七個島嶼中的十一個為羅奈爾德雷根防禦飛彈測試場（Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site簡稱雷根測試場或RTS），在以前叫做瓜加林飛彈發射場，雷根防禦彈道飛彈測試場包括雷達光學無線電遙測及運輸設備這些設施用來矯正飛彈彈道、攔截飛彈測試及太空戰爭的支援。瓜加林環礁架設三座地面天線其中的一座（其他的兩座分別架設在迪哥加西亞（Diego Gareia）和亞馬遜島（Ascension Island或做上升之島））可用來支援全球定位系統（GPS）的軍事計畫運行系統。在不久之前，此地吸引Space X前來建設廣大的基礎設施並在歐姆雷克島（Omelek Island）建造獵鷹一號火箭及獵鷹五號火箭的發射台。美國陸軍藉由可用的科技並爭取貿易以換取建發射場的費用。 瓜加林島為瓜加林環礁中最南也最大的島；最北方且為第二大島是羅伊雷蒙這兩個主要島嶼為美國駐地人員及親屬之居住地，他們居住在施車屋永久固定於某處可放置大拖車）或民房中。孤獨的駐地人員居住在公寓式建築裡，瓜加林島的人口約2500人且全部都是美國人員。在初期島內交通使用腳踏車而房舍免費提供給駐地人員。 Prior to 1944, Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll had always been an important site of great cultural significance to the Marshallese people of the Ralik chain. In Marshall Islander cosmology, Kwajalein islet was the site of an abundant flowering utilomar tree from which great blessings flowed, and people from all over would come to gather the "fruits" of this tree. This, explain many elders, is a Marshallese metaphor that describes the past century of colonialism and serves to explain why Kwajalein is still so precious to foreign interests. This story was also the origin of the name Kuwajleen, which apparently derives from Ri-ruk-jan-leen, "the people who harvest the flowers."

However, even prior to militarization, the islands of Kwajalein, and particularly the main island, served as a rural copra trading outpost administered by Japanese civilians under the Japanese Mandated "South Seas" Islands of Micronesia (the Nan'yo Gunto) for nearly thirty years. The earliest known record of Kwajalein and the Marshall Islands appears in the writings of Suzuki Keikun, who was dispatched to the Marshall Islands in 1885 to investigate a Japanese shipwreck. And though this visit was followed by two decades of German colonial rule in the Marshalls, in 1914, Japan peacefully took control of the islands from Germany and established administrative control in 1922 under a League of Nations Mandate.

Japanese settlers were few in Kwajalein Atoll, known in Japanese as Kuezerin Kansho, comprising mostly traders and their families who worked at local branches of shops headquartered at nearby Jaluit Atoll. There were also local administrative staff, and with the establishment of Kwajalein's public school in 1935, schoolteachers were also sent to the island from Japan. Most Marshall Islanders who recall those times describe a peaceful time of cooperation and development between Japanese and Marshallese.

In the late 1930s, Japan began to centralize military power in Micronesia in line with its expansionism and in response to the growing threat of invasion by the United States. Japanese civilian engineers and conscripted Korean and Japanese laborers worked together with Marshallese to build fortifications throughout the atoll, although archaeological evidence and testimonies from Japanese and Marshallese sources indicates that this project would not likely have begun until the 1940s and was not even complete at the time of the American invasion in 1944. A second wave of Japanese naval and ground forces was dispatched to Kwajalein in early 1943 from the Manchurian front, most of whom were between the ages of 18-21 and had no experience in the tropics.

When the first runway was built on Kwajalein islet by mostly Korean laborers, the Japanese public school and all civil administration was shifted to Namu Atoll, and Islanders were forcibly moved to live on some of the smaller islets in the atoll. The trauma of this experience, together with the influx of these young, underprepared troops surprised the local population, and many Islanders make clear distinctions in their recollections of civilian and military Japanese for this reason.

