Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima (, also US: ), known in Japan as Iō Tō (硫黄島, Iō-tō, lit. '"sulfur island"'), is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at 169 m (554 ft) high. Although 1,200 kilometres (750 mi; 650 nmi) south of the metropolis of Tokyo on the mainland, this island of 21 km2 (8 square miles) is administered as part of the Ogasawara Subprefecture of Tokyo. Since July 1944, when the all civilians were forcibly evacuated, the island has had a military only population. The island was the location of the Battle of Iwo Jima between February 1945–March 1945. The island became globally recognized when Joe Rosenthal, of the Associated Press, published his photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, taken on Mount Suribachi. The US military occupied Iwo Jima until 1968, when it was returned to Japan.