Background: Both the US and the Kingdom of Hawaii annexed Johnston Atoll in 1858 but it was the US that mined the guano deposits until the late 1880s. The US Navy took over the atoll in 1934 and subsequently the US Air Force assumed control in 1948. The site was used for high altitude nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s and until late in 1989 the atoll was maintained as a storage and disposal site for chemical weapons. Munitions destruction is now complete and cleanup and closure of the facility is progressing.
Country name: conventional long form: none (territory of the US)
Government type: unincorporated territory of the US administered by the US Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) and managed cooperatively by DNA and the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system
Economy overview: Economic activity is limited to providing services to US military personnel and contractors located on the island. All food and manufactured goods must be imported.