The private island at the center of a Pacific territorial dispute

Health · Published 7 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Swains Island is a remote coral atoll that has been privately owned by a single family since 1856. Despite its small size and shifting political administration, this tiny speck of land remains a point of contention between the United States and Tokelau.

Located in the South Pacific, Swains Island is a circular coral atoll with a land area of approximately 2.43 km². The atoll is unusual for its unbroken ring of land that encloses a central lagoon, Lake Namo, which has a maximum depth of 12 meters. This lagoon is separated from the sea by a channel that likely closed around 575 CE. While the lagoon's water is brackish—with a salinity of about 0.4%—it is used for washing, though residents must rely entirely on collected rainfall for drinking water.

The island's history is a complex web of names and conflicting claims. While once thought to have been charted by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós in 1606, scholars now believe he actually reached Rakahanga, 1,100 km to the east. The island was later sighted by Captain William L. Hudson of the USS Peacock in 1841, who named it after a Captain Swain of Nantucket. Since 1856, the island has been privately owned by the descendants of Eli Hutchinson Jennings, a New York whaler who settled there with his Samoan wife, Malia.

Today, the island's status is marked by ongoing territorial disputes between Tokelau and the United States, which administers it as part of American Samoa. Though it was once a bustling copra plantation, it has not been permanently inhabited since 2008. The 2020 census recorded no residents, though the island remains a site for scientific research, amateur radio operators, and members of the Jennings family.

Ecologically, the atoll is an Important Bird Area, supporting white terns and black noddies. However, the ecosystem faces challenges from non-native species like Pacific rats and feral cats, prompting conservation efforts to eradicate invasive predators.

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