Background: This isolated atoll was named for John CLIPPERTON, an English pirate who was rumored to have made it his hideout early in the 18th century. Annexed by France in 1855 and claimed by the US, it was seized by Mexico in 1897. Arbitration eventually awarded the island to France in 1931, which took possession in 1935.
Area Total: 14 km² Land: 14 km² Water: 0 km² Note: includes the two main islands of West Island and Home Island Comparative: about 12 times the size of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.