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Concept
Bikini Atoll
Summary
Bikini Atoll (ˈbɪkᵻˌniː or bᵻˈkiːni; Marshallese: Pikinni, pikinniy, meaning "coconut place"), known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. The Atoll is at the northern end of the Ralik Chain, approximately northwest of the capital Majuro.
After the Second World War, the atoll was chosen by the United States as a nuclear weapon testing site. All 167 of the atoll's inhabitants were forcibly relocated in 1946 to Rongerik, a small island east of Bikini Atoll with inadequate resources to support the population. The islanders began experiencing starvation by early 1948, and they were moved again, this time to Kwajalein Atoll. The United States used the islands and lagoon as the site of 23 nuclear tests until 1958.
In 1970, about 200 residents were returned to their home island by the U.S. government. But scientists found dangerously high levels of strontium-90 in well water in May 1978 and the residents' bodies were carrying abnormally high concentrations of caesium-137. They were evacuated again in 1980. The atoll is occasionally visited today by divers and a few scientists, and is occupied by a handful of caretakers.
The island's English name is derived from the German colonial name Bikini given to the atoll when it was part of German New Guinea. The German name is transliterated from the Marshallese name for the island, Pikinni, (pikinniy) "Pik" meaning "plane surface" and "Ni" meaning "coconut tree", or surface of coconuts.
Marshallese culture
Bikini islanders' traditional lifestyle was based on cultivating plants and eating shellfish and fish. They were skilled boatbuilders and navigators, sailing the two-hulled proa to and from islets around Bikini and other atolls in the Marshall Islands. They were relatively isolated and had developed a society bound by extended family association and tradition. Every lagoon was led by a king and queen, with a following of chieftains and chief women who constituted a ruling caste.
Official source
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