Puluwat
Puluwat | ||
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NASA photo of Puluwat Atoll | ||
Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
archipelago | Carolines | |
Geographical location | 7 ° 21 ′ N , 149 ° 12 ′ E | |
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Number of islands | 5 | |
Main island | Puluwat | |
Land area | 3.4 km² | |
Lagoon area | 1.55 or 300 | |
total area | 7 or 332 | |
Residents | 1015 | |
Uranie Bank (atoll with Puluwat in the northwest) |
Puluwat , Polowat or Poluwat is an atoll in the Micronesian state of Chuuk . The Puluwat Atoll is located south of the Pulap Atoll and west of the Chuuk Islands . The atoll has five islands, which lie on the edge of the coral reef and which together have a land area of 3.40 km².
In comparison to most Micronesian atolls, Puluwat has only a small lagoon and, including the lagoon, only a total area of 7 km². In a broader sense, however, Puluwat can be considered part of a much larger, mostly flooded atoll, namely the Uranie Bank, which extends from the islands to the southeast and covers a total area of 332 km². Enderby Bank joins it in the northwest . However, this is not part of the same atoll structure, but separated from Puluwat by a deep channel.
Islands: (clockwise, starting in the south):
- Sau (smallest island, two hectares)
- Alet (the westernmost island in the entire state of Chuuk)
- To
- Bangelab (Elangelab)
- Puluwat (main island and only inhabited island)
The small islands are forested, but mostly have some coconut trees .
There are three villages on the west side of the main island Puluwat with a total population of 1015 inhabitants; from North to south:
- Relong
- Lugav
- Rewo
The residents of Puluwat have claimed and exercised fishing rights on the Uranie Bank as well as on the northwestern neighboring Enderby Reef for centuries .