Clipperton Island - Overview

Location:

Middle America, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, 1,120 km southwest of Mexico

Climate:

tropical; humid, average temperature 20-32 degrees C, wet season (May to October)

Population:

uninhabited

Background:

This isolated island was named for John CLIPPERTON, a pirate who made it his hideout early in the 18th century. Annexed by France in 1855, it was seized by Mexico in 1897. Arbitration eventually awarded the island to France, which took possession in 1935.