Ebon Atoll is a coral atoll of 22 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain

Ralik Chain

The Ralik Chain is a chain of islands within the island nation of the Marshall Islands. Ralik means "sunset". It lies just to the west of the country's other island chain, the Ratak Chain...

 of the Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

. Its total land area is only 5.75 square kilometres (2.2 sq mi), but it encloses a deep lagoon with an area of 104 square kilometres (40.2 sq mi). A passage leads to the lagoon from the southwest edge of the atoll. The winding passage is called "Ebon Channel". Ebon Atoll is located approximately 155 kilometres (96.3 mi) south of Jaluit, and is the southern most landmass of the Marshall Islands as it is on the southern extremity of the Ralik Chain.

History

Ebon Atoll was a center for commercial whaling in the 19th century, as well as European missionary activities from 1857. It was claimed by the Empire of Germany along with the rest of the Marshall Islands in 1884, and the Germans established a trading outpost. After World War I, the island came under the South Pacific Mandate

South Pacific Mandate

The was the Japanese League of Nations mandate consisting of several groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean which came under the administration of Japan after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.-Early history:Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, after the start of World...

 of the Empire of Japan

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

. Following the end of World War II, it came under the control of the United States as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986.-History:...

until the independence of the Marshall Islands in 1986.