Minto Reef is a largely submerged atoll

Atoll

An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...

 belonging to Pohnpei

Pohnpei

Not to be confused with Pompeii, the ancient city destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79.Pohnpei "upon a stone altar " is the name of one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia , situated among the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group...

 State in Micronesia

Federated States of Micronesia

The Federated States of Micronesia or FSM is an independent, sovereign island nation, made up of four states from west to east: Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae. It comprises approximately 607 islands with c...

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Description

Minto Reef encloses a lagoon

Lagoon

A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...

 of about 25 to 30 km² in area. There are several boat passages into the lagoon on the southern side. It is at the same time the westernmost and northernmost feature of Pohnpei State. The nearest land is Oroluk Atoll

Oroluk Atoll

Oroluk Atoll is an atoll belonging to Pohnpei State in the Micronesia.-Description:Oroluk Atoll stretches from the northwest to the southeast with a length of about and an average width of . The lagoon's surface is roughly ....

 93 km to the southeast. Close to the northern extremity of the atoll there is a sandbank, about 1.8 meters high.

Minto Reef is the site of Minto Reef Marina Area of Biodiversity Significance, with a total area of 4,204.2 ha

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

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Administration

Minto Reef is part of Oroluk

Oroluk

Oroluk is one of the administrative divisions of Pohnpei State, Federated States of Micronesia.-Description:Oroluk municipality includes Oroluk Atoll and Minto Reef....

municipality, along with Oroluk Atoll.
The State of Pohnpei in 1999 created the Minto Reef Marine Sanctuary.