Bikini Atoll Pikinni Atoll
Bikini Atoll, with Bikini Island boxed in the northeast. The crater formed by the Castle Bravo nuclear test can be seen on the northwest cape of the atoll. Castle Bravo was the Code name given to the first US test of a so-called dry fuel thermonuclear Hydrogen bomb device detonated on March 1,
Flag
Map of the Marshall Islands show Bikini
Coordinates: 11°35′N 165°23′E / 11.583, 165.383
Country	Republic of the Marshall Islands
Area
- Land	2. The Flag of Bikini Atoll, a member of the Marshall Islands, is a flag closely resembling the Flag of the United States and was adopted in 1987 to remind The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI is a Micronesian nation of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. 3 sq mi (6 km²)
Population
- Total	uninhabited

Bikini Atoll (also known as Pikinni Atoll) is an atoll in one of the Micronesian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands. An atoll (pronounced /ˈætʌl/ is an island of Coral that encircles a Lagoon partially or completely Micronesia, from the Greek mikros (μικρός (meaning small) and nesos (νῆσος (meaning island) is a Subregion The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI is a Micronesian nation of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean It consists of 36 islands surrounding a 229. 4-square-mile (594. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. 1 km²) lagoon. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of As part of the Pacific Proving Grounds it was the site of more than 20 nuclear weapons tests between 1946 and 1958, including the first test of a practical dry fuel hydrogen bomb in 1952. The Pacific Proving Grounds was the name used to describe a number of sites in the Marshall Islands and a few other sites in the Pacific Ocean, used by the Nuclear weapon designs are physical chemical and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness yield and explosive capability of Nuclear weapons Throughout the twentieth century most nations Ivy Mike was the codename given to the first US test of a fusion device where a major part of the explosive yield came from fusion The Teller–Ulam design is a Nuclear weapon design which is used in Megaton -range Thermonuclear weapons and is more colloquially referred to as "the

The navigator and explorer Otto von Kotzebue named Bikini Atoll Eschscholtz Atoll after the scientist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz. Otto von Kotzebue ( Russian Отто Евстафьевич Коцебу Otto Evstaf'evič Kocebu, December 30, 1787 - February 15 Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz ( 1 November 1793 &ndash 19 May 1831) was a Baltic German Physician, Botanist,

Operation Crossroads Event Baker explosion

Preceding the nuclear tests, the indigenous population was relocated to Rongerik Atoll. Operation Crossroads was a series of Nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States in the summer of 1946 Langhans1897 map Rongerikjpg|thumb|300px|Map of Rongerik Atoll taken from the 1893 map 'Schutzgebiet der Marshall Inseln' published in 1897 The United States government enrolled some of the Marshallese into a secret medical experiment called Project 4.1. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Project 41 was the designation for a medical study conducted by the United States of those residents of the Marshall Islands exposed to radioactive fallout The intent of the project was to study the effects of radiation on human beings. Government and mainstream historical sources point to the study being organized on March 6 or March 7, 1954, six days after the Bravo shot. Castle Bravo was the Code name given to the first US test of a so-called dry fuel thermonuclear Hydrogen bomb device detonated on March 1, In the late 1960s and early 1970s, some of the original islanders returned from Kili Island but were later removed because of the high radioactivity. Kili Island (also known as Kili Atoll) is a 093 square kilometer island located in the Pacific Ocean at.

For examination of the fallout, several rockets of the types Loki and Asp were launched at 11°35′N, 165°20′E.

Etymology

Bikini comes from Marshallese "Pik" meaning "surface" and "Ni" meaning "coconut", "Bikini" is a derivation thereof. The Marshallese language (Marshallese Kajin M̧ajeļ or Kajin Majõl   is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Marshall Islands.

Bikini Island

Bikini Island is the northeasternmost and largest island of Bikini Atoll. An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant It is the best-known and most important island of the atoll, and measures about four kilometres. About twelve kilometres to the northwest is Aomen, the first island in that direction, and to the south of Bikini is Bukonfuaaku.

