22 days ago
- A Reddit subreddit exists for maps that omit New Zealand, including a humorous map of the USA, which technically lacks New Zealand but includes its distant connection through Swains Island (Olohega).
- Swains Island, a tiny uninhabited coral atoll in American Samoa, is geographically part of Tokelau and historically linked to New Zealand through cultural and political disputes over sovereignty.
- The island's history involves Polynesian settlement, Western exploration, exploitation via copra plantations and blackbirding, and annexation by the US in 1925, with ongoing territorial claims by Tokelau despite New Zealand's recognition of US control.