Iwo Jima

About

Iwo Jima (Hepburn: Iōtō, Iōjima; English:, Japanese: [ì.ó̞ó̞.tó̞ó̞] or [ì.ó̞ó̞.(ɟ̟͡)ʑí.mä́], lit. 'Sulfur Island') is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although 1,200 km (750 mi) south of Tokyo on Honshu, Iwo Jima is administered as part of the Ogasawara Subprefecture of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Only 21 square kilometers (8.1 sq mi) in size, the island is still volcanic and emits sulfurous gases. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at 169 m (554 ft) high. Although likely passed by Micronesians who made their way to the Bonins to the north, Iwo Jima was largely ignored by the Spanish, Dutch, British, and Japanese until a relatively late date after its 1543 rediscovery. The Japanese eventually colonized the island, administering it as the Ioto or Iojima Village under Tokyo's jurisdiction until all civilians were forcibly evacuated to Honshu in July 1944 near the end of World War II. Because it was able to provide secure airfields within easy range of the Japanese Home Islands, Iwo Jima was not passed by like other Pacific fortresses; instead, the Battle of Iwo Jima between February and March 1945 was some of the fiercest fighting of the Pacific War, with Imperial Japan and the Unite

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