Namu Atoll

Namu Atoll (Marshallese: Nam̧o, [nʲæ͡ɑmˠɤ͡oo̯]) is a coral atoll of 54 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only 6.27 square kilometres (2.42 sq mi), but that encloses a lagoon of 397 square kilometres (153 sq mi). It is located approximately 62 kilometres (39 mi) south-southwest of Kwajalein Atoll.

There are four main population centres, the islands of Namu, Majkin, Loen and Mae. The population of Namu Atoll was 801 in 1998.

History

The Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña made the first recorded sighting by Europeans of Namu Atoll on 17 September 1568. The pilot, Hernán Gallego, mistook it for San Bartolome (Bokak Atoll), which Alonso de Salazar had seen in 1526, although Bokak was a long way to the north. Mendaña says they named them San Mateo Shoals. The islands were inhabited, with many houses. A landing party found a chisel made of a nail and pieces of rope which were presumably gifts left there on 3 July 1566 by the galleon San Jerónimo, then commanded by the rebel pilot Lope Martín.