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Vostok Island also known as
Staver Island, is an uninhabited coral island in the central
Pacific Ocean, part of the
Line Islands belonging to
Kiribati. Other names for the island include "Anne Island", "Bostock Island", "Leavitts Island", "Reaper Island", "Wostock Island" or "Wostok Island".
Geography, flora and fauna
Vostok is located at , and covers a land area of 24 hectares. Its nearest neighbors are
Flint Island, 158 km south-southeast;
Caroline Atoll, 230 km to the east; and
Malden Island, 709 km north-northwest. It is 1.3 km in length, and is triangular-shaped.
Beaches on the island range between 25 and 50 meters wide, composed of coral sand and rubble. There is no lagoon or fresh water on the island, and no known
freshwater lens. Vostok's major portion is covered with a pure stand of
Pisonia trees rooted in moist peat soil one meter thick. These trees, with heights of up to 30 meters, grow so densely that no other plants can grow beneath them. The herbs
Boerhavia repens and
Sesuvium portulacastrum round out the known vegetation.
An attempt to plant coconut seedlings...
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