: ''For other meanings see
Rose Island (disambiguation).''

NASA Satellite Imagery
'Rose Atoll', sometimes called 'Rose Island', or 'Motu O Manu' by people of the nearby
Manu'a Islands, is an oceanic
atoll within the
U.S. territory of
American Samoa. It is an uninhabited wildlife refuge. It is the
southermost point in the United States. The land area is 0.214 km² (52.8
acres). The total area of the atoll, including
lagoon and reef flat amounts to 5 km². Just west of the northernmost point is a channel into the lagoon, about 40 meters wide. There are two islets on the northwestern rim of the reef, larger Rose Island in the east (3.5 m high) and unvegetated Sand Island in the north (1,5 m high).
The first documented sighting by a Westerner was by
Louis de Freycinet in
1819. Soon afterwards, in
1824, it was seen by the expedition under
Otto von Kotzebue, who named it ''Kordinkov'' after his First Lieutenant.
The
Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge that lies on the two outstanding islands of the Atoll is managed cooperatively between the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the government of
American Samoa.
[1]
References
★
American Samoa, its districts and unorganized islands, United States Census Bureau
★
A Summary of Information on Rose Atoll (Atoll Research Bulletin #29)
★
US Fish and Wildlife Service Information Page on Rose Atoll