What is the history of Clipperton Island?

Clipperton Island is an uninhabited coral atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean that has been claimed by both France and Mexico. Documented by French explorers in 1711 and named after an English privateer, it experienced guano mining, a tragic colonial occupation during the Mexican Revolution, and an international sovereignty dispute resolved by Italian arbitration in favor of France.

What we know

• Clipperton Island is an 8.9 km2 uninhabited coral atoll located in the eastern Pacific Ocean. [2]
• The island was named after John Clipperton, an English privateer who used it as a base for his raids. [4]
• Mexico established a small military colony on the island in 1905, but most colonists died during the Mexican Revolution after contact with the mainland became infrequent. [2]
• The sovereignty dispute between France and Mexico was submitted to binding international arbitration, and Victor Emmanuel III of Italy decided in 1931 that the island was French territory. [2, 3]

Still open

• It remains uncertain whether Spanish records from the 1520s positively identified Clipperton Island, which formed the basis of Mexico's historical claim.

Where to go next

• whoWho was the English privateer John Clipperton?
• how we knowHow did the 1931 Clipperton Island arbitration shape international law?
• what caused itWhat caused the tragic death of the Mexican colony on Clipperton Island?
• what followedWhat wildlife and scientific expeditions currently visit Clipperton Atoll?
• the bigger pictureWhat are the major island groups in the Pacific Ocean?
• an unexpected connectionHow did an English privateer give his name to a French-claimed Pacific atoll?English privateer John Clipperton used the remote Pacific rock as a raiding base in the early 18th century, attaching his name to an isolated territory that would centuries later become a French possession adjudicated by the King of Italy.

Sources

• [1]Clipperton Island (Wikidata Q161258) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Clipperton Island · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Clipperton Island case · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]John Clipperton · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]List of islands in the Pacific Ocean · CC BY-SA 4.0