Vostok Island, also known as Staver Island, is an uninhabited coral island in the central Pacific Ocean, part of the Line Islands belonging to Kiribati. It is located at 10°05′S 152°54′W. The Line Islands are a group of mostly atolls in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Hawaiian Islands. ...
First sighted in 1820 by the Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, who named the island for his ship. Only 1.5 kilometers in length and approximately triangular in shape, it rises to a height of about 5 meters above sea level, with a dense thicket of Pisonia trees covering the central portion of the island. Vostok was claimed under the Guano Act of 1856, but was never mined for phosphate. 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (Russian: ; Faddey Faddeyevich Bellinsgauzen) (September 20, 1778–January 13, 1852) served as a naval officer of the Russian Empire and commanded the second Russian expedition to circumnavigate the globe. ... The Guano Islands Act was federal legislation passed by the U.S. Congress on August 18, 1856 enabling citizens of the U.S. to take possession of islands containing guano deposits. ...
The island has also been known as Reaper, Stavers, and Anne.
VostokIsland lies 605 nautical miles south of the equator.
It is about 325 miles east-northeast of Tongareva (Penrhyn) Island, 86 miles north-northwest of Flint Island, 125 miles west of Caroline Island (Millennium Island), 385 miles south-southeast of Malden Island, and 800 miles northwest of Rarotonga.
Swift currents sweep past the island in a westerly direction, with a small eddy on the lee side.
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