The Bikini Atoll is located in the central Pacific Ocean and belongs with its total of 23 islands to Ralik chain in the territory of the Marshall Islands.( The Marshall Islands consists of 29 atolls and 5 isolated islands, of which 24 are inhabited )
The atoll is located in the northern part of the Marshall Islands, about 12 ° north of the equator and about 3000 km northeast of New Guinea. The land area of all associated islands totals 6 km². The enclosed lagoon is 40 km long, 24 km wide and covers an area of almost 600 km². The lagoon is up to 60 meters deep. The total area is just under 800 km². The largest islands are Bikini (2.90 km²), Enyu (or Eneu, 1.23 km²), Nam, Enidrik and Aerokojlol.
The Marshall Islands were discovered by Spanish sailors in the early 16th century, but remained unnoticed for a long time afterwards, Atoll was first mapped in 1825 by Otto von Kotzebue and named in honor of his ship’s doctor and research associate Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz Islands. In 1886, the islands were officially colonized by Germany as part of the Marshall Islands.
In 1914, they were taken possession of Japan in the First World War, which later built on bikini a small military post. When the Marshall Islands were conquered by the United States in the Pacific War in 1944, only five Japanese were on bikini.
After the end of the Second World War, the then US President Harry S. Truman decided in December 1945 to carry out nuclear weapons tests to determine their potential for destruction. Bikini Atoll and neighboring Eniwetok Atoll were chosen as test areas because they were far from all regular shipping and air traffic routes.
Today : the islands are no longer restricted area. In the lagoon are the ships sunk in the nuclear tests they are very popular as targets for wreck divers. According to data of the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to investigations of 1997 the stay there is harmless only regular consumption of locally produced food is warned as this would result in radiation exposure of 15 mSv / year.
On July 31, 2010, UNESCO registered the Bikini Atoll as the first World Heritage Site of the Marshall Islands.
On screen : SpongeBob’s Bikini Bottom is based on a real-life test site for nuclear weapons. / In the film Godzilla, the tests performed on Bikini Atoll from 1954 are presented as unsuccessful attempts to kill Godzilla, the film’s star monster.
Bikini Swimsuit : The bikini swimsuit is named after the atoll. Inspired by the headlines of the nuclear weapon tests on the atoll, the fashion designer and former auto engineer Louis Reard christened his new bathing costume Bikini and advertised it with the slogan “le bikini, la premiere bomb an-atomique” bomb atomique -atomic bomb- and anatomique (anatomical, concerning the body). On July 5, 1946, He hired Micheline Bernardini, an 18-year-old nude dancer from the Casino de Paris, to demonstrate his design.
Comic : The screenwriter Christophe Bec was inspired by these situations at the beginning of the story to put a scene of human monster in the comics Bikini Atoll, published by Glenat in the collection “Flesh and Bones” in 20164 and in 20185
Video game : One of the side missions of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is to prevent a nuclear strike on Washington by aliens who control a US ICBM. Can not prevent the launch, the player redirects the missile on the Bikini Atoll.
Access : Coordinates:11.583333, 165.383333 / You can fly directly from the United States to Kwajalein on United via Honolulu. In Kwajalein. Flights are available between Honolulu and the Marshall Islands and to Fiji via Kiribati and Tuvalu. United Airlines stops in Majuro and Kwajalein on its island-hopper service between Guam and Honolulu. there is also an air link with Fiji, transit through Kiribati and Tuvalu./
By boat : Individual islands are being run to supply five government-owned freighters, which also carry passengers. Departure times are to be requested locally. In Majuro is filed by the Uliga Dock.
- Bikini Atoll is a very exclusive dive site,diving base there so that you can go on dives of the surrounding shipwrecks,including the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, USS Saratoga, USS Carlisle, USS Anderson, USS Lamson, USS Gilliam, USS Arkansas, USS Pilotfish, USS Apogon. and the former Japanese flagship HIJMS Nagato, from which Admiral Yamoto gave the order to attack Pearl Harbor.and the Sakawa of the Agano class.and the German cruiser Prinz Eugen. The 55 km lagoon had been chosen as a grave for seventy-eight ships.
- Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test Site – Diving the “Atomic” fleet, It contains many reminders of the 20th-century Cold War nuclear weapon race and the destructive power of nuclear weapons. Part of the landscape are sunken ships sent to the bottom of the lagoon
- The archipelago : The archipelago consists of 34 atolls , Ralik – The chain of western islands composed of the following atolls: Enewetak, Ujelang, Bikini (Marshall), Rongerik, Rongelap, Ailinglaplap, Wotho, Ujae, Lae (Marshall), Kwajalein, Lib (Marshall), Namu, Jabat, Jaluit, Kili , Namdrik and Ebon. Ratak – The eastern island chain consists of the following atolls: Bokak, Bikar, Utirik, Taka, Mejit Island, Ailuk, Jemo Island, Likiep, Wotje, Erikub, Maloelap, Aur, Majuro, Arno, Mili and Knox. Urban centers : Kwajalein , Majuro – The capital.
Activities : diving expeditions to the nuclear fleet at Bikini Atoll / Marshall Islands Sport Fishing / Atoll Dive tours
Eat : Drink : Accommodation :
Go next : Ralik – The chain of western islands / Ratak – The eastern island chain, Majuro – The capital.