On February 1, 1944, Kwajalein was the target of the most concentrated bombardment of the Pacific War. Thirty-six thousand shells from naval ships and ground artillery on a nearby islet struck Kwajalein. American B-24 Liberator bombers aerially bombarded the island, adding to the destruction. Of the 8,500 Japanese troops on the atoll, ony 2,200 were combat trained, and in the subsequent ground invasion could not stand up against the heavy American armor. They fought almost to the last man, and by the end of the battle had killed 373 Americans.^[1]

On February 6, 1944, Kwajalein was claimed by the United States and "liberated" from Japanese rule, according to American histories. However, during this invasion, between 7,000-8,000 Japanese and an unknown number of Marshallese and Koreans were killed. In the ensuing American military occupation and initiation of weapons testing projects, Marshallese were further removed from their land from labor camps on the new U.S. base during the nuclear tests and later in the 1960s, when whole communities were uprooted from the central part of the atoll and moved to Ebeye to facilitate missile tests. For this reason, in recent years, the Marshallese communities of Kwajalein Atoll no longer commemorate this date as "Liberation Day" but have renamed it to "Memorial Day" to remember the hardships of the past.

Very few Japanese or Korean remains were ever repatriated from the atoll; thus both Kwajalein and Roi-Namur have ceremonial "cemetery" sites to honor this memory. The memorial on Kwajalein was constructed by the Marshall Islands Bereaved Families Association of Japan in the 1960s, and the memorial on Roi-Namur was constructed by American personnel.

The military history of Kwajalein has made tourism almost non-existent and has kept the environment in pristine condition. Kwajalein lagoon offers excellent wreck diving of mostly Japanese ships, a few planes and the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Spear fishing and deep sea fishing are also exceptional. 80 degree water temperature and 100 foot visibility are common when scuba diving on the ocean side of the atoll.

A neighboring island Ebeye has the largest population in the atoll, with approximately 12,000 native residents living on 80 acres (320,000 m²) of land. Ebeye is one of the most densely populated places in the world.

Roi-Namur used to be 3 separate islands: Roi, Namur and Enidrikdrik. After WWII, while the US had control of the atoll, they mostly paved over Enidrikdrik and renamed the resulting island Roi-Namur.

Since 1961 several tests of anti-ballistic missiles were performed on Kwajalein. Therefore there are launchpads on Illeginni Island ( 北緯9.0000度，东經167.7000度), Roi-Namur Island ( 北緯9.4012度，东經167.4663度) and Kwajalein Drop Zone, Pacific Ocean ( 北緯7.6500度，东經167.7000度).

[编辑] 其它瓜加林環礁海島

• Ebeye is not part of the Reagan Test Site, it is a Marshallese island-city with hotels, restaurants and an active commercial port.
• Ebadon is the second-largest island in the atoll, located at the westernmost tip of the atoll. Like Ebeye, it falls fully under the jurisdiction of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and is not part of the Reagan Test Site.
• Meck is a launch site for anti-ballistic missiles.
• Roi-Namur has several radar installations. Japanese bunkers and buildings from World War II are still in good condition.
• Bigej (Marshallese "Pikeej") is uninhabited and has no buildings on it but many people from Kwajalein island in the south of the atoll come up to visit it. It is covered with lush tropical palm trees and jungle. It is a site of cultural significance to the indigenous people of Kwajalein, as are most of the small islands throughout the atoll.
• Legan (Marshallese "Ambo") is uninhabited but does have a few buildings on the southern part of the island. Most of the island is thick jungle like most islands in the Marshall Islands. Unlike most islands though, Legan has a very small lake in the middle.
• Omelek Uninhabited, leased by the US military. Site of SpaceX launch facility.
• Little Bustard (Marshallese "Drebubbu") is the first island north of Kwajalein on the East reef. During low tide and with protective boots, it is possible to wade across the reef between Kwajalein and Little Bustard.
• Nell Island (Marshallese "Nōl") With a unique convergence of protected channels and small islands, the Nell area is unique and a popular destination for locals.

[编辑] 瓜加林環礁海島通行證

• SAR Pass (Search And Rescue Pass) is closest to Kwajalein on the West reef. This pass is manmade and was created in the 1970's, it is very narrow and shallow compared to the other natural passes in the lagoon and is only used by small boats. It is often misprounounced "Zar Pass."
• South Pass is also on the West reef, north of SAR Pass. It is very wide.
• Bijej Pass is the first pass on the East reef North of Kwajalein & Ebeye.