page_title: Swains Island
section_title: Recent sovereignty and trade issues
hierarchical_section_title: Swains Island / History / Recent sovereignty and trade issues
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of central Oceania. Cropped from a map of Oceania, from a CIA factbook.
context_page_description: Swains Island is an atoll in the Tokelau chain in the South Pacific Ocean. The island is the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute between Tokelau and the United States, which has administered it as part of American Samoa since 1925. Privately owned by the family of Eli Hutchinson Jennings since 1856, Swains Island was used as a copra plantation until 1967. It has not been permanently inhabited since 2008 but has often been visited by members of the Jennings family, scientific researchers, and amateur radio operators.
  The island is located 180 km south of Fakaofo and 300 km north of Savai‘i. The land area is 2.43 km², and the total area including the lagoon is 3.5 km².
context_section_description: On 25 March 1981, New Zealand, of which Tokelau is a dependency, confirmed U.S. sovereignty over Swains Island in the Treaty of Tokehega, under which the United States surrendered its territorial claims to the other islands of Tokelau. In the draft constitution that was the subject of the 2006 Tokelau self-determination referendum, however, Swains Island is claimed as part of Tokelau.  As of March 2007, American Samoa has not yet taken an official position, but the Governor of American Samoa Togiola Tulafono has said he believes that his government should do everything it can to retain control of the island.
  In 2007 Tokelau's regional parliament, the General Fono, considered the adoption of a new flag for their nation which showed a map depicting Swains Island, as a fourth star in addition to three others, at a proportional distance to that of the others. Ultimately a compromise was adopted whereby the four stars were retained, but with the arrangement and proportionality suggestive of the Southern Cross.
  During a recent visit to Tokelau, Alexander Jennings, representative of Swains Island to the American Samoa legislature, indicated a desire for better trade links between Swains and its neighbor.  The head of government of Tokelau, Kuresa Nasau, was reported to be "interested," and further talks were anticipated.
caption: Swains Island lies between the Samoan islands and Tokelau (upper center)
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