Bikini Island is well-known for being the subject of nuclear bomb tests, and because the bikini swimsuit was named after the island in 1946. A bikini or two-piece is a type of women's Swimsuit, characterized by two separate parts &mdash one covering the Breasts (optionally in the case of The two piece swimsuit was introduced within days of the first nuclear test on the atoll, and the name of the island was in the news. ^[1]

Between 1946 and 1958, twenty-three nuclear devices were detonated at Bikini Atoll. The March 1st, 1954 detonation codenamed Castle Bravo, was the first test of a practical hydrogen bomb. Castle Bravo was the Code name given to the first US test of a so-called dry fuel thermonuclear Hydrogen bomb device detonated on March 1, The largest nuclear explosion ever set off by the United States, it was much more powerful than predicted, and created widespread radioactive contamination^[2]. Radioactive contamination is the uncontrolled distribution of radioactive material in a given environment

The Micronesian inhabitants, who numbered about 200 before the United States relocated them after World War II, ate fish, shellfish, bananas, and coconuts. Micronesia, from the Greek mikros (μικρός (meaning small) and nesos (νῆσος (meaning island) is a Subregion World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A large majority of the Bikinians were moved to a single island named Kili as part of their temporary homestead, but remain until today and receive compensation from the United States for their survival. Kili Island (also known as Kili Atoll) is a 093 square kilometer island located in the Pacific Ocean at. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ^[3]

In 1968 the United States declared Bikini habitable and started bringing a small group of Bikinians back to their homes in the early 1970s as a test. In 1978, however, the islanders were removed again when strontium-90 in their bodies reached dangerous levels after a French team of scientists did additional tests on the island. Strontium-90 (90Sr is a Radioactive Isotope of Strontium, with a Half life of 28 ^[4]. It was not uncommon for women to experience faulty pregnancies, miscarriages, stillbirths and damage to their offspring as a result of the nuclear testing on Bikini. ^[5] The United States provided $150 million as a settlement for damages caused by the nuclear testing program. ^[6]

The clean-up operation scraped off the top 16 inches (410 mm) of soil from the main island of Bikini, generating a million cubic feet of radioactive soil that could not be disposed of, at a cost that far exceeded the compensation award.

Map of the Marshall Islands

Bikini Lagoon

Prior to the explosion of the first atomic bomb on the island, the lagoon at Bikini was designated as a ship graveyard during World War II by the US. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Today the Bikini Lagoon is still home to a large number of vessels from the United States and other countries. The dangers of the radioactivity and limited services in the area led to divers staying away from one of the most remarkable potential diving sites in the Pacific for many years. Radioactive decay is the process in which an unstable Atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting ionizing particles and Radiation. Today a limited number of divers head for the lagoon at Bikini every year for an extensive tour of World War II naval vessels. The dive spot has become popular among divers in the last 10 years. The lagoon contains a larger amount of sealife than usual due to the lack of fishing, including sharks, increasing the fascination with the spot as a diver's adventure spot. Sharks ( Superorder Selachimorpha) are a type of Fish with a full cartilaginous Skeleton and a highly streamlined body After the aftermath of the bombings, the U. S. government denied having done anything to the actual Bikini Islands. this created controversy among several humanitarian groups.

See also

• Bikini (a type of swimsuit named after the island)
• Flag of Bikini Atoll
• Operation Crossroads
• Operation Ivy
• Operation Castle
• Operation Castle Bravo
• Daigo Fukuryu Maru

References

External links

• A Short History of the People of Bikini Atoll
  • What About Radiation on Bikini Atoll?
• Department of Energy Marshall Islands Program : Chronology of nuclear testing, relocation of islanders and results of radiation tests.
• Radio Bikini : Oscar-nominated 1987 documentary on the 1946 atomic bomb tests on Bikini Atoll and the effects on the Bikinians as well as the US sailors who witnessed the tests.
• Het Einde van de Wereld The End of the World (1995/VPRO-tv/Theo Uittenbogaard) a Dutch documentary on the history of the people of the island Rongelap, who were evacuated due to fallout from the Bikini nuclear tests and their hearing by a Senate Committee in Washington DC
• Annotated bibliography for Bikini Atoll from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues